An indoor air quality survey was conducted on selectedfloors in an office building in
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Thesampling sites comprised four offices located along the samevertical column of the building. Measurements werema
de on alternate days at the same time of day duringworking hours. Indoor and outdoor samples were collectedfor volatile organic compounds (VOC), formal
dehy
de,total suspen
ded particles (TSP), nicotine, and ultravioletrespirable suspen
ded particles (UV-RSP). Compared withformal
dehy
de, acetal
dehy
de was found in higher concentrations outdoors because of the use of ethanol or ethanol/gasoline blends as alternative fuels for automobiles inBrazil. The TVOC concentration ranged from 304.3 to 1679.9
g/m
3 indoors and 22 to 643.2
g/m
3 outdoors. Theindoor level of total volatile organic compounds (TVOC)was especially high in the 13th floor office. A minorcontribution from environmental tobacco smoke was found.TSP values exceed the Brazilian Legislation (80
g/m
3) inboth outdoor and indoor air in the office located near thestreet traffic. For all pollutants evaluated I/O ratiosappeared to be higher in offices located on the top of thebuilding. The characterization of indoor air pollutantsallowed the suggestion of several remediation measuresto improve air quality in the offices.