California Air Resources Board

 SACRAMENTO – The state Air Resources Board (ARB) will be calling residents in the Roseville-Placerville area from October 16 through December 1991 in search of 180 area families to participate in a local indoor air pollution research project.

Researchers from ARB and the Research Triangle Institute, the project research firm, are not requesting volunteers. Instead, the ARB will be interviewing residents chosen at random to determine who will be asked to participate in the study.

Initially, the researchers will conduct five minute telephone interviews to identify families that use different combinations of household appliances, such as woodstoves and indoor heaters. Those interviews will assure researchers that a variety of appliances are included in the study, which is designed to measure polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, a complex group of chemicals that contribute to smog and carbon monoxide.

Following the telephone call, selected families will receive letters marked with ARB letterhead requesting their participation in the study, which is scheduled to begin in early January 1992. Those letters will include information that study participants can use to identify ARB and Research Triangle employees.

During the study, researchers will monitor emissions from home appliances over three days. The study will also include a questionnaire to determine the use of appliances and any personal behavior, such as the use of fireplaces or cigarette smoking, that may affect indoor pollution levels.

After the third study day, the researchers will analyze the monitors and prepare their report on the study's results. The final research report is expected during spring 1993.