Mandating indoor air quality for public buildings: If some countries lead by example, standards may increasingly become normalized

People living in urban and industrialized societies, which are expanding globally, spend more than 90% of their time in the indoor environment, breathing indoor air (IA). Despite decades of research and advocacy, most countries do not have legislated indoor air quality (IAQ) performance standards for public spaces that address concentration...

Coronavirus Disease 2019 and Airborne Transmission: Science Rejected, Lives Lost. Can Society Do Better?

This is an account that should be heard of an important struggle: the struggle of a large group of experts who came together at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic to warn the world about the risk of airborne transmission and the consequences of ignoring it. We alerted the World Health Organization about the potential significance of the...

A paradigm shift to combat indoor respiratory infection

Dismantling myths on the airborne transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2)

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused untold disruption throughout the world. Understanding the mechanisms for transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is key to preventing further spread, but there is confusion over the meaning of ‘airborne’ whenever transmission is discussed....

Respiratory infection risk-based ventilation design method

A new design method is proposed to calculate outdoor air ventilation rates to control respiratory infection risk in indoor spaces. We propose to use this method in future ventilation standards to complement existing ventilation criteria based on the perceived air quality and pollutant removal. The proposed method makes it possible to...

How can airborne transmission of COVID-19 indoors be minimised?

During the rapid rise in COVID-19 illnesses and deaths globally, and notwithstanding recommended precautions, questions are voiced about routes of transmission for this pandemic disease. Inhaling small airborne droplets is probable as a third route of infection, in addition to more widely recognized transmission via larger respiratory droplets...

SPECT/CT Imaging of Pluronic Nanocarriers with Varying Poly(ethylene oxide) Block Length and Aggregation State

Optimal biodistribution and prolonged circulation of nanocarriers improve diagnostic and therapeutic effects of enhanced permeability and retention-based nanomedicines. Despite extensive use of Pluronics in polymer-based pharmaceuticals, the influence of different poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) block length and aggregation state on the...

Sustainable building and indoor air quality

Integrating health and sustainability in Life Cycle Assessment