Indoor Air Quality Testing Procedure

It’s a well known fact that Indoor air of good quality is essential for having better health and quality life. To have better health, addressing indoor air quality problems in our home/workplace will be of assistance to us and the best way to do so is by conducting an indoor air quality testing procedure.

Test! Yes! A test always gives us results and helps us understand a scenario better.

Wouldn’t you be excited to carry out indoor air quality test and get an idea about the quality of your indoor air?

Indoor air quality testing procedure can be conducted on your own or by hiring a professional (That’s us!). These tests will consider all aspects relating to indoor air quality and will provide you with results and necessary recommendations required to improve your indoor air quality.

Indoor Air Quality Testing Procedure

Collection of information

Before starting indoor air quality testing a survey must be done. This survey will include the following categories of questions.

Building type – Is the building a residential or commercial building, is it a new or old building
Building materials used during construction of building
Ventilation system
No of people residing or working in the area being tested
Diagnosis of health related problems and disease history of people residing or working in the area being tested
Presence of equipments or activities carried which may release harmful pollutants that degrade indoor air quality
Effectiveness of cleaning and housekeeping system
Presence of mold, foul smell, dust

This survey will basically give the idea about possible pollutants present and will help us understand which method to be used for indoor air quality testing procedure.

Identification and Selection of Location

Once an overall analysis is done of the survey questionnaire, we can identify locations for indoor air quality testing. For testing of indoor air quality, more than one location is to be selected as the distribution of air indoors is not even.

Indoor Air Quality Sampling Methodologies

Methods of Indoor air quality testing can vary depending upon the presence of pollutant. Presence of Indoor air pollutants like Volatile organic compounds (VOCs), Bacteria/mold, Carbon monoxide (CO), Formaldehyde, dust particles, etc. degrades the quality of indoor air. The survey questionnaire will give a basic idea about presence of any possible indoor air pollutant. Depending upon this analysis a method can be selected and duration for sample collection can be decided. The samples collected should usually be in multiples to avoid any possibilities of error while sampling.

Learn More About Indoor Air Quality Parameters In India

Indoor Air Quality Testing Equipment

After selection of Indoor air quality testing method and duration, samples can be collected using some of the following equipments to measure indoor air quality:

VOC meter – This instrument can measure a wide range of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) , total volatile organic compounds (TVOCs)
NO_xmeter – This device is used to measure Nitrogen oxide levels
SO₂meter – It is used to measure Sulphur dioxide levels
CO₂meter – This device measures real- time and average levels of Carbon dioxide
Dusttrak – This instrument can measure PM1, PM2.5, PM10 Mass concentration and RSPM.
Testo 480 IAQ Pro – This instrument can measure air flow, temperature, humidity and CO₂.
Indoor air quality testing kits – Full analysis including mold, dander, carcinogenic fibers, bacteria and dust
Swab tests – Mold and bacteria can be sampled using swab tests
Thermo-Hygrometer – Measures temperatures and humidity

If you wish to conduct indoor air quality testing by yourself then you can simply order an indoor air quality testing kit and perform sampling as mentioned in the manual. After collection of samples you can send them to the laboratory mentioned on the kit for generation of the report.

Indoor Air Quality Assessment Report

Once indoor air parameters are sampled/measured it will be sent to laboratory for analysis and generation of report. The report will include details about your indoor air quality and recommendations to improve indoor air quality if your indoor air is of poor quality.

Below is the sample report for Indoor Air Quality Testing Procedure:

Improving quality of indoor air reduces the possible threats to our health. So, why not test the quality of our indoor air and make our way to achieving better health and quality life.

Learn More about Indoor Air Quality and Health

Perfect Pollucon Services offers Services in Indoor air quality testing & Analysis for Homes and offices. Please fill up contact us form to Know More.

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Apurva Chawre