Health Effects of Exposure to Air Pollutants in Indoor Environments Dr Sani Dimitroulopoulou Senior Environmental Scientist, Environmental Change Department, Public Health England Honorary Senior Lecturer, The Bartlett School of Environment, Energy and Resources, University College London Secretary, UK Indoor Environments Group
Overview Background on Guidance on health effects of IA pollutants Office buildings (non-industrial environments) Questionnaire surveys to identify exposure symptoms in office workers. Potential synergic/confounding role of other internal parameters and psychosocial stress in these health effects.
Reported health effects due to known and hypothesized health relevant primary and secondary pollutants that originate from sources in modern offices. Proposed list of indoor air pollutants to be measured in office buildings, according to project objectives.
Background on IAQ Guidance (1/2) COMEAP – Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants (2004) Guidance on the Effects of Indoor Air Pollutants, based on health effects NO2, CO, formaldehyde, benzene, benzo[a]pyrene INDEX project (Kotzias et al., 2005) prioritised indoor pollutants, based on health effects and high concentrations (> NOAEL): high priority chemicals: CO, formaldehyde, NO2, naphthalene further research: d‐limonene and α‐pinene. SCHER - The European Commission Scientific Committee on Health and Environmental Risks (2007) adopted the INDEX priority compounds further research: health effects of engineered nano‐particles, ozone‐initiated reaction products.
Background on IAQ Guidance (2/2) ENVIE project (de Oliveira Fernandes et al., 2008) prioritised indoor air pollutants, based on health effects particles (indoor and outdoor), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), NO2, formaldehyde. WHO (2009) Guidelines for indoor air quality: dampness and mould WHO (2010) Guidelines for indoor air pollutants: Selected pollutants benzene, CO, formaldehyde, naphthalene, NO2, PAH, radon, trichloroethylene, tetrachloroethylene NICE (2019) Guidance on Indoor Air Pollution To be developed Scoping Workshop - Stakeholder event: 9 Jan 2017 Get your Organisation registered!
Questionnaire surveys in offices (1/4) Questionnaire surveys Europe and US (Bluyssen et al., 1996; Reijula et al., 2004; Jaakkola et al., 2007; Brightman et al., 2008; Sakellaris et al., 2016; Kluizenaar et al., 2016).
Indoor air quality (IAQ) and associated exposure related symptoms in office workers Prevalence of symptoms (Wolkoff, 2012) Mucosal irritation, in eyes and upper airways. Lower respiratory symptoms (coughing). Central nervous system (neuropsychological) symptoms (CNS) (headache). Tiredness (fatigue).
Questionnaire surveys in offices (2/4)
Recall period Tiredness, dry, irritated or itchy eyes and headache: 30–90 days Eye symptoms, but not respiratory and nonspecific symptoms, diminished from 4 to 12 months (Chao et al., 2003). Office type Open plan offices - prevalence of symptoms increases with an increasing number of occupants (Pejtersen et al., 2006), due to: Poor IAQ: unpleasant odours and stuffy air, compared to cellular offices. Noise annoyance and psychosocial factors (e.g. organisation and location of workstations; job worries etc).
Questionnaire surveys in offices (3/4) Timing of IAQ measurements and symptom reporting Symptom reporting and measurements of IA pollutants are not carried out simultaneously; Correlation between exposure measures and symptoms is destroyed; Major problem: long-term measurements of IA pollutants do not reflect acute exposures. Seasonal dependence Associations between low relative humidity (RH) (5–30%) and an increase of prevalence of perceived dry air and sensory irritation of the eyes and upper airway; Intervention studies showed fewer complaints by an increase of RH (Wolkoff and Kjærgaard, 2007).
Questionnaire surveys in offices (4/4) Building characteristics OFFICAIR project (2010-2013)
Building Characteristics
Relative risk
(Kluizenaar et al., 2016)
Proximity (
