Much of our lives is spent indoors where we live, work, and play. What is in the air we breathe indoors affects our health and quality of life. Some common pollutants that could be present in indoor air include carbon monoxide, radon, mold, asbestos, formaldehyde, and other volatile organic compounds (VOCs). A number of projects on Public Lab have explored indoor air quality, monitoring and remediation. Check out the materials below, follow the tag indoor-air-quality and add your materials to this topic. ### Questions [questions:indoor-air-quality] ### Activities [activities:indoor-air-quality] ### Research notes [notes:indoor-air-quality!question:indoor-air-quality] ### Wikis All wiki pages relating to air quality: [wikis:indoor-air-quality] ### Regulations on indoor air quality #### Federal regulations Many of us spend a large portion of our time indoors, and yet indoor air quality remains largely unregulated at the federal level in the US [[1](https://www.epa.gov/regulatory-information-topic/regulatory-information-topic-air#indoorair)]. For office buildings and other workplaces, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration sets rules on ventilation and some air pollutants [[2](https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/indoorairquality/)], but there are no federal regulatory standards on indoor air quality for these spaces. In addition, the air we breathe inside our schools [[3](https://www.epa.gov/iaq-schools/are-schools-required-follow-epas-iaq-tools-schools-guidance)], homes, and apartment buildings also lacks federal air quality standards, leaving individual states to set their own rules. Sources: 1. [https://www.epa.gov/regulatory-information-topic/regulatory-information-topic-air#indoorair](https://www.epa.gov/regulatory-information-topic/regulatory-information-topic-air#indoorair) 2. [https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/indoorairquality/ ](https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/indoorairquality/) 3. [https://www.epa.gov/iaq-schools/are-schools-required-follow-epas-iaq-tools-schools-guidance](https://www.epa.gov/iaq-schools/are-schools-required-follow-epas-iaq-tools-schools-guidance) #### Local, tribal, or state regulations The Environmental Law Institute maintains a searchable database of indoor air quality laws in individual US states here: [https://www.eli.org/buildings/database-state-indoor-air-quality-laws](https://www.eli.org/buildings/database-state-indoor-air-quality-laws) The US Environmental Protection Agency provides links to state, tribal, and regional indoor air quality programs here: [https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/epa-regional-office-and-state-indoor-air-quality-information ](https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/epa-regional-office-and-state-indoor-air-quality-information)...
| Author | Comment | Last activity | Moderation | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| nshapiro | "This is fantastic!!! I can't wait to see these designs spring into life! " | Read more » | over 7 years ago | |||
| liz | "Thank you so much for posting this helpful note! I just love your sketchbook pages. " | Read more » | over 7 years ago | |||
| warren | "Well, comment sections are great for deep discussion, no problems there. I just think for example some of the questions here could also be broken o..." | Read more » | over 7 years ago | |||
| zengirl2 | "@warren probably wise since this has continued down the page. :) Best way to do that? " | Read more » | over 7 years ago | |||
| warren | "Hi, all -- just wanted to chip in with the idea that some of these discussions could be split out into new posts... what do you think? Like a few d..." | Read more » | over 7 years ago | |||
| pdhixenbaugh | "Hey sorry for being so late to the discussion here! I recently moved to a place where indoor air quality is a more pressing issue. I have a few que..." | Read more » | over 7 years ago | |||
| zengirl2 | "@nshapiro Wow, clearly I need to look at Kickstarter more often. I'm pretty stumped about the soil and how they passed air so readily through that...." | Read more » | over 7 years ago | |||
| nshapiro | "also they have an IAQ monitor installed... but its not clear to me what exactly they are monitoring... and what its detection limits are. " | Read more » | over 7 years ago | |||
| nshapiro | "these are great! thanks you leslie! Also just found this: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/clairy-the-most-amazing-natural-air-purifier-green#/ t..." | Read more » | over 7 years ago | |||
| zengirl2 | "So I was hoping of upcycling containers from home. I was thinking of an inner container holding the plant and materials, while an outside container..." | Read more » | over 7 years ago | |||
| nshapiro | "sorry to blow up the comments! here is another project that doesn't use any power to increase diffusion of air to the root system https://www.airy...." | Read more » | over 7 years ago | |||
| liz | "HI @Zengirl2 , would you please post pictures of your container-in-container design that you describe above? <3 <3 <3 " | Read more » | over 7 years ago | |||
| nshapiro | "Also maybe we should buy and take apart one of these to see how their system works. this is more closely based on NASA research than the Andrea pur..." | Read more » | over 7 years ago | |||
| nshapiro | "So exciting @kkoerner! no need to have a finalized prototype, in-process is a nice time to share and get feedback. I'd also like to circulate your ..." | Read more » | over 7 years ago | |||
| kkoerner | "@nshapiro Yes, I'm still with CAC! I've been meaning to post some of the work I've done here. We have a more finalized prototype for our air monito..." | Read more » | over 7 years ago | |||
| nshapiro | "here are some design precedents we were thinking with a year ago that I just sent to Christophe (we'll talk in may as he gets up to speed). I woul..." | Read more » | over 7 years ago | |||
| zengirl2 | "@nshapiro @warren @kkoerner Interesting to think about the container's involvement with vibrations as well, especially since I was thinking of havi..." | Read more » | over 7 years ago | |||
| nshapiro | "Thanks @kkoerner! For the air purifier, pulsing pumps are a-ok as we are not trying to move air through the roots in a precisely known way, just a ..." | Read more » | over 7 years ago | |||
| nshapiro | "Hi @indy if you're based in Indiana, as your name hints, you can report your symptoms to the stat DOH and they might come out and test for free. In..." | Read more » | over 7 years ago | |||
| Odie91 | "Hi, this is an interesting project. I'm curious, do you think it's really necessary to convert the aquarium pump from blower to suction? If you b..." | Read more » | over 7 years ago | |||
| zengirl2 | "This is all very interesting @warren and @nshapiro because initially on reading the report with the air device and hearing the user's symptoms had ..." | Read more » | almost 8 years ago | |||
| kkoerner | "I do have some documents and quotes for smaller pumps, though they're more costly (roughly $100 with shipping included) and when LukeS tested simil..." | Read more » | almost 8 years ago | |||
| nshapiro | "in terms of jeff's questions: I'm not sure I understand the bell jar totally. I think a month is a good time for a test, to minimize illusory short..." | Read more » | almost 8 years ago | |||
| nshapiro | "yes! a 3 way would be great, they really do moan when they get jammed. A three way or a two way that vents the non-line engaged channel would be id..." | Read more » | almost 8 years ago |