16 Sept 2017

#291 Fresh air for life

Fresh air for life
Air pollution is often associated with the outdoor but one should not underestimate the effect of household pollutants. Indoor air pollution can be defined as the characteristics of air such as physical, chemical or biological surrounding where you are residing in your house, institution or commercial facilities. Although, these do not seem to cause much hazard to health but in reality they actually do. Fresh air is as much as important as clean water for sustaining life on earth. Living in a developing urban area has not only improved our living conditions with the onset of technological developments but also affected the inhale of quality air.

Why has there been so much emphasis on quality of air? A study has revealed that indoor air can be more polluted than outdoor air and definitely it will have some severe effect on people’s health. Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) refers to the air quality within and around buildings and structures, especially as it relates to the health and comfort of building occupants. So, it is important to understand and control common pollutants of indoors to reduce the risk of indoor health issues. Health effects from indoor air pollutants may be experienced soon after exposure or, possibly, years later.

In developing countries, approximately around 3.5 billion people are susceptible to indoor air pollution as they completely rely on traditional fuels such as wood, charcoal or cow dung as media for cooking or heating purposes on daily basis. This has also raised an alarm of increasing concentration of pollutants as a result of production of smoke which is confined to the surrounding of house. In 1992, World Bank has placed indoor air pollution as the fourth most global problems in the list of environmental problems especially for developing countries.

Developed countries are not spared from the influence of household pollution. Although the causes of air pollution are different, yet the percentage of pollution is high. Efficient use of energy in household is a major problem which can contribute significantly to indoor air pollution in a way of making house airtight by curbing ventilation. The use of synthetic materials for building and furnishing and the use of chemical products, pesticides, and household care products have found to contribute to indoor air pollution.  Smoke from Tobacco generates a wide range of harmful chemicals and is known to cause cancer. Biological pollutants include pollen from plants, mite, hair from pets, fungi, parasites, and some bacteria. Most of them are allergens and can cause asthma, hay fever, and other allergic diseases.


The concern of World Health Organisation to air pollution can be viewed through its publication of the first edition of Air quality guidelines for Europe in the year 1987 containing health risk assessments of 28 chemical air contaminants. In 2000, WHO published a second edition of the guidelines and a “global update” was published in 2006. The second edition focused on the pollutants considered in the first edition. The global update focused on a small group of pollutants (particulate matter, ozone, nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide) The WHO air quality guidelines have played an important role in providing information and guidance for regulatory authorities working in the air pollution field. In Europe, the guidelines are now seen as the key source on which the European Commission’s directive on air quality is based.
The working group defined the following criteria for selecting compounds for which the development of WHO guidelines for indoor air could be recommended:
Ø existence of indoor sources
Ø availability of toxicological and epidemiological data
Ø indoor levels exceeding the levels of health concern

Based on the data, there is division of pollutant into two categories. Group 1 included pollutants for which WHO guidelines for indoor air were needed such as benzene, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, naphthalene, nitrogen dioxide, particulate matter, randon, trichloroethylene. Group 2 included pollutants of potential interest such as acetealdehyde, asbestos, glycol, ozone, hexane, xylene, toluene. 

Thus, acceptable indoor air quality can be achieved through source control and pollutant dispersion, and in particular through:
Ø application of low-emission materials and products;
Ø proper selection of the devices and fuels used for combustion indoors;
Ø the venting of products to the outdoor air;
Ø ventilation control

Royale Atmos is a paint that reduces harmful air pollutants and makes the air cleaner. Additionally, it also absorbs various foul smells & makes the air fresh. Thus, for the first time, Asian Paints presents a paint that not only looks good, but also helps purify air and improve the air quality inside your home.

Breathe in fresh air with Royale Atmos Paint.
Royale Atmos paint



SWETA SARANGI
16-9-2017



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