Improving indoor environmental quality for public health: impediments and policy recommendations

Details

• Personal Author:
  Jacobs D ; Karol MH ; Miller D ; Mitchell C ; Wu F
• Description:
  BACKGROUND: People in modern societies spend more than 90% of their time indoors. Hence, indoor environmental quality (IEQ) has a significant impact on public health. In this article we describe health risks associated with indoor environments, illuminate barriers to overcoming these risks, and provide policy recommendations to achieve healthier indoor environments. OBJECTIVES: The weight of evidence suggests that indoor environmental contaminants pose significant public health risks, particularly among children and the poor, and the societal costs of illnesses related to indoor environments are considerable. Despite the evidence of harm to human health, poor indoor environments are generally difficult to regulate and not of sufficient concern to the general public. We discuss several reasons for this lack of concern about IEQ, focusing specifically on home environments. DISCUSSION: Economics plays a large role both in political inaction and individual-level indifference. Because little effort has been made to quantify the value of the societal and individual costs of poor housing quality, as well as the benefits achievable by simple interventions, policymakers lack motivation to act on IEQ. Similarly, individual homeowners lack the incentive to remediate homes, as other problems may be more pressing than home environmental quality. CONCLUSIONS: Although the problem of IEQ involves multiple stakeholders and multiple levels of governance, it is possible to establish economic incentives that would set the wheels in motion for action at all levels to achieve healthy home environments. Also important are education and information dissemination on the public health risks associated with indoor environments. These recommendations are intended for all decision makers who have an influence in developing policy to improve indoor environmental quality. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Aging Air Pollutants, Occupational Air Pollution, Indoor Environmental Exposure Environmental Health Men Occupational Health Public Health Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Women

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• Keywords:
  Age-groups Air-contamination Author Keywords: Impediments Children Education Environmental-exposure Environmental-health Exposure-levels Exposure-limits Humans Indoor-air-pollution Indoor-environmental-quality Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) Policy Recommendations Public Public-health Public Health Risk Risk-factors

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• ISSN:
  0091-6765
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  District of Columbia ; Illinois ; Maryland ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 5 ; Pennsylvania
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  115
• Issue:
  6
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20039111
• Citation:
  Environ Health Perspect 2007 Jun; 115(6):953-957
• Contact Point Address:
  Felicia Wu, Environmental and Occupational Health, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, A732 Crabtree Hall, 130 DeSoto St., Pittsburgh, PA 15261
• Email:
  fwu@eoh.pitt.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2007
• Performing Organization:
  University of Illinois at Chicago
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Environmental Health Perspectives
• End Date:
  20290630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:941b00865381ed8691744706c1811dbecdb980f4ea296b917d2f98bafe97f258702d0e128207111a98286a2012f77530782967eec3696c39975cd8657e6823b0
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/192586/cdc_192586_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 159.27 KB ]