Building materials, consumer products, and indoor activities contain a mix of known and unknown chemical compounds that can be released into indoor air and dust.
Indoor Environment
Research has shown that many organic pollutants are found at higher levels indoors than outdoors. This also applies to some new pollutants, which we find indoors before we detect them in samples taken from the outdoor environment. This means that the indoor environment can be used as an “early warning” for the types of pollutants we can eventually expect to find in the outdoor environment. Additionally, knowledge about sources of pollutants in the indoor environment can support future regulations and bans.
Pollutants in the indoor environment are a growing research field for NILU, and our activities address both regulated and new pollutants. Our researchers have extensive experience with measuring the presence of chemical compounds in the indoor environment through both national and international projects.
We measure various chemical substances and components in indoor environment matrices such as indoor air, dust, and consumer products. The analyses include organic pollutants (regulated and new), volatile organic compounds, inorganic components, and screening for unknown substances.
Examples of analyses NILU can offer for the indoor environment:
- Pollution from outdoor sources, such as NO2, O3, SO2, particles, and PAH
- Pollution from indoor sources, such as organic pollutants (PCB, flame retardants, plasticizers, antioxidants), volatile organic compounds (VOC), organic acids, NH3, and various climate parameters.
NILU continuously develops new methods for sampling and analysis, and in this context, we coordinate a working group within the European network NORMAN (Indoor environments and ambient air). The focus is precisely on sampling methods and analysis methods.
NILU er akkreditert i henhold til NS-EN ISO / IEC 17025 for bestemmelse av en rekke komponenter i ulike matrikser.