Indoor Air Quality in Sport Halls

Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) is increasingly seen as a widespread environmental problem. Over the years, sport and leisure/recreation facilities have become a refuge for the release of some of the everyday stress. This study aims to evaluate IAQ in sports halls during sports activities. Physicochemical parameters [Temperature (T degrees), Relative Humidity (RH), Carbon Dioxide (CO2), Carbon Monoxide (CO), Particulate Matter (PM10, PM2.5) and Ozone] were measured throughout the duration of the sporting activities and the microbiological parameters [Fungi and Bacteria] at the beginning the middle and the end of those activities. The study sample consisted of a sport hall in Porto and two sports halls in Lisbon. The mean occupancy of sports hall was 68.2+/-41.5, 33.20+/-16.62 and 12.60+/-9.11 people in sports hall 1, 2 and 3, respectively. In this study, the mean values were 6872,2+/-7531,4 CFU/m3 for bacteria and 1649,1+/-1371,2 CFU/m3 for fungi, a temperature of 22,1+/-1,99 C, 49,9+/-7,36% Relative Humidity, 857,3+/-676,62 mg/m3 of CO2, 0,40+/-0,31 mg/m3 of PM10, 0,14+/-0,17 mg/m3 of PM2.5 and CO of 0,13+/-0,38 mg/m3 and 0,00+/-0,00 mg/m3 of Ozone. The sports hall 3 presented the lowest IAQ. The parameters that exceeded the limit value were bacteria, fungi, PM10 and PM2.5.