Source identification and mitigation of indoor air pollution using monitoring data – Current trends

Abstract

Poor indoor air quality is responsible for around 3.2 million premature deaths each year. Accurately identifying indoor air pollution (IAP) sources is a quintessential step towards mitigating pollutants and associated health risks. Traditionally, receptor models have been used however, recently, new source identification methods have risen, which use real-time continuous monitoring data. In this review, the state-of-art in source identification and mitigation trends using IAP monitoring are critically analysed. Thirty-two research articles were reviewed with emphasis on source identification along with monitoring: environments monitored, pollutants, monitoring methods, source identification methods, and IAP sources found. Receptor models with factor analysis were still the most prevalent method. Meanwhile, the use of continuous monitoring methods for source identification has been rapidly increasing. Even low-cost sensors (LCS) have started to be used for identifying IAP sources. This review proposes a method of implementing real-time source identification. It also hypothesises a novel hybrid approach for source identification in which both traditional samplers and continuous monitoring methods can be used simultaneously for implementing preventive as well as reactive measures. The use of LCS to supplement traditional methods for source identification is proposed, owing to their ubiquity. However, low-cost technologies need to advance further to assure reliability.