California Air Resources Board

Principal Investigator/Author: Yifang Zhu

Contractor: University of California, Los Angeles

Contract Number: 22RD026

Project Status: Active

Relevant CARB Programs: Indoor air

Topic Areas: Indoor Air Quality & Exposure, Indoor air

Research Summary:

Californians spend an average of 87 percent of their time indoors where they are exposed to emerging and persisting air pollutants. Such exposures cause various adverse health effects, including adverse birth outcomes, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, cancer, neurological disorders, and premature death. CARB’s 2005 report, Indoor Air Quality in California - A Report to the Legislature, reviewed the many health concerns posed by indoor pollutants and ranked indoor health threats in California. Since 2005, new challenges such as climate change that impact indoor air quality, new tools for indoor air quality assessment, new scientific facts for indoor air pollutants, and new concerns on Environmental Justice have emerged. The University of California, Los Angeles will provide an update to the CARB’s 2005 report. The research team will conduct a comprehensive literature review since 2005 and compile stakeholder inputs from relevant government agencies, industries, relevant organizations, and environmental justice communities through structured qualitative interviews and a public workshop. The research team will focus on two main questions: (1) What the priority indoor air pollutants in California are and (2) how exposures to these pollutants can be mitigated to enhance human health? The results will inform the California Air Resources Board and other local, state, and federal agencies on better policy-making and program development to further improve indoor air quality in California and benefit public health.

Keywords: indoor exposure and mitigation, environmental justice, public health