News Items

News Item - September 2004

"Indoor air quality may affect childhood asthma"

In a recently published paper * an Australian study has found that:

• "domestic exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) ** at levels below currently accepted recommendations may  increase the risk of childhood asthma, and
  
  
• measurement of total volatile organic compounds (VOCs) may underestimate the risks associated with individual compounds."
  
  

The initial research suggested that:

"In conclusion the study results confirmed the role of susceptibility factors in asthma and show that indoor environmental factors contribute as risk factors for asthma in early stage of life. The observation that exposure to indoor air pollutants in early childhood is associated with asthma suggests the possibility that irritants in indoor air might be involved in the initiation phase of asthma.

Since the quality of the indoor environment is potentially modifiable there might be opportunities for intervention to reduce asthma symptoms. In order to counteract the increasing prevalence in asthma, the significance of the indoor environment where children grow and spend most of their time need to be given greater attention."

Read an abstract of the paper

Read the initial research

* Thorax - (An international peer review journal for health professionals in all aspects of
                respiratory medicine)

** Read the Australian Government description of Volatile Organic Compounds