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    Researchkempskiuseofolfactorystimulantstoimproveairquality

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    Journal ofthe Human-Environmental System Review Article Vol. 5: No, 2: 61-68, 2002 ‘The Use of Olfactory Stimulants to Improve Indoor Air Quality Diotima von Kempski DVK air vtalizing system Bickergasse 2 40213 Disseldorf, Getmany E-mail: Dvkempski@-online.de (received on December 11, 2001, accepted on April 12,2002) Abstract ‘The impact of indoor air quality on the welt-being and comfor of a building's occupants are Key to creat- ing an indoor environment which increases human performance, “To date, efforts to improve indoor air quality have focused on creating thermal comfort and on developing technical means of reducing odor pollution, However, it has not yet been possible to translate these efforts Into a corresponding improvement in the "éissatistaction level” expressed by building occupants. ‘Conventional approaches are bound to remain Incomplete because they fail to take account of physio logical and psychological affects of the sense of smell. Acceptable indoor air quality can only be achieved if the reduction in air pollution is combined with the addition of natural ofactory stimulants with sufficient posi- tive attrioutes. Indoor air will only be perceived as acceptable if olfactory criteria are taken into consideration Jn adaltion tothe tradltional eitria of thermal comfort, Furthermore, itis necessary to set high standards for the use ofthe olfactory stimulants which are added to the indoor air. There are @ number of specific requirements for the selection and dispersion of these sub- stances. Key words: olfaction, indoor, ai quality, perception, well-being Introduction Its dificult to overstate the importance of indoor air quality. Research in the field of air conditioning hhas shown that indoor air quality has a significant in- fluence on the comfort and well-being of occupants ‘In particular, ar quality plays an important role in de~ termining employee productivity. It is estimated that the annual benefit of upgrading all commercial build ings in the United States to ASHRAE-standards 62- 1989 and 55-1992 [1] would amount to over $ 50 bil» lion or approximately $ 12 per square meter per year (Dorgan 1994) (2. Good indoot air quality is determined by two major atributes: + The air should not carry any health risks. + The sir should be perceived as pleasant and fresh. ‘The first ofthese attributes is assessed by objective ‘measures of air quality. Indoor air is generally te garded as acceptable, when it does not contain any known contaminants in armful concentration (ASHRAE 1989) [3]. This includes measures of con- centration of chemical agents, microorganisms, volatile organic compounds and carbon dioxide. Per ‘missible limits are established for the respective con- ‘centrations of pollutants. However with as many as 900 different hazardous substances present in any siven building this assessment of indoor air is itself « complex and difficult process. Adding another level of complexity to the meas- urement issues, the second attribute of good air qual- ity is defined by subjective criteria. For a long time the attention has been focused on the contaminants concentrations in indoor air. Only more recently have the subjective criteria been added. This is important because a true picture of the effect of air quality on ‘occupants requires the inclusion of the physiological and psychological factors measured by these subjec= tive eriteria, ‘The subjective criteria include two elements-ther- mal comfort (which depends on room temperature and humidity) and the peresived air quality (which depends on the odorous substances present in the ain) ‘While thermal comfort has long been the goal of airconditioning systems, the influence of the sense of smell has only recently been researched, Cain et al. (1983) [4] and Fanger et al. (1983) [5] have demonstrated that odor pollution directly infu- ences the “dissatisfaction rate” of occupants. The re 62 Diotima von Kempski search by Fanger (1988) [6] shows the percentage dissatisfied to be a function ofthe rate of ventilation air and the number of people occupying the space. On this basis a seale for evaluating air quality has been introduced. According tothe scale the perceived air quality can be expressed in decipols, where 1 de- cipol is defined as the odor pollution caused by one average person (one olf) ventilated by 10Vsee. of un- polluted ae ‘The evaluation of decipol figures has, however, been called into question. In a European Union (EU) audit (European Audit Project to Optimize Indoor Air Quality and Energy Consumption in Office Buildings), there are indications that the dissatisfac- tion level may not rise significantly until @ devipol- value of 10 has been reached and that this depends on ‘whether a trained or untrained test group is carrying ‘out the air quality evaluation (Bluyssen et al. 1995) [7] Bischof ct al.1999 [8]. The basic problem of air pollution and its effects on indoor air quality has, however, been confirmed by the investigations. Inde- pendent ofthe evaluation of the decipol levels, the re- sulls ofthe EU Auait show thatthe percentage dissat- isfied remains between 15% and 40% even when the outdoor air is adjusted to an optimum level and when the best available filtration is used (Finke 1995) {8}. Complaints of stuffy and artificial air persist. ‘The reason why the percentage dissatisfied is still relatively high is not so much because of inadequate technical equipment available but because current ap- proaches fail to take into account that our perception ‘or behavior is not only influenced negatively by odor pollution, but also by the absence of positive stima- lating substances (Brockmeier and von Kempski 1992) (9). ‘An approach whose primary concern has been to reduce or remove negative olfactory substances inthe air is valid but remains incomplete since it ignores the neurophysiological and psychological research findings from the field of aromachology. Olfactory Comfort ‘An assortment of odor molecules is found in un- treated air, With every breath they reach the uppet nasal passages called the cleft, which contain the ol- factory epithelium, The average epithelium contains roughly 30 millions receptor cells, each of which has microscopic hairs (cilia). Odor substances bind chemically with the cilia, beginning a process, which results in electrical messages being passed to the brain along the olfactory nerves. Within the brain, the olfactory bulb receives sensory inputs and comtmuni- cates these with a number of other regions including the limbic system, the hypothalamus, and the cortex. ‘The limbic system is probably the most complex, one of the most important, and one of the least well un- derstood parts of the brain. It controls mood and emotions, our perception of the environment as well as the formation, storage, and retrieval of memories. Stimuli which are transmitted, to the limbic system cannot consciously be blocked. All olfactory stimuli therefore influence our emotions (von Kempski 1996) [10}. They also contribute to a wealth of retained ‘memories—the olfactory sense is stored in the brain for a longer period of time than any of the other senses. To date, olfactory research has identified over 6,000 different olfactory substances of which up to 400 are generally found in indoor air. A number of surveys on the neuto-physiological and aromachological influence of odors indicate that the sensory assessment of olfactory substances re- quires analysis of the following four criteria: + Detectability + Intensity + Quality or character + Hedonic note. Of these four criteria (which are all detailed in the ASHRAE-handbook) [11] the hedonic note is of spe- cial importance. It decides whether the olfactory sub- stance is perceived as pleasant or unpleasant. De- pending on the quality, the intensity, and the de- fectability of the olfactory substance, the hedonic note determines whether it influences people posi- tively or negatively, Research over the past few years hhas demonstrated how olfactory substances of re- quired quality and hedonic note are capable of in- creasing individuals’ well-being, * Lorig and Schwartz (1988 [12] and 1990 [13)) studied the neurological and physiological effects of different olfactory substances and found that electro-physiological activity, especially in the parts of the brain which are important for alertness ‘and concentration, can be influenced positively or negatively depending on the olfactory substances used. Kobal (1992) [14] measured electrical brain activ- ity to determine that cognitive processes can be it fluenced in a controlled manner by the admi tion of various odors tothe right or let nostri Kikuchi (1991) [15] explored the effect of $ odor fous substances on the central nervous system. Cer- tain pleasant odors were found to increase both heart rate and contingent negative variation (CNV). ‘Moreover, the heart rate and CNV tended to vary coincidentally under the same odor conditions. Sogano (1984) [16], Yoshida et al. (1989) [17] and Ishiteya (1991) [18] independently identified a ‘number of olfactory substances which differentially influence the alpha and the delta waves which are The Use of Olfactory Stimulants o Improve Indoor Air Quality 63 indicators of mood. Harnisch (1982) [19] proved in a number of experi- ments (using the heart rate as a measure of fear) that pleasant odors are able to reduce fear. + More recently, Alaoui-Ismaili et al. (1997) [20] an- alyzed the neuro-physiological effects of olfactory substances with negative and positive hedonic notes. They demonstrate how substances with dif forent hedonic notes not only positively and nega- tively influence moods but also how these subjec~ tive perceptions themselves correspond fo neuro- Physiological symptoms. For example, specific positive olfactory substances can decrease physio logical stress resulting in normalization of neuro physiological symptoms such as skin resistance, skin temperature, breath frequency and heartbeat. The above findings have been confirmed by addi- tional research in the field of aromachology. + As early as 1987, Warren (1987) [21] reported that specific odors found in nutmeg oil, maze extract, neroli oil, valerian oil, myristiein, isoelemicin, and clemicin, can reduce stress in humans as well as re duce stress-related blood pressure. + The research conducted by Dember et al. (1992) [22] is of special significance. They measured the

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