Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
4.1
2.9
Journals
Atmosphere
Special Issues
Indoor Air Quality and Health Impacts
share announcement

Indoor Air Quality and Health Impacts

A special issue of Atmosphere (ISSN 2073-4433). This special issue belongs to the section "Air Quality and Human Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (22 August 2022) | Viewed by 6476

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Nadeem Ali

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Center of Excellence in Environmnetal Studies, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia
Interests: environmental chemistry; heavy metals; environmental pollution
Dr. Syed Ali Musstjab Akber Shah Eqani

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Public Health and Environment Division, Department of Biosciences, COMSATS University, Islamabad 45550, Pakistan
Interests: geomedical health; toxicology
Dr. Malarvannan Govindan

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
Toxicological Center, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Wilrijk, Belgium
Interests: environmental chemistry; human biomonitoring; exposure assessment; food safety; emerging contaminants; endocrine disrupting chemicals; brominated flame retardants; plasticizers; phthalates; bisphenols; human health effects; wildlife exposure
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Muhammad Zaffar Hashmi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemistry, COMSATS University Islamabad, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan
Interests: environmental remediation; organic pollutants; pesticides removal; analytical chemistry; environmental and industrial pollution

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

One of our era's greatest scourges is air pollution, on account not only of its impact on climate change but also its impact on public and individual health due to increased morbidity and mortality. Indoor pollution sources that release gases or particles into the air are the primary cause of home indoor air quality problems. Inadequate ventilation can increase indoor pollutant levels by not bringing in enough outdoor air to dilute indoor sources emissions and not carrying indoor air pollutants out of the home. High temperature and humidity levels can also increase concentrations of some contaminants. Indoor environmental quality is essential considering we spend around 90% of our time indoors. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), levels of some pollutants are two to five times higher indoors than outdoors. While indoors, people are getting exposed to these chemicals, which is a cause for concern. This is especially concerning for people more susceptible to adverse effects, such as young children with developing bodies, older people with weak bodies and immune systems, pregnant women, and those with heart and respiratory problems. There are many sources of these pollutants in indoor environments such as building materials, personal care products, indoor cooking and cleaning products, outdoor air pollutants via cross-ventilation, lack of good mechanical ventilation, use of pesticides, and furnishings.

Along with these chemicals, natural origin pollutants such as radon, mold, bacteria and pet dander, etc., are other indoor pollution causes. Several indoor pollutants have carcinogenic and endocrine disruption properties that cause several health implications. The only way to tackle this problem is through public awareness coupled with a multidisciplinary approach by scientific experts; national and international organizations must address the emergence of this threat and propose sustainable solutions. The mission of this collection is to find and make direct articles on the subject of indoor air quality and health impacts covering its different aspects. This collection provides the readers and authors with a vibrant and dynamic atmosphere to update them on indoor pollution. Original papers, review papers, and short communications are all welcomed for submission.

Dr. Nadeem Ali
Dr. Syed Ali Musstjab Akber Shah Eqani
Dr. Malarvannan Govindan
Dr. Muhammad Zaffar Hashmi
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Atmosphere is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • indoor air quality
  • environmental contaminants
  • monitoring atmospheric data
  • indoor air pollution
  • particulate matter absorption
  • public Health

Published Papers (3 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

Jump to: Review

18 pages, 1614 KiB  
Article
Chemical Characterization and Health Risk Assessment of Particulate Matter from Household Activities in Bamako, Mali, Western Sub-Saharan Africa
by Alimata Sidibe, Yosuke Sakamoto, Kentaro Murano, Keiichi Sato, Akie Yuba, Mari Futami, Ousmane A. Koita, Ibrahim Traore and Yoshizumi Kajii
Atmosphere 2022, 13(8), 1290; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/atmos13081290 - 13 Aug 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2354
Abstract
Household particulate matter (PM) is a major health concern, especially in developing regions, where biomass fuels are used quantitatively in households. Additionally, the combustion of incense (ICS) and insecticide (IST) is common. This study characterized the PM chemical composition to evaluate its health [...] Read more.
Household particulate matter (PM) is a major health concern, especially in developing regions, where biomass fuels are used quantitatively in households. Additionally, the combustion of incense (ICS) and insecticide (IST) is common. This study characterized the PM chemical composition to evaluate its health effects, as such information is lacking in developing regions, including Bamako, Mali. The composition of PM emitted from typical household activities, including cooking and combustion of ICS and IST, was characterized. These contained ions, organic carbon (OC), elemental carbon (EC), and metals. The results revealed that the chemical composition varied with emission source and combustion conditions. The dominant ions were Ca2+ (charcoal cooking), K+ (wood cooking) and F− (in ICS and IST). The OC/EC ratio for IST, ICS, wood, and charcoal cooking was 59, 30, 8, and 7, respectively. Moreover, US EPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency) health risk assessment models indicated a higher hazard index (≤6.04) than the recommended limit (1) for nearly all emission sources. Total-CR was higher than the lower boundary limit (10−6) in adults and children. Wood cooking activity and ICS combustion exceeded the unacceptable limit (10−4) in children. Our findings highlight the need to develop effective air pollution mitigation strategies for health safety. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Indoor Air Quality and Health Impacts)
►▼ Show Figures

Graphical abstract

18 pages, 3419 KiB  
Article
Impacts of Air Pollution and Dampness on Occupant Respiratory Health in Unplanned Houses: A Case Study of Bandung, Indonesia
by Hanief Sani, Tetsu Kubota, Jumpei Sumi and Usep Surahman
Atmosphere 2022, 13(8), 1272; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/atmos13081272 - 11 Aug 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1689
Abstract
This paper presents the results from field measurements and household surveys on the severity of indoor mold risk and its impact on respiratory health in a typical unplanned neighborhood of kampungs in Bandung, Indonesia. Mold risk was investigated using fungal risk detectors ( [...] Read more.
This paper presents the results from field measurements and household surveys on the severity of indoor mold risk and its impact on respiratory health in a typical unplanned neighborhood of kampungs in Bandung, Indonesia. Mold risk was investigated using fungal risk detectors (n = 102), while air pollution levels were established with total suspended particulate (TSP) and particulate matter (PM2.5) (n = 38). The self-reported prevalence of respiratory diseases was obtained using a questionnaire form (ATS-DLD-78) (n = 599). The results showed that respiratory health problems were higher in the rainy season, particularly among children. Most houses suffered from severe mold risk, primarily due to extreme humid weather conditions, especially during rainy season (97%) where water leakage was prevalent (60%). In addition, the TSP and PM2.5 concentrations exceeded the WHO standards in most kampung houses, where around 58% of the houses recorded higher outdoor mean PM2.5 concentrations than indoors. Further, the path analysis showed that allergies followed by humidity rate and smell, which were affected by window-opening duration, directly impacted children’s respiratory health. Smoking behavior and building-related health problems, due to exposure to outdoor air pollution, affected the respiratory health of those aged 15 years old and over. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Indoor Air Quality and Health Impacts)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Review

Jump to: Research

12 pages, 1629 KiB  
Review
A Short Review of Simple Analytical Methods for the Evaluation of PAHs and PAEs as Indoor Pollutants in House Dust Samples
by Santino Orecchio, Diana Amorello, Roberta Indelicato, Salvatore Barreca and Silvia Orecchio
Atmosphere 2022, 13(11), 1799; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/atmos13111799 - 30 Oct 2022
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 1694
Abstract
Studies on indoor air quality are indispensable when considering that people spend approximately 85% of their time in confined environments. This short review mostly takes into consideration research that uses passive samplers to evaluate the quality of indoor environments (houses, school, cars, etc.). [...] Read more.
Studies on indoor air quality are indispensable when considering that people spend approximately 85% of their time in confined environments. This short review mostly takes into consideration research that uses passive samplers to evaluate the quality of indoor environments (houses, school, cars, etc.). This short review summarizes most analytical methods to detect and quantify PAHs and PAEs in house dust used as a passive sampler. The objective of house dust analysis is to identify the presence, amount and distribution of specific hazardous substances in confined spaces and, if possible, to identify their sources. Household dust and the compounds present in it can enter the human body by inhalation, non-food ingestion and absorption through the skin. The observed differences in concentrations of house dust may also indicate important differences in the chemical and physical nature of pollutants caused by air filtration and absorption during the migration of ambient air into the indoor environment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Indoor Air Quality and Health Impacts)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-3
Back to TopTop