ISSN: 2067-533X INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CONSERVATION SCIENCE Volume 12, Special Issue 1, August 2021: 817-826 www.ijcs.ro ASSESSMENT OF CHEMICAL POLLUTANT LEVELS IN THE INDOOR AIR OF STRAW BALE HOMES. A CASE STUDY Marzenna R. DUDZINSKA 1 * , Amelia STASZOWSKA 1 1 Department of Indoor and Outdoor Air Quality, Faculty of Environmental Engineering, Lublin University of Technology, Nadbystrzycka 40B, 20-618 Lublin, Poland Introduction European citizens are more and more interested in the environment protection and sustainable development, including their way of living. It is reflected, among other activities, in the demand to live in “green buildings”, “low energy” buildings or even “zero energy” buildings. Zero energy buildings and green buildings are typically defined and categorized by different certification programs. The environmental responsibility of green buildings should cover their full life cycle from design and construction, through maintenance to deconstruction [1]. Another popular trend in the building industry corresponds to natural buildings. There is no certification program devoted to natural buildings. The main idea of natural buildings is the need to minimize the impact of buildings on the environment, without decreasing comfort and indoor air quality. Therefore, the natural buildings are a range of materials and building systems that focus on sustainability. One way to achieve sustainability is to use long-lasting materials; another way is to use the minimally processed, plentiful or renewable resources, or recycled * Corresponding author: m.dudzinska@pollub.pl Abstract More and more people are interested in environment protection and sustainable development, which appears in the demand to live in “zero-energy” buildings or natural buildings. Most of natural materials used in building constructions and some constructions techniques have been used for hundreds or even thousands of years, but the straw bale technology was developed in the 20 th century and became popular not only in less developed world regions but also in the USA and Europe. The research related to natural buildings focused on thermal insulations or durability and very little is known about the indoor environment quality. The aim of this study was the assessment of indoor chemical pollutant levels in the buildings constructed in the straw bale technology located in the rural area of Eastern Poland (Lublin region). Investigation in the inhabited premised were conducted using passive sampling (Radiello dosimeters) followed by HPLC and UV spectroscopy. The data showed that the NO 2 and ozone concentrations were similar to the levels measured in typical buildings located in the same area, while the levels of several identified VOC and carbonyl compounds were lower. Despite the structure material, the human factor seems to be the most important parameter impacting indoor air quality. Keywords: Natural buildings – natural materials, Environment protection, Sustainability, Indoor air quality, Chemical pollutants, Volatile organic compound, Carbonyl compounds