To deal with the health issue of indoor air quality and provide the public authorities with useful tools for managing this risk, ANSES has been working since 2004 to develop indoor air quality guidelines (IAQGs) based exclusively on health criteria. Since this work began, around a dozen pollutants of interest in indoor air have been investigated. This article introduces ANSES’s work on the matter.

Until recently, the quality of air inside buildings was not as major a health concern as the quality of outside air has been. Yet, in temperate climates we spend on average 85% of our time in enclosed environments, and a majority of that time in the home. Indoor air pollutants may have different sources and in recent years this subject has received increasing attention. In keeping with the past French National Environment & Health Action Plans (PNSE 2004-2008 and 2009-2013), the 2015-2019 plan (PNSE 3) incorporates several proposals on the quality of indoor air and integrates in full the Action Plan on the quality of indoor air published in 2013.