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EU-funded research shows that many harmful air pollutants
make their presence known more indoors than outdoors.
AIRMEX (the 'European Indoor Air Monitoring and Exposure
Assessment Project') investigated indoor air quality and
personal exposure concentration by measuring 19 volatile organic
compounds - such as carbonyls, terpenoids and aromatics -
in indoor air, in public buildings and kindergartens in a
number of cities across Europe.
AIRMEX is funded under the EU's Joint Research Centre (JRC).
Improved health is a priority for the EU and this is outlined
in the European Environment and Health Action Plan 2004–2010,
which focuses on determining what impact environmental damage
has on human health. This action plan will give the EU the
information it needs to forge stronger collaboration between
stakeholders in the environment, health and research fields.
The AIRMEX partners found that personal exposure concentrations
to harmful pollutants - especially formaldehyde and benzene
- are, for the most part, higher than the respective indoor/outdoor
concentrations.
The research also showed that 40% of the personal exposure
concentrations, 30% of the indoor concentrations and 25% of
the outdoor concentrations topped the ambient air limit value
established by the Commission for 2010 under Directive
2000/69/EC for benzene. The researchers carried out
personal exposure measurements with employees and teachers
in their respective working environments.
According to the researchers, these values are above health
benchmarks. The outdoor concentration measurements single-handedly
underestimate the health risks from human exposure to the
values in the long run.
The researchers evaluated how human lung cells are affected
by the mixtures of chemicals. Based on their data, the chemical
compounds interact and their impact on human health is contingent
on the presence of other chemicals. On the whole, the results
indicate that the multiple effects of indoor air pollutants
depend on other components that affect people - including
stress, gender and genetic background.
Ultimately, the AIRMEX project identified and quantified
the main air pollutants in various areas and identified the
main sources of these pollutants. It estimated human exposure
and assessed how human health that is exposed to these pollutants
is affected - in particular, the well-being of children.
The researchers performed analyses in Athens and Thessaloniki
(Greece), Leipzig (Germany), Catania and Milan (Italy), Brussels
(Belgium), Nicosia (Cyprus) and Arnhem and Nijmegen (the Netherlands).
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