Dangers of poor indoor air quality: Health risks and workplace impacts

As we spend around 90% of our time indoors, it’s critical to understand the quality of the indoor air we breathe and the dangers of poor indoor air quality.

Indoor air quality is influenced by both the generation of pollutants indoors and the outdoor air around the building.

It comes to no surprise that Indoor air quality has a considerable impact on our health and wellbeing.

Importance of Indoor Air Quality

Indoor air quality (IAQ) refers to the quality of the air in an office, home, school or other building environment.

The dangers of poor indoor air quality on our health can be noteworthy for several reasons:

Health Risk of Poor IAQ:

Indoor air quality is a global issue, with both short and long-term exposure of poor indoor air quality can lead to a range of health issues, health effects of indoor air quality include respiratory diseases, heart disease, cognitive deficits, and cancer.

The World Health Organization estimates 3.8 million people worldwide die every year from illnesses attributed to poor indoor air from dirty cookstoves and fuel.

Certain populations may be affected more than others. Children, older adults, individuals with preexisting conditions, and households of low socioeconomic status are often exposed to higher levels of indoor pollutants.

Pollutants and sources

Typical indoor air pollutants:

The majority of pollutants that impact indoor air quality come from sources inside the building, although some come from outdoors. 

Outdoor sources: Outdoor air pollutants can get into buildings through open doors, windows, ventilation systems, and structural cracks. Some pollutants come indoors through building foundations such as Radon.

In areas with contaminated ground water, volatile chemicals can enter buildings via the same process. Volatile chemicals in water supplies can also enter indoor air when building occupants use water (showering).

Finally, when people enter buildings, they can inadvertently bring in soils and dust on their shoes and clothing from the outdoors, along with pollutants that adhere to those particles. (epa.gov)

Economic Impacts of poor IAQ:

In 2018, air pollution triggered a staggering cost of USD 2.9 trillion to the global economy, corresponding to 3.3 % of the world’s GDP. In the same year, unhealthy air quality caused 1.8 billion days of work absences worldwide. Other estimates suggest that air pollution accounts for USD 5 trillion, annually, in welfare costs for the global economy”
— Allianz

Health related costs of poor indoor air quality

Research shows that pollution-related illnesses account for a high portion of the costs associated with poor air quality.

A study specifically examining the impacts of nitrogen dioxide exposure found that in areas with just a 5.9 parts per billion increase in pollutant concentration, there was:

How indoor air quality affects productivity

Air pollution has well-researched impacts on labor productivity, especially due to increased work absenteeism and diminished individual cognitive and physical capabilities that translate into productivity.

In India, reduced productivity, work absences and premature deaths caused by air pollution cost the economy an estimated $95 billion – or 3% of the country’s GDP – in 2019”
— Clean Air Fund

How IAconnects can help?

Harnessing the power of information to deliver intelligence that drives efficiencies – for businesses, their people and our planet.

We Need to Keep the Conversation Going!

In general, the issue of indoor air pollution has been largely overshadowed by the attention focused on outdoor air pollution mainly from industrial and transport emissions. There is a need for more information about levels of exposure to indoor air pollutants, which can be achieved through monitoring, as well as the risks posed by long-term exposure to poor air quality.

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