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Excerpt: Indoor air pollution poses many
challenges to the health professional. This booklet offers an
overview of those challenges, focusing on acute conditions, with
patterns that point to particular agents and suggestions for
appropriate remedial action. The individual presenting with
environmentally associated symptoms is apt to have been exposed
to airborne substances originating not outdoors, but indoors.
Studies from the United States and Europe show that persons in
industrialized nations spend more than 90 percent of their time
indoors. For infants, the elderly, persons with chronic
diseases, and most urban residents of any age, the proportion is
probably higher. In addition, the concentrations of many
pollutants indoors exceed those outdoors. The locations of
highest concern are those involving prolonged, continuing
exposure — that is, the home, school, and workplace.
The lung is the most common site of injury by airborne
pollutants. Acute effects, however, may also include
nonrespiratory signs and symptoms, which may depend upon
toxicological characteristics of the substances and host-related
factors.
Credit: The American Lung Association, the
American Medical Association, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety
Commission, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Keywords: EPA, diagnostics, table, health
professionals, indoor air pollution, IAQ |
