Effects of Human Exposure to Contaminated Air

The effect of an individual’s exposure to room contamination depends mainly on the nature of the pollutants and the duration of the exposure. Response time after exposure is an essential factor in the assessment of the effect. Immediately after the exposure, acute effects such as inflammation, fatigue, headaches and dizziness occur. This is usually due to exposure to biological pollutants, emissions from building materials, but most often due to incorrect ventilation of the indoor space.

In response to long-term exposure or repeated exposure, chronic effects are manifested (cancer is one of the severe examples). Pollutants include tobacco smoke, radon, benzene, and asbestos.

Effects without serious health effects are the discomfort and the reduction in performance caused by changes in the physical parameters of indoor air.

In general, the umbrella concept is used to integrate the appearance of acute effects from exposure to contaminated indoor premises, “sickness syndrome“. As a result of incorrect ventilation and the accumulation of gaseous contamination and/or accumulations of biological pollutants in enclosures, the occupants of the building report a number of complaints for which there is no apparent reason, and the medical tests do not reveal any particular anomalies. Symptoms are present when people are in the building but disappear when they leave. But they usually lead to absenteeism or reduced work abilities and effectiveness of the exposed person.