scholarly journals Biological contaminants in the indoor air environment and their impacts on human health

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pradeep Kumar ◽  
Mohd. Adnan Kausar ◽  
A. B. Singh ◽  
Rajeev Singh
Keyword(s):  
Human Health ◽  
Indoor Air ◽  
Biological Contaminants

Physicochemical and bacteriological characterization of hospital effluents and their impact on the environment

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chem Int
Keyword(s):  
Human Health ◽  
Fecal Coliforms ◽  
Chemical Pollution ◽  
Hospital Effluents ◽  
Biological Contaminants ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Direct Discharge ◽  
Significant Chemical

Liquid effluents discharged by hospitals may contain chemical and biological contaminants whose main source is the different substances used for the treatment of patients. This type of rejection can present a sanitary potentially dangerous risk for human health and can provoke a strong degradation of diverse environmental compartments mainly water and soils. The present study focuses on the quality of the liquid effluents of Hassani Abdelkader’s hospital of Sidi Bel-Abbes (West of Algeria). The results reveal a significant chemical pollution (COD: 879 mgO2/L, BOD5: 850 mgO2/L, NH4+ : 47.9 mg/l, NO2- : 4.2 mg/l, NO3- : 56.8 mg/l with respect to WHO standard of 90 mgO2/L, 30 mgO2/L, 0.5 mg/l, 1 mg/l and 1 mg/l respectively). However, these effluents are biodegradable since the ratio COD/BOD5 do not exceeded the value of 2 in almost all samples. The presence of pathogen germs is put into evidence such as pseudomonas, the clostridium, the staphylococcus, the fecal coliforms and fecal streptococcus. These results show that the direct discharge of these effluents constitutes a major threat to human health and the environment.

scholarly journals Association between Human Health and Indoor Air Pollution in Saudi Arabia: Indoor Environmental Quality Survey

2020 ◽  
pp. 57-66
Author(s):  
Mohd Saleem ◽  
Mohd Adnan Kausar ◽  
Fahmida Khatoon ◽  
Sadaf Anwar ◽  
Syed Monowar Alam Shahid ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Indoor Air Quality ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Indoor Air ◽  
Indoor Air Pollution ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Natural Light ◽  
Common Symptom ◽  
Indoor Environmental Quality

In many aspects of life quality, bio-contaminants and indoor air quality have had catastrophic consequences, including a negative impact on human health with an increased prevalence of allergic respiratory reactions, asthma, and infectious diseases. We aimed to evaluate the quality of indoor air environment and find out the association between human health and indoor air pollution and also to assess the physical health status of a group of Saudi and non-Saudi populations during this pandemic. Also, we aimed to assess the most common health condition or symptoms associated with ventilation. A questionnaire was distributed online to test indoor air quality, ventilation status, common signs and symptoms of any allergy or mental status and their relationship to certain variables. A total of 362 respondents were included. Before living in the current home, flu or Influenza and chapped lips were more prevalent than allergies and chapped lips signs while living in the current home. (12.2% , 10.8% vs. 18.5% , 13.55% before and after respectively) Multiple colds were the second most common symptom (10.2%). Hoarse voice and headaches were the least common symptoms experienced; each constituted 4.4%. During the COVID-19 Pandemic, most respondents wore a facemask, approximately 76.5%; and almost one-third of respondents had bright natural light inside the current home (43.1%). The presence of natural light within the current home was significantly associated with symptoms experienced during living in the current house (p<0.05). Natural sunlight exposure could decrease allergic symptoms and minor health problems associated with poor ventilation and air quality indoors. In current living homes, the majority of respondents never used air purifiers (72.9 percent). In order to get attention from people to enhance the quality and ventilation mechanism of indoor air, special care and awareness of the effects of the use of air purifiers on human health is needed.

scholarly journals Negative Air Ions and Their Effects on Human Health and Air Quality Improvement

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (10) ◽  
pp. 2966 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shu-Ye Jiang ◽  
Ali Ma ◽  
Srinivasan Ramachandran
Keyword(s):  
Human Health ◽  
Indoor Air ◽  
Psychological Health ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Air Pollutant ◽  
Therapeutic Effects ◽  
Air Ions ◽  
Air Cleaning ◽  
Negative Air Ions ◽  
Air Quality Improvement

Negative air ions (NAIs) have been discovered for more than 100 years and are widely used for air cleaning. Here, we have carried out a comprehensive reviewing on the effects of NAIs on humans/animals, and microorganisms, and plant development. The presence of NAIs is credited for increasing psychological health, productivity, and overall well-being but without consistent or reliable evidence in therapeutic effects and with controversy in anti-microorganisms. Reports also showed that NAIs could help people in relieving symptoms of allergies to dust, mold spores, and other allergens. Particulate matter (PM) is a major air pollutant that affects human health. Experimental data showed that NAIs could be used to high-efficiently remove PM. Finally, we have reviewed the plant-based NAI release system under the pulsed electric field (PEF) stimulation. This is a new NAI generation system which releases a huge amount of NAIs under the PEF treatment. The system may be used to freshen indoor air and reduce PM concentration in addition to enriching oxygen content and indoor decoration at home, school, hospital, airport, and other indoor areas.

scholarly journals 220Rn (Thoron) Geohazard in Room Air of Earthen Dwellings in Vietnam

Geofluids ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dương Nguyễn-Thuỳ ◽  
Hướng Nguyễn-Văn ◽  
Jan P. Schimmelmann ◽  
Nguyệt Thị Ánh Nguyễn ◽  
Kelsey Doiron ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
Radiation Dose ◽  
Radiation Exposure ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Indoor Air ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Human Health Risk ◽  
Radiation Hazard ◽  
Inhalation Dose ◽  
Interior Walls

Thoron’s (220Rn) contribution to α-radiation exposure is usually considered negligible compared to that of 222Rn (radon). Despite its short half-life of 55.6 seconds, thoron can be exhaled from porous surface layers of building materials into indoor air where people subsequently inhale radioisotopes, including metallic radioactive progeny. Bare surfaces of dry porous soil with relatively high 232Th content can pose a thoron radiation hazard in indoor air. On northern Vietnam’s Đồng Văn karst plateau, the spatial distribution of thoron was determined in indoor air of traditional earthen and other types of dwellings using portable RAD7 and SARAD® RTM 2200 detectors. “Mud houses” are constructed with local compacted soil and typically do not have any floor or wall coverings (i.e., no plaster, wallpaper, or paint). Detailed measurements in a mud house revealed levels of thoron in room air averaging >500 Bq m-3. The spatial distribution of α-radiation from thoron in indoor air at a distance of about 1 m from interior walls was fairly homogeneous and averaged ~200 Bq m-3. Most concerning, from a human health perspective, were the high thoron concentrations of up to 884 Bq m-3 in sleeping areas near mud walls. The average annual thoron radiation dose to inhabitants of mud houses was estimated based on 13 hours of daily occupancy, including daily activities and sleeping. The estimated average thoron inhalation dose of 27.1 mSv a-1 during sleeping hours near mud surfaces accounts for nearly 75% of the total estimated radon and thoron inhalation dose of 37.4 mSv a-1 from indoor mud house air. Our conservative annual radiation dose estimates do not include subsequent radiation from inhaled metallic progeny of thoron. Our data demonstrate a significant human health risk from radiation exposure and a critical need for remediation in traditional northern Vietnamese mud house dwellings.

Indoor Air Quality and Human Health

JAMA ◽  
1986 ◽  
Vol 255 (9) ◽  
pp. 1201
Author(s):  
Robert J. McCunney
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Indoor Air Quality ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Indoor Air
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