Ana Catarina Pinheiro

Indoor Air Quality in Portuguese Archives: A Snapshot on Exposure Levels

Indoor air quality recently entered legislation in Portugal. Several parameters must be evaluated and kept within limits in order to obtain a certification for air quality and energy consumption. Certification parameters were analyzed in two Portuguese archives in order to assess indoor air quality both for people attending or working on these premises and for maintenance of a written heritage that must be retained for future generations. Carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO2), formaldehyde, and fungal counts were kept within stipulated limits. Relative humidity (RH), volatile organic compounds (VOC), particulate matter (PM10), and ozone (O3) showed values above legislated levels and justified the implementation of corrective measures. In terms of conservation, studies on the limit values are still needed, but according to the available international guidelines, some of the analyzed parameters such as PM10, O3, and RH were also above desirable values. Corrective measures were proposed to these institutions. Although this study was only of a short duration, it proved valuable in assessing potential eventual problems and constitutes the first Portuguese indoor air quality assessment taking into consideration both aspects of an archive such as human health and heritage safekeeping.

Chapter 25 – Processing Methodologies

Microorganisms, and more specifically fungi, can be identified and/or quantified by observation under a microscope, culture methods, biochemical methods, immunological assays, and molecular biology methods. Their main features are described in the following chapter.

Air, Surface and Water Sampling

Different methods can be applied to assess air fungal contamination. Passive and active methods will be focused on, as well as advantages and weaknesses for each of the discussed methods. Because biological materials found on any given surface may not correspond to those encountered in air samples, surface samples will be also covered. Water sampling will be mentioned owing to its importance in some specific circumstances.