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Monitoring Indoor Air Quality for Enhanced Occupational Health

  • Mobile & Wireless Health
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Abstract

Indoor environments are characterized by several pollutant sources. Because people spend more than 90% of their time in indoor environments, several studies have pointed out the impact of indoor air quality on the etiopathogenesis of a wide number of non-specific symptoms which characterizes the “Sick Building Syndrome”, involving the skin, the upper and lower respiratory tract, the eyes and the nervous system, as well as many building related diseases. Thus, indoor air quality (IAQ) is recognized as an important factor to be controlled for the occupants’ health and comfort. The majority of the monitoring systems presently available is very expensive and only allow to collect random samples. This work describes the system (iAQ), a low-cost indoor air quality monitoring wireless sensor network system, developed using Arduino, XBee modules and micro sensors, for storage and availability of monitoring data on a web portal in real time. Five micro sensors of environmental parameters (air temperature, humidity, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and luminosity) were used. Other sensors can be added for monitoring specific pollutants. The results reveal that the system can provide an effective indoor air quality assessment to prevent exposure risk. In fact, the indoor air quality may be extremely different compared to what is expected for a quality living environment. Systems like this would have benefit as public health interventions to reduce the burden of symptoms and diseases related to “sick buildings”.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Polytechnic Institute of Guarda – Research Unit for Inland Development, Av. Dr. Francisco Sá Carneiro, n° 50, 6300-559, Guarda, Portugal

    Rui Pitarma & Gonçalo Marques

  2. Coimbra Hospital and University Centre, Praceta Prof. Mota Pinto, 3000-075, Coimbra, Portugal

    Bárbara Roque Ferreira

Authors
  1. Rui Pitarma
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  2. Gonçalo Marques
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  3. Bárbara Roque Ferreira
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Correspondence to Rui Pitarma.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Mobile & Wireless Health

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Pitarma, R., Marques, G. & Ferreira, B.R. Monitoring Indoor Air Quality for Enhanced Occupational Health. J Med Syst 41, 23 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10916-016-0667-2

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