Brussels, 30/09/2003 (Agence Europe) - Judging by the quality of the air, closed environments (inside buildings) are not always the healthiest. Europeans spend 85% 90% of their time indoors. Are they more exposed to pollution at home or in their office than in the middle of traffic? Scientists can answer that this is indeed sometimes the case. This is one good reason why Community research is attempting to respond to this problem and identify areas of priority action early on, explained the Commission.
The latest studies on human exposure to indoor pollution, released today by the European Commission at its Joint Research Centre (JRC) facilities in Ispra (Italy), reveal that indoor environments pose their own threats to health and, in some cases, can be at least twice as polluting as outdoor environments.
Hundreds of volatile components have been detected and some of them are toxic, mutagenic or carcinogenic. The number of potential sources is enormous. For instance, up to 20% of Europeans suffer from asthma, mucous , allergies, head aches fatigue due to substances inhaled indoor. Tobacco smoke, asbestos, radon and benzene released inside buildings are prime suspects in the increase in cancer cases amongst the European population.
Reductions in ventilation rates to limit energy consumption and extensive use of new building materials are releasing chemical substances with unknown toxic properties, which explain the high level of internal pollution and call for a greater number of reliable data at a European level. The Commission is therefore developing sophisticated analytical methods to provide for a fingerprint of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). Measurements are carried out, inter alia, at the EU INDOORTRON “environmental chamber”, and through a network of labs across Europe. This INDOORTRON facility forms the lynchpin of the Joint Research Centre's strategy towards monitoring Indoor Air Pollution, providing a highly controlled environment where air composition can accurately be measured and adjusted, without any influences from the surrounding atmosphere. This enables researchers to study, under highly controlled environmental conditions, indoor pollution episodes such as interior painting and use of other consumer products that have a potential impact on the health of European citizens.