Fungi and the Indoor Environment: Their Impact on Human Health

2004 ◽  
pp. 1-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.D. Cooley ◽  
W.C. Wong ◽  
C.A. Jumper ◽  
D.C. Straus
Keyword(s):  
Human Health ◽  
Indoor Environment

scholarly journals Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Indoor Dust Collected during the COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown in Saudi Arabia: Status, Sources and Human Health Risks

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 2743
Author(s):  
Sultan Hassan Alamri ◽  
Nadeem Ali ◽  
Hussain Mohammed Salem Ali Albar ◽  
Muhammad Imtiaz Rashid ◽  
Nisreen Rajeh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Weight ◽  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Aromatic Hydrocarbons ◽  
Indoor Environment ◽  
Indoor Dust ◽  
Environment Quality ◽  
Indoor Environment Quality ◽  
Polycyclic Aromatic

To control the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Saudi Arabia’s government imposed a strict lockdown during March–July 2020. As a result, the public was confined to indoors, and most of their daily activities were happening in their indoor places, which might have resulted in lower indoor environment quality. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were analyzed in household dust (n = 40) collected from different residential districts of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, during the lockdown period. PAHs’ levels were two folds higher than the previously reported PAHs in indoor dust from this region. We detected low molecular weight (LMW) with two to four aromatic ring PAHs in all the samples with a significant contribution from Phenanthrene (Phe), present at an average concentration of 1590 ng/g of dust. Although high molecular weight (HMW) (5–6 aromatic ring) PAHs were detected at lower concentrations than LMW PAHs, however, they contributed >90% in the carcinogenic index of PAHs. The estimated daily intake (EDI) of specific PAHs was above the reference dose (RfD) for young children in high-end exposure and the calculated Incremental Lifetime Cancer Risk (ILCR) was >1.00 × 10−4 for both Saudi adults and young children. The study highlighted that indoor pollution has increased significantly during lockdown due to the increased indoor activities and inversely affect human health. This study also warrants to conduct more studies involving different chemicals to understand the indoor environment quality during strict lockdown conditions.

scholarly journals An Extensive Collection of Evaluation Indicators to Assess Occupants’ Health and Comfort in Indoor Environment

Atmosphere ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabio Fantozzi ◽  
Michele Rocca
Keyword(s):  
Human Health ◽  
Environmental Factor ◽  
Indoor Environment ◽  
Health Indicators ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Indoor Environmental Quality ◽  
Threshold Values ◽  
Relative Threshold ◽  
Extensive Collection ◽  
The Difference

Today, the effects of the indoor environment on occupants’ health and comfort represent a very important topic and requires a holistic approach in which the four main environmental factors (thermal comfort, air quality, acoustics, and lighting) should be simultaneously assessed. The present paper shows the results of a literature survey that aimed to collect the indicators for the evaluation of occupants’ health and comfort in indoor environmental quality evaluations. A broad number of papers that propose the indicators of a specific environmental factor is available in the scientific literature, but a review that collects the indicators of all four factors is lacking. In this review paper, the difference between indicators for the evaluation of risk for human health and for comfort evaluation is clarified. For each environmental factor, the risk for human health indicators are proposed with the relative threshold values, and the human comfort indicators are grouped into categories according to the number of parameters included, or the specific field of application for which they are proposed. Furthermore, the differences between human health and comfort indicators are highlighted.

scholarly journals What Have We Learned about the Microbiomes of Indoor Environments?

mSystems ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Brent Stephens
Keyword(s):  
Built Environment ◽  
Microbial Communities ◽  
Knowledge Base ◽  
Human Health ◽  
High Throughput ◽  
Indoor Environment ◽  
Molecular Techniques ◽  
Indoor Environments ◽  
Advanced Knowledge ◽  
The Way

ABSTRACT The advent and application of high-throughput molecular techniques for analyzing microbial communities in the indoor environment have led to illuminating findings and are beginning to change the way we think about human health in relation to the built environment. Here I review recent studies on the microbiology of the built environment, organize their findings into 12 major thematic categories, and comment on how these studies have or have not advanced knowledge in each area beyond what we already knew from over 100 years of applying culture-based methods to building samples. The advent and application of high-throughput molecular techniques for analyzing microbial communities in the indoor environment have led to illuminating findings and are beginning to change the way we think about human health in relation to the built environment. Here I review recent studies on the microbiology of the built environment, organize their findings into 12 major thematic categories, and comment on how these studies have or have not advanced knowledge in each area beyond what we already knew from over 100 years of applying culture-based methods to building samples. I propose that while we have added tremendous complexity to the rich existing knowledge base, the practical implications of this added complexity remain somewhat elusive. It remains to be seen how this new knowledge base will change how we design, build, and operate buildings. Much more research is needed to better understand the complexity with which indoor microbiomes may affect human health in both positive and negative ways.

scholarly journals Laser direct writing of carbonaceous sensors on cardboard for human health and indoor environment monitoring

RSC Advances ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (32) ◽  
pp. 18694-18703 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kuan Ju ◽  
Yang Gao ◽  
Ting Xiao ◽  
Cunjiang Yu ◽  
Jianpin Tan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Health ◽  
Indoor Environment ◽  
Environment Monitoring ◽  
Direct Writing ◽  
Laser Direct Writing

Carbonaceous sensors on cardboard can be used for human health and indoor environment monitoring.

scholarly journals The Impact of Carbon Dioxide Concentration on the Human Health - Case Study

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Kapalo ◽  
F. Domniţa ◽  
C. Bacoţiu ◽  
Nadija Spodyniuk
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Indoor Air ◽  
Indoor Environment ◽  
Carbon Dioxide Concentration ◽  
Carbon Dioxide Production ◽  
Human Respiration ◽  
Office Rooms ◽  
The Impact

Abstract From various other studies, it is known that the maximum carbon dioxide concentration in different countries is between 1,000 ppm up to 1,500 ppm. Therefore, the research is focused on indoor environment, namely the production of pollutants from the persons inside office rooms. The article presents the trend of the carbon dioxide concentration from the occupants inside an office. It is examined the carbon dioxide production separately for men and women, for persons of different mass and for persons of different ages. It is also analyzed the carbon dioxide production during a sedentary and physical activities. In parallel with the production of carbon dioxide is presented the monitoring of the human pulse and blood pressure. All these parameters are monitored together with relative humidity and indoor air temperature. The aims of this paper is to describe the partial results of human respiration impact on indoor air quality in closed spaces and to research the connection between carbon dioxide concentration and human health.

scholarly journals DALY indicator as an assessment tool for indoor air quality impact on human health

2018 ◽  
Vol 49 ◽  
pp. 00133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monika Wysocka
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Indoor Air Quality ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Indoor Air ◽  
Indoor Environment ◽  
World Health ◽  
Artificial Environment ◽  
Life Years ◽  
The Impact

The quality of indoor environment is an extremely important issue, because people spend large parts of the day inside buildings. The quality of the indoor environment is largely dependent on the quality of indoor air. The parameters of the air we breathe affect our health and comfort of room use. Currently, when energy efficiency is a priority, it is difficult to maintain comfort and conditions appropriate for human health. The artificial environment in a room and related inadequate air quality cause many diseases, such as asthma, lung diseases, cardiovascular diseases, as well as poor well-being and reduced productivity. The Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALY) indicator means “loss of life corrected by disability” and is widely used by the World Health Organization to measure a disease burden on the population and identify the causes of a disease. The aim of the article is to present the structure of the DALY indicator and its suitability to assess the impact of indoor air quality on human health. The most frequent diseases caused by low quality of internal air were analysed based on statistical data. In addition, the possibilities of ventilation solutions have been presented, leading to the improvement of air quality in indoor environment.

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