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It is estimated that people spend approximately 90% of their time indoors. In parallel, diseases like asthma and allergies are increasing. It is also acknowledged that, from a scientific point of view, we still need to learn more about the link between health impacts and these various pollutants. What role can legislation play in this sensitive – and private – field? Managing the sources of indoor pollution must be considered within a wide policy that encompasses environmental, public health, housing, energy and sustainable development legislation.
On 23 and 24 September 2010 a conference takes place under the Belgian EU presidency, looking closely at the part concerning products and consumption.
The objective is to prepare a statement of current technical and scientific knowledge, to draw up an inventory of policies and initiatives relating to product emissions associated with indoor air quality and to identify gaps in the policies of the Union and of its Member States. Emphasis is placed in particular on building materials, given that work is currently being done in this field both at European level and in certain Member States.
The Long-range Research Initiative (LRI) has made a major contribution to this process. Early on scientific projects with various institutes across Europe have been initiated in order to better understand the connection between the different contributors to indoor air quality and health effects.
By contributing to the early identification of chemical allergens, LRI aims to advance work on preventing, diagnosing and treating respiratory health problems as well as developing a technique to improve risk assessment for air pollutants.
For more information, visit the web pages dedicated to the specific projects:
Running projects:
Integrated exposure for risk assessment in indoor environments
Realistic estimation of exposure to substances from multiple sources (TAGS)
Past projects:
Establishment and Management of a Research Inventory on the Indoor Environment
The EXPOLIS-Index Study, Human Exposure Patterns for Health Risk Assessment:Indoor Determinants of Personal Exposures in the European Expolis Population in Athens, Basel, Grenoble, Milan, Helsinki, Oxford And Praha