Indoor Air Quality and Health in Pandemic Times
Air pollution has been linked to health issues such as heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, and high blood pressure, which have been identified as pre-existing medical disorders that increase the risk of death from COVID-19 infection.
The condition of the air in a home, school, office, or other building setting is referred to as “indoor air quality.”
Moreover, the importance of indoor air quality is a public health issue, and the pandemic has highlighted this importance more than ever. According to new research, businesses should prioritise indoor air quality not just to restart operations during the COVID pandemic, but also to provide healthy indoor air and working environments. Consulting Engineers Association of India (CEAI) will explain how indoor air quality is linked to human health, and how the epidemic has highlighted this link. To do so, this essay will explain what indoor air quality is, the health hazards it poses, and why it is so important.
For good cause, the present concern about COVID-19 transmission in public buildings has focused attention on CO2 as the most significant parameter of indoor air quality (IAQ). CO2 concentrations, according to experts, indicate how much of the air occupants breathe comes from other people’s respiratory systems, which is an important component in determining the risk of viral transmission.
Americans were spending 90% of their time indoors before to the outbreak. Indoor air quality was a problem, but it wasn’t a life-or-death situation, and the laws surrounding it weren’t as stringent as COVID required.
CEAI strongly believes that epidemic brought the issue of poor indoor air quality back into the spotlight. However, one significant distinction between what has been happening and what is happening now is that the pandemic has switched the attention to enforcing human health protections.
Consulting Engineers Association of India claims that improving indoor air quality, undoubtedly the most important aspect of a healthy building, begins with a thorough examination of the structure’s design and furnishings, HVAC system, airborne pollutants and toxins, and their sources. Building materials, paints, fabrics, cleaning goods, personal care items, and even air fresheners. CEAI believes we can all produce volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and other contaminants of concern to build healthy environment.
As we all know, indoor pollution can cause eye irritation, nose and throat irritation, headaches, dizziness, exhaustion, and worsening asthma symptoms, among other things. Chemicals like carbon monoxide and other bacterial pollutants can cause significant acute health impacts.
It may be claimed that health professionals take acute consequences of poor indoor air quality more seriously since they are more easily diagnosed, documented, and remedied. Long-term health impacts, on the other hand, might accumulate over time and lead to potentially grave health problems.
Chronic exposure to indoor air pollution can have long-term consequences. Respiratory disorders, heart disease, and cancer are all possible side effects. Long-term health impacts are serious, but they are difficult to prevent until the disease manifests itself or until the pollution source is identified.
Controlling pollutant sources is frequently the most effective approach of limiting long-term health impacts. Radon and asbestos are two examples of pollutant sources that can have substantial long-term health consequences.
Moreover, Consulting Engineers Association of India put a strong emphasis on the connection between pandemic time & human health.