Search results for "indoor"

Exposure to bioaerosols and noise at a Finnish dry waste treatment plant

2004

Repeated measurements were carried out during two different campaigns between 1998 and 2001 to assess the occupational hygiene at a Finnish dry waste treatment plant. The analytical determinations were done in four different places within the processing hall of the plant: near a conveyor belt, near a jigger screen, near an after-crusher and near a bailer. Measurements were also carried out in a coffee room for employees. Concentrations of bacteria, fungi and actinomycetes were determined by two methods (six-stage impactor and Camnea method) and levels of endotoxins, dust and noise were also investigated. High concentrations of microbes and endotoxins and the noise level were found to be a …

Applying the European Ecolabel brand to buildings: the role of the indoor requisites

2009

Indoor and outdoor determination of pesticides in air by ion mobility spectrometry.

2016

Abstract The use of ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) has been evaluated as analytical methodology to detect and evaluate the occupational exposure to pesticides. The developed IMS methodology was used, in positive and negative modes, to determine the presence of pesticides in air and to evaluate possible inhalation exposures of workers and users based on active sampling on Teflon membranes and direct thermal desorption IMS. The negative IMS mode was used to determine bensulfuron, clorpyrifos, diniconazole, diuron, flutolanil and imidacloprid, while the positive mode was employed to evaluate formetanate, metalaxyl, metamitrone, metribuzin, paclobutrazol and pirimicarb. The IMS measurements pr…

Passive sampling of PAHs in indoor air in Nepal

1999

PAHs were sampled in ten homes in the Makwanpur region, Nepal. SPMDs and moss bags (Sphagnum girgensohnii) were used as passive samplers. Soot particles on the SPMD surfaces were also analyzed for PAHs. The overall PAH concentrations in SPMDs were significantly higher than those in moss bags. Total PAH mean concentrations of ten houses were 535μg/g lipid for SPMDs and 7.2 μg/g moss (dw) for moss bags. Ratios of phenanthrene/anthracene in indoor SPMDs and particulate matter varied from 2.9 to 3.5 and ratios of fluoranthene/pyrene varied from 1.1 to 1.4. The values for moss bags were respectively 1.7–3.6 and 0.8–2.4. These ratios indicate that the PAHs are from combustion origin. The PAH conc…

Liberty winter gardens in Palermo: contamination from solar design

2020

At the end of the 19th century, the city of Palermo boasted a tradition of steel elements that could include the most beautiful railings and light steel structures of the time. The paper shows how the technological, formal and spatial aspects of the metallic construction was derived by the application of Central Europe areas examples to the local reality, providing notions on designs, experimentations and originalities. Canopies, verandas, winter gardens and orangeries are architectural elements in iron and glass that represent an added value for the building, they improve the life quality of the people who live there. In particular, in the Liberty architecture these elements took shape thr…

Formaldehyde: Catalytic Oxidation as a Promising Soft Way of Elimination

2013

International audience; Compared to other molecules such as benzene, toluene, xylene, and chlorinated compounds, the catalytic oxidation of formaldehyde has been studied rarely. However, standards for the emission level of this pollutant will become more restrictive because of its extreme toxicity even at very low concentrations in air. As a consequence, the development of a highly efficient process for its selective elimination is needed. Complete catalytic oxidation of formaldehyde into CO2 and H2O using noble-metal-based catalysts is a promising method to convert this pollutant at room temperature, making this process energetically attractive from an industrial point of view. However, th…

Geophysical and geotechnical investigations to support the restoration project of the Roman ‘Villa del Casale’, Piazza Armerina, Sicily, Italy

2011

A multidisciplinary geophysical and geotechnical study, including some non-invasive geophysical applications, was carried out during the restoration of the ‘Villa del Casale’, a Roman villa discovered near Piazza Armerina (Sicily, Italy) in 1929, famous for its Roman floor mosaics. The project aims were to characterize the geology of the subsoil and provide information for solving the main building structural problems including the subsidence of some parts of the floor and the detachment of the tesserae (i.e., the tiles) of the mosaics. Another goal was the detailed study of the underground structures of the Corridor of the Great Hunt, a part of the villa strongly affected by subsidence and…

A multidisciplinary approach to the study of cultural heritage environments: Experience at the Palatina Library in Parma

2015

The aim of this paper is to describe a multidisciplinary approach including biological and particle monitoring, and microclimate analysis associated with the application of the Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD). This approach was applied at the Palatina historical library in Parma. Monitoring was performed both in July and in December, in the absence of visitors and operators. Air microbial monitoring was performed with active and passive methods. Airborne particles with a diameter of ≥0.3, ≥0.5, ≥1 and ≥5 μm/m3, were counted by a laser particle counter. The surface contamination of shelves and manuscripts was assessed with nitrocellulose membranes. A spore trap sampler was used to identify…

Cinema audiences reproducibly vary the chemical composition of air during films, by broadcasting scene specific emissions on breath

2016

AbstractHuman beings continuously emit chemicals into the air by breath and through the skin. In order to determine whether these emissions vary predictably in response to audiovisual stimuli, we have continuously monitored carbon dioxide and over one hundred volatile organic compounds in a cinema. It was found that many airborne chemicals in cinema air varied distinctively and reproducibly with time for a particular film, even in different screenings to different audiences. Application of scene labels and advanced data mining methods revealed that specific film events, namely “suspense” or “comedy” caused audiences to change their emission of specific chemicals. These event-type synchronou…

Hybrid Observer for Indoor Localization with Random Time-of-Arrival Measurments

2018

In this work an indoor position estimation algorithm will be proposed. The position will be measured by means of a sensor network composed by fixed beacons placed on the indoor environment and a mobile beacon mounted on the object to be tracked. The mobile beacon communicates with all the fixed beacons by means of ultra wide-band signals, and the distance between them is computed by means of time of flight techniques. Moreover, inertial measurements will be used when the position measurements are not available. Two main problems will be considered in the proposed architecture: the fact that the beacons work with a lower update rate than the IMU, and that the mobile beacon can comunicate wit…