Indoor Air Quality in inpatient wards: a monitoring activity for design and management strategies in healthcare facilities

Background/Problem/Objective IAQ is an issue that is obtaining great attention because the dangers due to air pollution exposition in confined environments become more evident. Several countries are carried out air quality monitoring in professional workplaces of hard areas of hospitals. Currently the main analyses are about biological and physical risks, otherwise chemical ones are less investigated, although WHO has highlighted the emerging issue suggesting the definition and adoption of specific legislation, guidelines and values for guaranteeing wellness of people. Methods/Intervention Starting from these considerations, a research group (Politecnico di Milano and Istitituto Superiore di Sanità) has launched an investigation and detection of air quality in inpatient rooms. The analysis examines VOCs through the use of passive tools that register the concentrations of several pollutants, and punctually the relative influence of thermo-hygrometric parameters, ventilation ones, as well as the feature of the room and its components (finishing materials, furniture, cleaning products, etc.). Results (of evaluation) The paper reports the results obtained from the indoor air monitoring in some inpatient rooms. Each survey, done every month, lasted between 5 and 7 days in relation to the real function use of the rooms, which considers all the activities,users and processes that influence the indoor air quality. The application on some case studies highlights that the present data are quite regular, although the air changing and cleaning activities have a strong influence on IAQ, Conclusions/Lessons learned Although the data are regular, the goal is to reduce more and more the chemical pollution in inpatient rooms. Currently, the analysis is work in progress on several inpatient rooms for controlling the indoor air values even during the year, and it is expanding to more health facilities. Those data will be useful for the definition of design guidelines for healthy inpatient wards, as well as the definition of design strategies for healthy inpatient rooms.