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British Medical Bulletin 68:209-225 (2003)
© The British Council 2003; all rights reserved

Indoor air pollution: a global health concern

Junfeng (Jim) Zhang* and Kirk R Smith{dagger}

* Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute & School of Public Health, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, NJ and
{dagger} Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA

Correspondence to: Dr Junfeng (Jim) Zhang, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute & School of Public Health, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, 170 Frelinghuysen Road, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, USA. E-mail: jjzhang{at}eohsi.rutgers.edu

Indoor air pollution is ubiquitous, and takes many forms, ranging from smoke emitted from solid fuel combustion, especially in households in developing countries, to complex mixtures of volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds present in modern buildings. This paper reviews sources of, and health risks associated with, various indoor chemical pollutants, from a historical and global perspective. Health effects are presented for individual compounds or pollutant mixtures based on real-world exposure situations. Health risks from indoor air pollution are likely to be greatest in cities in developing countries, especially where risks associated with solid fuel combustion coincide with risk associated with modern buildings. Everyday exposure to multiple chemicals, most of which are present indoors, may contribute to increasing prevalence of asthma, autism, childhood cancer, medically unexplained symptoms, and perhaps other illnesses. Given that tobacco consumption and synthetic chemical usage will not be declining at least in the near future, concerns about indoor air pollution may be expected to remain.


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