Indoor air pollution and airway disease [State of the Art]

Authors: G. Viegi¹; M. Simoni¹; A. Scognamiglio¹; S. Baldacci¹; F. Pistelli²; L. Carrozzi²; I. Annesi-Maesano³

Source: The International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, Volume 8, Number 12, December 2004 , pp. 1401-1415(15)

Publisher: International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease

Purchase options

The full text is free.

View now:

218.6kb

More about this publication?

The International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease publishes articles on all aspects of lung health, including public health-related issues such as training programmes, cost-benefit analysis, legislation, epidemiology, intervention studies and health systems research. The IJTLD is dedicated to the continuing education of physicians and health personnel and the dissemination of information on tuberculosis and lung health world-wide.
Editorial Board
Information for Authors
Subscribe to this Title

More like this?

In this: publication
By this: publisher
In this Subject: Internal Medicine
By this author: G. Viegi ; M. Simoni ; A. Scognamiglio ; S. Baldacci ; F. Pistelli ; L. Carrozzi ; I. Annesi-Maesano

Content Key:

- Free

- New

- Open Access

- Subscribed

- Free Trial

Abstract:

Scientific interest in indoor pollution has been increasing since the second half of the 1980s. Growing scientific evidence has shown that because people generally spend the majority of their time indoors, indoor pollution plays a significant role in affecting health and is thus an important health issue. Indoor environments include dwellings, workplaces, schools and day care centres, bars, discotheques and vehicles. Common indoor pollutants are environmental tobacco smoke, particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds and biological allergens. In developing countries, relevant sources of indoor pollution include biomass and coal burning for cooking and heating. Concentrations of these pollutants can be many times higher indoors than outdoors. Indoor air pollution may increase the risk of irritation phenomena, allergic sensitisation, acute and chronic respiratory disorders and lung function impairment. Recent conservative estimates have shown that 1.5–2 million deaths per year worldwide could be attributed to indoor air pollution. Approximately 1 million of these deaths occur in children aged under 5 years due to acute respiratory infections, and significant proportions of deaths occur due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer in women. Today, indoor air pollution ranks tenth among preventable risk factors contributing to the global burden of disease. Further research is necessary to better evaluate the respiratory health effects of indoor pollution and to implement protective programmes for public health.

Keywords: indoor pollution; biomass; ETS; particles; nitrogen oxides; VOC; epidemiology; asthma; COPD; respiratory health; prevention

Document Type: Miscellaneous

Affiliations: 1: Pulmonary Environmental Epidemiology Unit, CNR Institute of Clinical Physiology, Pisa, Italy 2: Cardiothoracic Department, University Hospital, Pisa, Italy 3: Epidemiology of Allergic and Respiratory Diseases Department, INSERM U472, Villejuif, France