الفهرس 
NTRODUCTIONOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Indoor air quality (IAQ) is a significant concern for organizations as it may impact the health, welfare, comfort, productivity, and performance of people working in those buildings. As workers spend about 40 hours per week in their offices, certain health effects may result from poor IAQ, that may indirectly affect workers performance. The objectives of this study were to assess indicators of indoor air quality in administrative departments of drinking water plants in Alexandria governorate, assess the total fungal count from filters of air conditioning systems and air samples, assess the administrative workers’ performance, and correlate the indoor air quality to the administrative workers’ performance.
A cross-sectional study was conducted during the summer season from June-September 2021 at the administrative departments of the seven drinking water plants in Alexandria, Egypt. The study was held in 42 offices of the seven plants and assessed six offices in each plant. The target Population and Materials included both human and environmental materials. The human population was the administrative employees and managers. While the environmental materials included filters of the air conditioners and air components.
The main sources of indoor air pollution were physical, chemical, and biological. IAQ parameters that were assessed including temperature (T), relative humidity (RH), wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT), ventilation rate (VR), carbon dioxide (CO2), total volatile organic compounds (VOCS), total fungal count of air-conditioning filters, and total count of settled fungi were assessed using the recommended standard methods. While the work-related stress was assessed using a pre-designed interviewing questionnaire. Moreover, the performance of employees (n= 172) and managers (n= 12) were assessed using two pre-designed interviewing questionnaires.
The results of the present study revealed that indoor T and VR varied significantly (P≤ 0.05) among the seven plants. Other IAQ parameters were non-significantly (P> 0.05) varied among various plants. Regarding air temperature, the highest level was at plant C (29.5 ºC). The maximum RH level was at plant A (71.0%). The levels of CO2 were higher in all plants than the recommended guideline 1000 ppm. The ventilation rates were not accepted at the seven plants, as they were lower than the minimum ventilation rate ≥10 L/sec./person. The total fungal count of the AC filter was maximum at plant F (273 CFU/plate). The total count of settled fungi was maximum at plant G (15.0 CFU/plate).
The comparison of IAQ parameters between NV and AC offices revealed that the temperature (23.50 ºC), RH (52%), WBGT (20.50 ºC), and total counts of settled fungi (3 CFU/plate) were better in AC offices than in NV ones (29 ºC, 67%, 25.80 ºC, 8 CFU/plate, respectively). The ventilation rates and the concentrations of CO2 were better in NV offices (0.34 L/sec./person, 1627.0 ppm, respectively) than in AC ones (0.05 L/sec./person, 1671.0 ppm, respectively). In NV offices, the levels of VOCs were higher (0.01 ×10-4 mg/m3) than those in AC ones (0.0 mg/m3). The highest level of VOCs was at plant B (0.40 ×10-4 mg/m3), and it was not detected at plants C and E. Considering sociodemographic characteristics, the highly stressed workers were among the divorced (66.67%), below-intermediately-educated (66.67%) employees, the elderly 51-60 years (64.04%), and employees worked there for more than 20 years (64.91%). It was obvious from the study that the income parameter had the upper hand in causing work-related stress (100%).
The better performance of workers was noticed among those who were unmarried (86.25%), post-graduates (83.75%), young people 20-40 years (81.25%), and managers (85.00%). The correlations among IAQ parameters and performance score disclosed that both temperature and ventilation rates had a positive, non-significant effect on workers’
performance (P= 0.101 r= 0.121, P= 0.903 r= 0.009, respectively). The WBGT had a direct, weak, significant correlation coefficient (P=0.011 r=0.186). The results also confirmed that work-related stress had a moderate negative significant correlation coefficient (P< 0.001 r= -0.542) with the performance of workers.