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About the Indoor Environments Division
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Read "The Inside Story: A Guide to Indoor Air Quality"
The Indoor Environments Division (IED), located within the Office of Radiation and Indoor Air (ORIA), under the Office of Air and Radiation (OAR), is responsible for implementing EPA’s Indoor Environments Program, a voluntary (non-regulatory) program to address indoor air pollution.
Most Americans spend about 90 percent of their time indoors, where pollutant levels may be 2-5 times higher, and occasionally 100 times higher, than outdoors. The Agency defines indoor air pollution as chemical, physical or biological contaminants in the breathable air inside a habitable structure or conveyance, such as in homes, schools, offices, and vehicles. Sources of indoor air pollution include natural sources, building materials, products, and occupant activities. Health effects from indoor air pollution range from immediate to long-term, and treatable to severely debilitating or fatal.
EPA's Indoor Environments Division seeks to reduce human health risks posed by contaminants in indoor environments. IED analyzes those risks based on sound science, and uses social marketing techniques to conduct broad public education and outreach. IED encourages people to take action to minimize their risk and mitigate indoor air quality problems. To complement efforts, IED partners with public and private sector entities, in some cases providing funding support. Partners across EPA Regions include state and local governments, tribes, non-profit public health organizations, and industry.
Since 1987, EPA has addressed public health risks from indoor radon, indoor asthma triggers, environmental tobacco smoke, and air toxics, in schools, public and commercial buildings, homes, and communities. Other program areas include mold, green buildings and international assistance in developing nations to reduce indoor smoke from household heating and cooking.
More information about the Indoor Environments Division's approach is presented below:
The original strategy for the Indoor Environments Program was articulated in EPA's Indoor Air Quality Implementation Plan. A Report to Congress Under Title IV of the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986: Radon Gas and Indoor Air Quality Research [EPA 600/8-87-031].
The mission of the Indoor Environments Division is to reduce human health risks posed by contaminants in indoor environments by gaining a better understanding of those risks and using this knowledge to promote appropriate risk-reduction actions by the public.
- EPA is the only federal agency principally dedicated to conducting broad public education and outreach programs to reduce the public health risks from
indoor air quality problems. Whereas other federal agencies play important roles in indoor air quality research, and indoor air quality in public housing and federal buildings,
EPA is responsible for analyzing relevant research and communicating indoor air quality risks and risk-reducing actions to the public. EPA is also co-chair of the federal Interagency
Committee on Indoor
Air Quality’s (CIAQ) quarterly meetings, which are open to the public and feature topics of interest to attendees.
- EPA partners with state and local governments, tribes, non-profit public health organizations, and industry to enhance the effectiveness of the Agency’s indoor air quality efforts. EPA complements partners’ indoor air quality efforts through the Agency’s national media campaigns to build awareness and prompt action, as well as through national guidance and policy to assess and mitigate problems. In addition, EPA provides funding support for states to conduct radon programs and for non-profit entities to reach targeted segments of the public.
In alignment with EPA’s strategic goal of clean air, the Indoor Environments Division's objective is to reduce human health risks by reducing exposure to indoor air contaminants through the promotion of voluntary actions by the public. To accomplish its strategic objective, IED focuses on the following priority areas and long-term measures:
Indoor Air Pollutant Priority Area Objectives
- Radon – To prevent future cancer deaths through the mitigation of existing homes and buildings and the construction of new radon-resistant homes and buildings.
See www.epa.gov/radon
- Indoor Asthma Triggers – To increase the number of people with asthma taking actions to reduce their exposure to environmental triggers. Priorities include children and low-income individuals.
See www.epa.gov/asthma
- Environmental Tobacco Smoke – To reduce the exposure of children 6 years of age and under to environmental tobacco smoke, predominantly in homes, child care facilities, and cars. Priorities include
low-income and low-education households. See
www.epa.gov/smokefree
- Air Toxics – To reduce the indoor component of multi-media and cumulative air toxics risks through national, regional and community-based programs. See www.epa.gov/air/toxicair/newtoxics.html
Building Type Priority Area Objectives
- Schools – To increase the number of primary and secondary schools with effective indoor air quality management practices and plans based on, or consistent with, Indoor Air Quality Tools for
Schools. Priorities include urban and rural (including tribal) schools.
See also
www.epa.gov/iaq/schools and
www.epa.gov/iaq/schools/actionkit.html
- Public and Commercial Buildings – To improve building occupant health and productivity and decrease stressors by increasing the number of public and
commercial buildings actively employing indoor air quality best practices consistent with EPA guidance.
See also
www.epa.gov/iaq/largebldgs
- Homes – To improve occupant health and reduce stressors in residential buildings by reducing exposure to indoor pollutants, both by following strategies consistent with EPA’s indoor air pollutant priority area objectives mentioned above, and by increasing the number of homes actively designed and constructed with the use of indoor air quality best practices consistent with EPA guidance. See www.epa.gov/iaq and www.epa.gov/iaq/homes
Cooperative Agreement Funding
The Indoor Environments Division has created partnership with public and private sector entities to help encourage the public to take action to minimize their risk and mitigate indoor air quality problems. In some cases, IED is able to provide funding support through cooperative agreements such as with tribes, non-profit public health organizations, and industry.
- View a listing of the 2007 IAQ Cooperative Partners and Project Summaries (PDF, 10 pp, 98KB, About PDF)
Cooperative agreement recipients conduct demonstration, training, education, and/or outreach projects that seek to reduce exposure to indoor air pollutants. Demonstrations generally involve new or experimental technologies, methods, or approaches, where the results of the project will be disseminated so that others can benefit from the knowledge gained in the demonstration project. Recipients must measure the results of their activities related to indoor air quality issues including pollutants (radon, environmental tobacco smoke, and indoor environmental asthma triggers) and building types (schools, commercial, and homes).
Although achievement of the "end" environmental outcome may not be able to be attributed to, or measurable within, the time frame of a single assistance agreement, results must involve:
- outputs - an activity, effort and/or associated product related to a larger environmental or programmatic goal or
objective; to be produced or provided over a specific period of time or by a specified date and that will be measurable,
either qualitatively or quantitatively, within the assistance funding period.
- outcomes - a measurable impact, result, effect or consequence that occurs from carrying out the program or activity. It may be programmatic, behavioral, environmental or health-related in nature. Impacts of programs or changes in behavior are typically intermediate outcomes that will eventually lead to desired changes in environmental or health status or "end" outcomes.
For information on funding opportunities available from EPA's Office of Air and Radiation (OAR), please visit Air & Radiation's Grants and Funding website.
Organization Chart
View Frequent Questions / Ask a Question
Search frequently asked questions or submit your own question or comment in our Frequent Questions Database. In addition to questions and answers relating to indoor environments, you may use this database to find information on any of our topic areas (e.g., Asthma, Radon, IAQ Tools for Schools, Mold, Smoke-free Homes, IAQ Design Tools for Schools, and General Indoor Air Quality Issues). You can also use this database to subscribe to any new information or updated information relating to any of the topics that may be posted on our website.
Call a Hotline
See a list of hotlines available by topic at www.epa.gov/iaq/iaqxline.html
Contact our Offices
Call: (202) 343-9370 (in Washington, DC)
Fax: (202) 343-2394 or (202) 343-2392
Regular Mail Address:
U.S. EPA/Office of Radiation and Indoor Air
Indoor Environments Division
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Mail Code 6609J
Washington, DC 20460Courier Service or Delivery address:
U.S. EPA/Office of Radiation and Indoor Air
Indoor Environments Division
1310 L Street, NW 4th Floor
Washington, DC 20005
Here's How to Order IAQ Publications
Publication pages by Topic:
IAQ Publications |
Mold
Resources |
Asthma |
Radon
|
IAQ Tools for Schools |
Secondhand Smoke/Smoke-free Homes
You can order Indoor Air Quality publications from EPA's National Service Center for Environmental Publications (NSCEP):
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
National Service Center for Environmental Publications (NSCEP)
P.O. Box 42419
Cincinnati, OH 45242-0419
Website: www.epa.gov/nscep
Phone: 1-800-490-9198
Fax: (301) 604-3408
E-mail: nscep@bps-lmit.comNSCEP operates a Toll-free phone service for EPA Publication Assistance with live customer service representative assistance Monday through Friday from 9:00am-5:30pm eastern time. Voice Mail is available after operating hours. You can fax or e-mail your publication requests. For technical assistance with NSCEP web pages, write to: nscep_nepis.tech@epa.gov