The Indoor Environment in Green and
Non-green Homes
Kanistha Chatterjee
University of Cincinnati
May 29, 2014
Presentation Outline
• Background and Motivation
− Cincinnati Green Housing Study
• Experimental Design
− Sampling Methodology
− Sample Analysis
• Preliminary Results
Background
• Villages at Roll Hill has undergone a $36M
rehabilitation (Wallick Companies).
− Department of Housing and Urban Development
− City of Cincinnati
− Fay Limited Partnership
• Largest green renovation of an affordable
housing community in the nation to-date
− Developers are seeking Silver LEED certification
Green Building Renovations
• Window and door replacement (energy efficient)
• New roofing and whole house insulation
• New low volatile organic compound (VOC) carpets, tile,
cabinets, countertops, and paint
• Energy efficient central heating/cooling systems
• New bathroom exhaust fan
• Integrated pest management plan
• New low flow toilets
• New energy efficient lighting and bulbs
• Designated parking for low emission vehicles
Motivation
• Exposures and conditions in the home that are known or
thought to exacerbate respiratory conditions:
– Moisture
– Poor heating and ventilation
– Environmental tobacco smoke
– Carpeting
– Pet allergens
– Mouse allergens
– Dust mites
– Cockroach allergens
– Microbial contamination
– Pesticides
– Nitrogen dioxide (NO)
– Combinations of the above
• Explore the potential of promoting healthy homes
principles
− Target one of the most sensitive populations: low-income
children with asthma.
Experimental Design
51 units in low-income housing complexes
*** all with an asthmatic child (ages 7-12) ***
25 control homes
• Health-related Measurements
– Blood
– Urine
– Lung Function Test
– Exhaled Nitric Oxide
– Respiratory Symptoms
– Cold/Flu Assessment
26 green homes
• Environmental Measurements
– Temperature
– Relative humidity
– Particulate matter (PM2.5)
– Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
– Air exchange rate (AER)
– Pesticides
– Allergens
– Fungi (ergosterol, ERMI, Illumina)
– Bacteria (454 Pyrosequencing)
Experimental Design
Baseline
Green
Homes
Rehabilitation
Control
Homes
T=0 mo.
6 mo.
12 mo.
Working Hypotheses
Green Housing Guidelines
Integrated
Pest
Management
Hypothesized Outcomes
Decreased
Pests
Less Respiratory
Tract
Inflammation
Low VOC
Materials
Decreased Indoor
Chemicals
Insulation
Ventilatio
n
Increased
Microbial
Growth with
Higher RH
Increased
Microbial
Diversity
Decrease
Asthma
Morbidity
Specific Aims
1. Assess indoor environmental quality (IEQ) of green
buildings by measuring the temperature, relative
humidity, air exchange rates (AER), and the
concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs),
ergosterol, PM 2.5, pesticides and allergens.
The main research questions behind this aim are:
i) What impact do these renovation strategies have on the
indoor air quality of green-renovated homes?
ii) Is there any difference in the indoor air quality of
green-renovated vs. non-green homes?
Specific Aims
2. Determine the difference in the fungal richness and
diversity of dust collected from green-renovated and
non-renovated (control) homes, using Environmental
Relative Moldiness Index (ERMI), 454 Pyrosequencing
and
Illumina
MiSeq.
The
main
goals
behind
this
aim
are:
i) To determine the difference in moldiness and fungal
diversity of dust collected from green and non-green homes,
using pyrosequencing.
ii) Compare fungal diversity in environmental samples
collected from living room floor, child’s bed and air.
Specific Aim 1 (IEQ)
Source of Indoor Air Pollutants
• Indoor air pollution is a complex mixture
– Penetration of outdoor air
– Indoor pollutants
• Combustion products (Carbon Monoxide (CO), Carbon Dioxide (CO2),
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs))
• Bioaerosols, allergens, molds, endotoxin
Hulin et al. Respiratory health and indoor air pollutants based on quantitative exposure assessments. Eur Respir J. 2012;40:1033-1045.
Indoor Air Pollutants and Health Effects
Hulin et al. Respiratory health and indoor air pollutants based on quantitative exposure assessments. Eur Respir J. 2012;40:1033-1045.
Environmental Measurements
• Dust sampling
–
–
–
–
–
Allergens (dust mite, cockroach, cat, mouse)
Fungi (ERMI, Illumina)
Bacteria (454 Pyrosequencing)
Pesticides
Ergosterol
• VOCs
–
Passive diffusion dosimeters
• Temperature and relative humidity
–
HOBO® continuous data logger
• Air exchange rate
–
Perfluorinated methylcyclohexane (PMCH)
• Particulate matter
–
–
–
PM2.5 mass concentration
Black carbon mass concentration
Particle number concentration
Preliminary Results
Renovation Status
Home Characteristic
Renovated
Baseline
12m
P-value
Non_renovated
Baseline
12m
Baselin
e
12m
Humidity (%)
44
41
42
46
0.6
0.8
PM 2.5 (μgm-3 )
75
50
46
40
0.1
0.5
32,524
0.2
0.2
Ultrafine Particles (cm-3)
27,000
25,380
40,000
VOC’s
Formaldehyde (mgm-3)
0.04
0.01
0.04
4
34
0.05
Der p 1 (Dust mite)
0.17
0.03
0.10
Der f 1 (Dust mite)
0.57
5.11
0.06
Fel d 1 (Cat)
0.40
0.20
0.20
Can f 1 (Dog)
0.45
1.06
0.20
Mus m 1 (Mice)
0.02
0.07
0.10
Bla g 2 (Cockroach)
0.20
0.70
0.06
Isopropyl Alcohol (μgm-3 )
Allergens (μgg-1)
Specific Aim 2 (ERMI)
Floor Dust Sampling
1m
1m
2 m2 at a rate of 2 min/m2
Floor Dust Sampling
Total surface at a rate of 1 min/m2
Sample Analysis
•5 mg of sieved dust was extracted and the DNA purified
using the DNA-EZ kit (GeneRite, North Brunswick, NJ).
•The extract was analyzed by MSQPCR (Haugland et
al., 2004).
•Statistical analysis of the differences in concentrations
in the dust samples of individual mold species at each
time point was evaluated by the Wilcoxon rank sum test.
•Corrections for multiple comparisons were made using
the Holms–Bonferroni test.
Haugland RA, Varma M, Wymer LJ, Vesper SJ. Quantitative PCR of selected Aspergillus, Penicillium and Paecilomyces species. Syst Appl
Microbiol. 2004;27:198–210.
ERMI Patterns over 12 Months
8.00
7.00
6.00
5.00
ERMI
4.00
*
3.00
Renovated
Non-Renovated
2.00
1.00
*
0.00
Pre
-1.00
-2.00
0
6
12
Conclusions
• The baseline data immediately after renovation
shows conflicting trends between greenrenovated and standard-renovated apartment
homes for different indoor pollutants.
Acknowledgments
• Department of Environmental Health (UC)
– Tiina Reponen, PhD
– Sergey Grinshpun, PhD
– Patrick Ryan, PhD
– Eric Kettleson, PhD
– Reshmi Indugula
– Christopher Schaffer
• National Center for Environmental Health, CDC
– Ginger Chew, ScD
– Mary Jean Brown, ScD RN
• Environmental Protection Agency
– Stephen Vesper, PhD
• U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
– Peter Ashley, DrPH
Funding
• U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
• CDC Green Housing Study (5UO1EH000990)
• US EPA