Indoor air pollution in old people's homes related to some health problems: a survey study

The impact of indoor air pollution on children's health and well-being: the experts' consensus

BACKGROUND

Pollution of the indoor environment represents a concern for human health, mainly in case of prolonged exposure such as in the case of women, children, the elderly, and the chronically ill, who spend most of their time in closed environments.

MAIN BODY

The aim of the study is to organize a group of experts in order to evaluate the evidence and discuss the main risk factors concerning indoor air and the impact on human health as well as challenging factors regarding preventive strategies to reduce pollution. The experts highlighted the main risk factors concerning indoor air, including poor ventilation, climatic conditions, chemical substances, and socio-economic status. They discussed the impact on human health in terms of mortality and morbidity, as well as challenging factors regarding preventive strategies to reduce pollution.

CONCLUSION

The experts identified strategies that can be reinforced to reduce indoor pollution and prevent negative consequences on human health at national and local levels.

Short-term and long-term effects of PM2.5 on acute nasopharyngitis in 10 communities of Guangdong, China

OBJECTIVES

We aimed to assess the effects of short-term and long-term exposure to ambient fine particle matter (PM_2.5) on acute nasopharyngitis.

METHODS

A total of 9468 participants aged 18 years and above were recruited from 10 communities in four cities of Guangdong, China during the baseline survey in 2014, and they were followed-up from January 2015 to December 2016. Air pollution exposure was assessed based on the daily concentrations (short-term) and annual concentrations (long-term) of the nearby air monitoring station and the survey date. A mixed-effect logistic model and Cox proportional hazards model were used to quantify the short-term and long-term associations after adjustment for potential confounding factors.

RESULTS

Significantly positive associations were found between both short-term and long-term exposures of PM_2.5 and acute nasopharyngitis. The adjusted odds ratio was 1.15 (95% CI: 1.07, 1.23) for each 10 μg/m³ increase in daily PM_2.5 at lag2 day (short-term effects), and the hazard risk was 1.18 (95% CI: 1.10, 1.25) for each 10 μg/m³ increase in annual PM_2.5 (long-term effects). Stronger associations between short-term PM_2.5 exposure and acute nasopharyngitis were observed among men (OR = 1.10; 95% CI: 1.04, 1.17) and participants aged above 65 years (OR = 1.13; 95% CI: 1.04, 1.23) in the stratified analyses. No significant association was found in women (OR = 1.00; 95% CI: 0.92, 1.10) or young participants ≤65 years (OR = 0.96; 95% CI: 0.88, 1.04). However, for the long-term exposure, the hazard risk was higher for participants younger than 65 years (OR = 1.22; 95% CI: 1.12, 1.32) than the older group (OR = 1.11; 95% CI: 1.00, 1.24).

CONCLUSION

This study indicates that both short-term and long-term exposures to higher concentrations of PM_2.5 could increase the risk of acute nasopharyngitis.

Sick Building Syndrome and Other Building-Related Illnesses

Sick building syndrome (SBS) and building-related illnesses are omnipresent in modern high-rise buildings. The SBS is a complex spectrum of ill health symptoms, such as mucous membrane irritation, asthma, neurotoxic effects, gastrointestinal disturbance, skin dryness, sensitivity to odours that may appear among occupants in office and public buildings, schools and hospitals. Studies on large office buildings from USA, UK, Sweden, Finland, Japan, Germany, Canada, China, India, Netherlands, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Thailand, substantiate the occurrence of SBS phenomena. The accumulated effects of a multitude of factors, such as the indoor environmental quality, building characteristics, building dampness, and activities of occupants attribute to SBS. A building occupant manifests at least one symptom of SBS, the onset of two or more symptoms at least twice, and rapid resolution of symptoms following moving away from the workstation or building may be defined as having SBS. Based on the peer-reviewed documentation, this chapter elaborates the magnitude of building-related health consequences due to measurable environmental causations, and the size of the population affected. The mechanisms and causative factors of SBS and illnesses include, for example, the oxidative stress resulting from indoor pollutants, VOCs, office work-related stressors, humidification, odours associated with moisture and bioaerosol exposure. Related regulatory standards and strategies for management of SBS and other illnesses are elaborated.

Fungal contamination assessment in Portuguese elderly care centers

Individuals spend 80-90% of their day indoors and elderly subjects are likely to spend even a greater amount of time indoors. Thus, indoor air pollutants such as bioaerosols may exert a significant impact on this age group. The aim of this study was to characterize fungal contamination within Portuguese elderly care centers. Fungi were measured using conventional as well as molecular methods in bedrooms, living rooms, canteens, storage areas, and outdoors. Bioaerosols were evaluated before and after the microenvironments' occupancy in order to understand the role played by occupancy in fungal contamination. Fungal load results varied from 32 colony-forming units CFU m(-3) in bedrooms to 228 CFU m(-3) in storage areas. Penicillium sp. was the most frequently isolated (38.1%), followed by Aspergillus sp. (16.3%) and Chrysonilia sp. (4.2%). With respect to Aspergillus genus, three different fungal species in indoor air were detected, with A. candidus (62.5%) the most prevalent. On surfaces, 40 different fungal species were isolated and the most frequent was Penicillium sp. (22.2%), followed by Aspergillus sp. (17.3%). Real-time polymerase chain reaction did not detect the presence of A. fumigatus complex. Species from Penicillium and Aspergillus genera were the most abundant in air and surfaces. The species A. fumigatus was present in 12.5% of all indoor microenvironments assessed. The living room was the indoor microenvironment with lowest fungal concentration and the storage area was highest.

Determination of airborne nanoparticles in elderly care centers

According to numerous studies, airborne nanoparticles have a potential to produce serious adverse human health effects when deposited into the respiratory tract. The most important parts of the lung are the alveolar regions with their enormous surface areas and potential to transfer nanoparticles into the blood stream. These effects may be potentiated in case of the elderly, since this population is more susceptible to air pollutants in general and more to nanoparticles than larger particles. The main goal of this investigation was to determine the exposure of institutionalized elders to nanoparticles using Nanoparticle Surface Area Monitor (NSAM) equipment to calculate the deposited surface area (DSA) of nanoparticles into elderly lungs. In total, 193 institutionalized individuals over 65 yr of age were examined in four elderly care centers (ECC). The occupancy daily pattern was achieved by applying a questionnaire, and it was concluded that these subjects spent most of their time indoors, including the bedroom and living room, the indoor microenvironments with higher prevalence of elderly occupancy. The deposited surface area ranged from 10 to 46 μm(2)/cm(3). The living rooms presented significantly higher levels compared with bedrooms. Comparing PM10 concentrations with nanoparticles deposited surface area in elderly lungs, it is conceivable that living rooms presented the highest concentration of PM10 and were similar to the highest average DSA. The temporal distribution of DSA was also assessed. While data showed a quantitative fluctuation in values in bedrooms, high peaks were detected in living rooms.

Asthma in the elderly: current knowledge and future directions

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Asthma is a common disease in the older population that is frequently undiagnosed and undertreated. We will review the current knowledge of asthma in the elderly (AIE) and shed light on the diagnostic and management challenges outlining needs for future research.

RECENT FINDINGS

There has been very little original research in the field of AIE published in the last few years, and current literature focuses primarily on a series of review articles. AIE often presents with multiple comorbidities, which complicates its course and management. There is renewed interest in nonallergic (intrinsic) asthma. T helper cell 1 inflammation triggered by respiratory infection, superantigens, proteases and interleukin 17 are possible mechanisms. An association between systemic inflammation in frailty and asthma may also be important.

SUMMARY

The diagnosis and treatment of AIE requires that the individual patient and his or her specific triggers and the likely pathophysiology be understood. Understanding the mechanisms of inflammation in this population is key to improved therapeutic interventions.

Environmental risk factors for early infantile atopic dermatitis

Previous studies of predictors of atopic dermatitis (AD) in Asia have had limited sample size and small numbers of variables focused primarily on family history or dietary exposures. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of various environmental risk factors for early infantile AD. We used multistage, stratified systematic sampling to recruit 2048 mother-child pairs from the Taiwan national birth registration in 2003. Information on environmental risk factors for infant AD gathered by questionnaire were available from 1760 infants at 6 months of age. Multiple logistic regression was used to estimate adjusted odds ratios (aORs) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for risk factors for AD after adjusting for potential confounders. AD was noted in 118 of 1760 (6.7%) of the infants. After adjusting for maternal age and education, family history of atopy, infant gender, and gestational age, fungi on walls of the house [aOR 2.14 (95% CI 1.41-3.22)] and frequent use of microwave oven at home [aOR 1.71 (95% CI 1.13-2.58)] increased the risk of early infantile AD. This study suggests that environmental factors do play a role in early infantile AD. Fungi, a kind of aeroallergen, are especially important in humid climate as in Taiwan and their impacts might be felt at the early infant stage. The hazards of microwave use should be paid more attention.