Indoor Air Quality Section, EHLB

Mission 

The mission of the Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Program is to conduct and promote the coordination of research, investigations, experiments, demonstrations, surveys, and studies relating to the causes, effects, extent, prevention, and control of indoor pollution in California.

The Indoor Air Quality Section website

 The Indoor Air Quality Section maintains an independent California Indoor Air Quality Program website  where current information may be obtained.

Expertise 

The IAQ Program is a multi-disciplinary program with expertise in organic and physical chemistry, microbiology and biological aerosols, mechanical engineering including ventilation engineering, industrial hygiene, epidemiology, physics, statistics and psychology. The IAQ Program was established by AB 3200 (Tanner) in 1982 to "...conduct and promote the coordination of research, investigations, experiments, demonstrations, surveys, and studies relating to the causes, effects, extent, prevention, and control of indoor pollution," and this mandate language was added to the California Health and Safety Code (105400-105430). As part of the Division of Laboratories from 1982 to 1993, the IAQ Program focused on indoor pollutant exposure assessment and concentration measurement. Currently in the Division of Environmental and Occupational Disease Control, the Program is developing techniques and studies to investigate links between environmental exposures and disease.

Past Projects 

The IAQ Program staff has carried out original research on a variety of indoor air quality issues such as: measurement of formaldehyde and nitrogen dioxide in mobile homes; identification of asbestos in public buildings; evaluation of radon concentrations in California residences and schools; survey of accidental deaths due to CO; feasibility and effectiveness of building "bake-outs"; effectiveness of ultraviolet radiation and ventilation to control the spread of airborne infections such as tuberculosis; evaluation of indoor exposure to Proposition 65 chemicals from consumer products; development of guidelines for building managers for preventing Legionnaire's disease; assessment of the effectiveness of engineering controls for designated smoking areas in public buildings. The IAQ section chief serves as chair to the California Interagency Working Group on Indoor Air Quality with representatives from federal, state and local agencies and academic institutions.

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