Abstract
According to British Lung Foundation indoor air pollution is connected with toxic gases, various oxidative dusts, volatile organic (VOCs) and inorganic chemicals in the indoor air of buildings. Indoor spaces are considered houses, where people spent 85% of their time every day, workplaces, cars and public places (schools, hospitals, etc). Polluted indoor air has been linked to respiratory diseases, such as lung asthma. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and potentially lung cancer. Indoor air pollution has also been linked to other adverse health effects and increased risk of cardiovascular diseases and stroke. Findings from several health data sources estimated that around 2.4 billion people worldwide cook using open fires fuelled by burning biomass, kerosene, wood, animal dung and crop waste in poorly ventilated indoor kitchens generating harmful household air pollution (smoke). In general, it is calculated that all types of indoor air pollution are responsible for more than 3 million global premature deaths per year in 2020, including over 237,000 deaths of children under the age of 5. There are many sources of indoor air pollution: such as fuel-burning combustion appliances space heaters, furnaces, wood or coal-burning stoves and fireplaces. Also, indoor air is polluted by passive smoke of tobacco products. WHO estimated that around 1.2 million premature deaths every year are the result of non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke of other people (passive smoke). Building materials and furnishings as diverse as newly installed flooring, upholstery or carpet produce a series of toxic chemical emissions. Also, products for household cleaning and maintenance. Excess moisture and dumb indoors can cause adverse health effects. Also, external sources of Radon, pesticides residues, toxic chemicals and other outdoor air pollutants can enter and trapped inside buildings. Researchers and policymakers are only now waking up to the adverse effects of polluted indoor air in low-income and marginalized communities are most exposed by cooking and heating inside their houses with poor ventilation. The image of air pollution is often one of chimney stacks and smoggy cities. But this can be a misleading picture. Indoor air pollution killed more than 3 million people in 2020. Despite all these studies, indoor air pollution has been mostly invisible to science, and to special measures of health protection policies have been postponed for decades. People living in developed and developing countries on average spend approximately 85-90% of their time indoors. Indoor concentrations of some pollutants have increased in recent decades due to energy-efficient building construction and increased use of synthetic building materials, furnishings, personal care products, pesticides, and household cleaners. Researchers suggest that indoor air pollution should concentrate on the use of solid fuels for cooking and heating in poorly ventilated kitchens, the passive smoking indoors, and multiple emissions of toxic chemical substances, such as Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), CO, HCHO, ozone, nitrogen oxides (NOx), etc.
http://chem-tox-ecotox.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/INDOOR-AIR-POLLUTION-GLOBAL-PROBLEM-2023.pdf