Indoor exposure to chemical and biological agents and health efects in primary school children

Open Medicine ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 379-391 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ljiljana Stosic ◽  
Suzana Milutinovic ◽  
Maja Nikolic ◽  
Dragana Nikic ◽  
Olivera Radulovic ◽  
...  

AbstractThe aim of this study has been to estimate effects of indoor air pollutants on children’s health. An anamnestic retrospective study was done on 1074 children aged between 7 and 11 years old who lived in Nis (Serbia). An original questionnaire was used in an interview between training physicians and children’s parents. Interview data were processed by using Microsoft Excel and Epiinfo 6. The investigation determined that children who were more often exposed to combustion by-products had respiratory and nonspecific symptoms. Parental smoking was strongly associated with wheezing, bronchitis, headache and fatigue. There was no association between health and keeping pets, apart from partial nasal congestion. Presence of insects (e.g., cockroaches) and rats in households was a significant risk factor for all symptoms and diseases estimated except for asthma and pneumonia. Homes abundant in textiles were the cause of nasal congestion, wheezing and fatigue in children. Old mattresses were associated with respiratory symptoms, bronchitis, and nonspecific symptoms. It has been concluded that indoor air quality plays a major role in children’s health. Sources of indoor air pollution are present in every home. Being aware of the risks associated with indoor air quality problems, consequently, leads to their mitigation.

2010 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 149-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. K. Padhi ◽  
Pratap Kumar Padhy ◽  
Lokanath Sahu ◽  
V. K. Jain ◽  
Rupak Ghosh

Author(s):  
Anna Páldy ◽  
A. Pintér ◽  
J. Bácskai ◽  
P. Rudnai ◽  
I. Farkas ◽  
...  

2015 ◽  
Vol 78 (13-14) ◽  
pp. 915-930 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joana Madureira ◽  
Inês Paciência ◽  
Elisabete Ramos ◽  
Henrique Barros ◽  
Cristiana Pereira ◽  
...  

2013 ◽  
Vol 368-370 ◽  
pp. 525-530 ◽  
Author(s):  
Na Cui ◽  
Jing Chao Xie ◽  
Wen Yue Bian ◽  
Hiroshi Yoshino ◽  
U Yanagi ◽  
...  

Indoor air quality (IAQ) has been concerned since 1970s in some western countries. Many researchers have studied the effects of air pollution on children's health and evidence suggested that it did contribute significantly to the risk of adverse health in children. Children spend the majority of their time indoors, mostly at home. To study health effects of long-term exposure to indoor air, we conducted a questionnaire survey about indoor environment and children's health status in 2012 on the 4-5 grades children of a primary school in Beijing. The questionnaire was used to collect data on general information of children, living environment, residential equipments and lifestyle and children's health status. We classified the investigated families into several categories according to residential surrounding air pollution, decoration and smoking. Then we observed respiratory symptoms like cough, dyspnea with phlegm, nasal obstruction, asthma and some allergy symptoms in different categories. The results of this survey suggest that indoor air quality is associated with children's health. Morbidity of children's respiratory system symptoms and some allergy symptoms is higher in relatively poor indoor environment.


2009 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 377-385 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda Johnson ◽  
Christina Ciaccio ◽  
Charles S. Barnes ◽  
Kevin Kennedy ◽  
Erika Forrest ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Gabriela Ventura Silva ◽  
Anabela O. Martins ◽  
Susana D. S. Martins

Indoor air pollution has obtained more attention in a moment where “stay at home” is a maximum repeated for the entire world. It is urgent to know the sources of pollutants indoors, to improve the indoor air quality. This study presents some results obtained for twelve incense products, used indoors, at home, and in temples, but also in spa centers or yoga gymnasiums, where the respiratory intensity is high, and the consequences on health could be more severe. The focus of this study was the gaseous emissions of different types of incense, performing a VOC screening and identifying some specific VOCs different from the usual ones, which are known or suspected to cause severe chronic health effects: carcinogenic, mutagenic, and reprotoxic. Thirteen compounds were selected: benzene, toluene, styrene, naphthalene, furfural, furan, isoprene, 2-butenal, phenol, 2-furyl methyl ketone, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, and acrolein. The study also indicated that incense cone type shows a higher probability of being more pollutant than incense stick type, as from the 12 products tested, four were cone type, and three of them were in the group of the four higher polluters. Benzene and formaldehyde presented worrying levels in the major part of the products, above guideline values established by the WHO. Unfortunately, there are no limit values established for indoor air for all the compounds studied, but this fact should not exempt us from taking action to alert the population to the potential dangers of using those products. From this study, acetaldehyde, acrolein, furfural, and furan emerge as compounds with levels to deserve attention.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kamrie Sarnosky ◽  
Mark Benden ◽  
Leslie Cizmas ◽  
Annette Regan ◽  
Garett Sansom

Abstract Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated an already existing trend of individuals increasingly working remotely. With the growing popularity of remote working, specifically in a home office, there is a critical need to better understand and characterize the potential environmental differences between these two spaces. Indoor air pollution can have adverse health effects and impair cognitive functioning. Methods: This small pilot cohort study (N=22) recruited home and office workers to better understand the indoor air quality between these spaces. Air contaminants collected and assessed included PM10 and PM2.5, carbon dioxide (CO2), and total volatile organic compounds (TVOCs). Results: Findings showed a strong statistically significant increase in all measured variables within homes in comparison to traditional offices (p<0.001). For instance, The mean PM2.5 level in the traditional office space was 1.93 µg/m3 whereas it was more than twice this amount (5.97 µg/m3) in home offices.Conclusion: These results indicate that those who work from home are at increased risk due to longer exposures to higher levels of certain contaminants, the importance to better develop interventions to mitigate this reality is underscored by the fact that many workers will be moving to home-based offices in the coming years.


Author(s):  
Mohd Saleem ◽  
Mohd Adnan Kausar ◽  
Fahmida Khatoon ◽  
Sadaf Anwar ◽  
Syed Monowar Alam Shahid ◽  
...  

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.


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