Indoor air pollution: Why you should be concerned

Much has been said about plastic pollution of water bodies, oil spills polluting farmlands, factories polluting the air and other forms of outdoor pollution. However, experts say that we spend 80 per cent of our time inside enclosures that are not just buildings. Therefore, we should be concerned about the kind of pollution that happens indoors.

Professor Godson Ana, an air pollution expert and president of the Environmental Health Scientists Association of Nigeria (EHSAN), sheds light on the issue of indoor pollution.

First, he spoke on why individuals should be concerned. He said, “We spend more time indoors than outdoors. And in indoor environments, distribution of pollutants is restricted unlike outdoors where there is dilution of the pollutants as they disperse through the air. Within the indoor environment, there is a build-up of pollutants like gases which are chemicals. They may be organic or inorganic. There are biological ones too like viruses, fungal spores and parasites. Those are the things that increase the vulnerability of the occupants of such indoor settings.”

Who are the vulnerable groups?

According to Professor Ana, “Children especially under-fives, because of the low development of their organs. Other vulnerable groups include women, especially pregnant ones. And then you have the elderly. I say the aged or elderly because like little children, for the aged people their immune system and the functionality of their organs are declining. So this makes them also highly vulnerable. That is part of the reasons why indoor air pollution is a challenge. We spend 80 per cent of our time indoors.”

The air pollution expert explained that “the indoor environment is not just the buildings. The indoor environment includes any built enclosure including vehicles, ships and aeroplanes. All these built enclosures make up indoor environment.”

Speaking further, he said indoor air pollution influences communicable diseases.

“Another worrisome aspect is the prevalence of communicable diseases. Most communicable diseases are propagated within the indoor settings, because of the occupancy ratio. For example, you see in a classroom that is supposed to have at most 10 pupils, or an office that is meant to have three persons, and in that office, you have 10 persons, or in that classroom, you are supposed to have 10 pupils you have 50 children. Or in a dormitory where you are supposed to have only four students, you have over 10 students. In such indoor settings, the rate of propagation of such problems will be high. That is why respiratory conditions like tuberculosis spread very fast at the local level. Currently, what we are experiencing globally, the coronavirus is also very serious and that is why we find it so acute in highly populated places like China.  However indoor air pollution is a very serious problem that ravages communities and affects vulnerable groups, especially children, pregnant women and the elderly.”

Sources

There are multiple sources for instance the combustion source which involve the use of generators, burning of refuse, automobile emissions that diffuse into homes and also diffuses into vehicles, also from unsanitary conditions like poor disposal of faeces, decay of plant and animal remains. Poor sanitary practices generally increase the level of micro-organics that are airborne.

Professor Ana gave the sources of indoor air pollution and what individuals can do about it.

“At the home level, we must be careful because a lot of volatile organic compounds are released.  From the kitchen settings, a lot of processes occur that have emissions which must be managed. Kitchen ventilation systems must be in place to reduce the build-up of such pollutants.

“There should be proper management of faecal matter in the sanitary convenience. There is a tendency to keep damp clothes indoors. This will increase fungal growth. Fungal spores can exacerbate asthma. To deal with fungal spores indoors one must increase the amount of ventilation. A room that does not allow much sunlight is not ideal. Sunlight is a natural means of sterilisation. The sun’s radiant energy destroys bacterial and fungal growth.

“Rooms, where natural solar radiation does not penetrate effectively such rooms, can be conducive for the growth of such organisms. They should be increased ventilation, there should natural sun radiation so as to naturally sterilise the room. This is in addition to regular cleaning to reduce the microbial population,” he said.

Need for standards in indoor air quality

Also speaking on the issue, Professor Jacob Sonibare, a professor of Chemical Engineering Air Pollution & Noise Specialist/Life Cycle Analyst at the Department of Chemical Engineering, Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife, in a paper titled, ‘Indoor and Outdoor Air Pollution in Nigeria: Issues, Concerns and Next Steps’ identified lack of air quality standards for the indoor environment in Nigeria.

According to him, “Whenever an indoor air quality study is carried out in the country, the standard of reference usually employed is the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) of the country which gives room for misrepresentation of the indoor environment of interest.

“The other indoor air quality standards occasionally employed for indoor data interpretation in the country are the 2010 World Health Organisation guidelines and the standards of the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE, 2007).

“Though air quality measurements are presently carried out in the indoor and outdoor environments in the country, some of the equipments in use for these studies are not with appropriate detection limits and resolution.

“There is not enough capacity building in air quality monitoring in the country and this makes it difficult for its accurate data interpretation and data analysis at the end of every fieldwork.

As a solution, he suggested that “There is the need to immediately embark on the process of developing indoor air quality standards to fill the identified gap in this area.

“Capacity building in air quality monitoring has to be intensified in our relevant Teaching and Research Institutions. This will assist to build local expertise that can monitor air quality both in the indoor and outdoor environments using the appropriate tool.”

Comparing Africa with the developed world in the context of air pollution, Professor Sonibare noted that “While the common sources of air pollution in Europe and America, for example, include industry, transport, agriculture, waste management and households, those in Africa vary slightly due to the low level of industrialisation in most of her nations.”

He said that industrialisation may have produced more pollutants for the developed world, but it has at the same time provided solutions.

“As established in environmental economic management, though industrialisation comes with environmental pollution, the level of resources realised under this type of economy also strengthens it to be able to invest in environmental pollution control equipment. This is one of the reasons why the industrialised nations are less polluted than the less industrialised ones like Nigeria. And this, perhaps, dictates the nature of air quality available both in the indoor and outdoor environments of a nation.”

Professor Sonibare concluded that “there are presently some gaps to be filled in the country’s efforts to improve on her indoor and outdoor air quality management. Though indoor air quality management may have no significant impacts on the outdoor air quality especially in an unstable atmosphere, good control of the outdoor air quality may go a long way to improve the quality of air available in the indoor environment.”