Key definitions

• Key terms for indoor air quality are defined in this section.

Key terms commonly used in relation to indoor air quality are defined in this section. It’s important to understand these terms to ensure uniformity with safety plan development, communication, and development.

• Building-related illness (BRI): A specific illness that has been diagnosed and attributed directly to airborne building contaminants.
• Indoor air quality (IAQ): The air quality within and around buildings and structures.
• Secondhand smoke: The smoke inhaled involuntarily by people around a smoker.
• Sick building syndrome: Any number of symptoms or illnesses that are caused by exposures to unidentified contaminants in indoor air.
• Volatile organic compounds (VOCs): Organic chemical compounds whose composition makes it possible for them to evaporate under normal indoor atmospheric conditions of temperature and pressure.