Breathing clean air is a fundamental requirement of life. The quality of air inside homes, offices, schools, hospitals and other public buildings is an essential determinant of a healthy life and people’s well-being. Indoor air is a dominant exposure for humans. More than half of a person’s air intake during a lifetime is air inhaled in the home. Humans spend most of their life indoors (in many regions more than 90%). It is therefore easy to understand that the most important environment in relation to our health is the indoor environment [1]. Thus, a significant amount of illnesses related to environmental exposures stem from indoor air exposure. Indoor air was believed to be a major environmental factor for more than a hundred years, from the start of the hygienic revolution, around 1850, until outdoor environmental issues entered the scene, and became dominant around 1960.
More than one third of the world's population - 2.9 billion people - still burn wood, charcoal and dung indoors to keep warm and cook food. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 4.3 million people in 2012 lost their lives due to indoor air pollution. The new report from the UN Climate Panel recognizes that “at present the worldwide burden of human ill-health from climate change is relatively small compared with effects of other stressors.” Estimates from the WHO and others suggest that between 30 and 150 times more people are killed due to indoor air pollution than global warming. Yet, the latter dominates the headlines [2].
Central environmental issues today are outdoor air quality, energy use, climate change, air, soil and water pollution, deforestation, acid rain, ozone layer depletion, waste management, genetically modified organisms (GMO’s) and sustainable buildings, but not indoor air quality (IAQ). Many political figures name climate change the “defining issue of our times” and “perhaps the world’s most fearsome weapon of mass destruction.” Yet, the biggest environmental killer we face is actually indoor air pollution.
There is mounting evidence that exposure to indoor pollutants is the cause of excessive morbidity and mortality. In developing regions indoor unvented burning of biomass for cooking is the cause of at least 2,000,000 deaths a year (mainly women and children), and in the developed world indoor air quality is a main cause of allergies, airway infections, other hypersensitivity reactions and, through indoor radon, asbestos, and environmental tobacco smoke, can lead to cancer. Allergies, airway infections and sick building syndrome are associated with, e.g., ‘‘dampness’’, a low ventilation rate, and plasticizers [7]. In the future more emphasis must be given to IAQ and health issues.
The environment within a shelter is often more polluted than outdoor air due to indoor sources such as human, chemical and microbial emissions, open fires (still a major source of indoor air pollution in many developing regions) chemical off gassing from building materials, smoking, indoor activities, etc. This was and is the basis of the need for ventilation [1]. One important mechanism of improving IAQ is therefore removal of indoor sources. During the breakthrough of modern hygiene, from mid-19th century, indoor environmental issues received much attention, as did the quality of drinking-water and the treatment of sewage (e.g., linked to plagues such as cholera and tuberculosis). The main purpose of buildings is to create a climate more suitable for persons and processes than the outdoor climate. Consequently, a second control of IAQ, the ventilation in buildings, was created to dilute and remove the pollutants produced indoors.
In this unit, students will learn about main indoor pollutants, their origin and effects on human health. They will also learn the difference between the inorganic and organic indoor pollutants and we will address a few basic concepts about organic chemistry.
By exposing students to the basic concepts of indoor air pollution, introducing them to the health effects of main indoor air pollutants and making them aware of the importance of a good indoor air quality, teachers can contribute to the well-being of their classrooms and help to reduce the risk of health problems among student population. In addition, by understanding the consequences of short and long term exposure to indoor air pollutants, the students can become proactive and take measures to reduce the indoor air pollution in the classroom. Last, but not least, it is a teacher’s hope that introducing these concepts at an earlier age (middle school), will help to spark students’ interest in chemistry and mathematics.
