Indoor air quality in an air-conditioned building in new Delhi and its relationship to ambient air quality

In an urban city like Delhi, vehicular exhaust is a major source of air pollution in addition to industrial activities emitting uncontrolled air pollutants. This contaminated air is sucked into buildings by air handling units contaminating the indoor air. In addition, indoor air is further contaminated by sources used for cooking, space heating devices, various chemicals and so on. The present paper analyses the indoor and outdoor air quality in a commercial building. The functioning of the air handling unit was also studied in the context of indoor air quality. Pollutants such as asbestos, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, lead, oxides of nitrogen, ozone, respirable suspended particulates, sulphur dioxide and suspended particulate matter and gases such as oxygen and carbon dioxide were monitored. Copyright (C) 2003 S. Karger AG, Basel.