Climate Change, the Indoor Environment, and Health

Climate Change, the Indoor Environment, and Health

Author: Institute of Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2011-10-01

Total Pages: 286

ISBN-13: 0309209412

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The indoor environment affects occupants' health and comfort. Poor environmental conditions and indoor contaminants are estimated to cost the U.S. economy tens of billions of dollars a year in exacerbation of illnesses like asthma, allergic symptoms, and subsequent lost productivity. Climate change has the potential to affect the indoor environment because conditions inside buildings are influenced by conditions outside them. Climate Change, the Indoor Environment, and Health addresses the impacts that climate change may have on the indoor environment and the resulting health effects. It finds that steps taken to mitigate climate change may cause or exacerbate harmful indoor environmental conditions. The book discusses the role the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) should take in informing the public, health professionals, and those in the building industry about potential risks and what can be done to address them. The study also recommends that building codes account for climate change projections; that federal agencies join to develop or refine protocols and testing standards for evaluating emissions from materials, furnishings, and appliances used in buildings; and that building weatherization efforts include consideration of health effects. Climate Change, the Indoor Environment, and Health is written primarily for the EPA and other federal agencies, organizations, and researchers with interests in public health; the environment; building design, construction, and operation; and climate issues.


WHO global air quality guidelines

WHO global air quality guidelines

Author: Weltgesundheitsorganisation

Publisher: World Health Organization

Published: 2021-09-07

Total Pages: 300

ISBN-13: 9240034226

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The main objective of these updated global guidelines is to offer health-based air quality guideline levels, expressed as long-term or short-term concentrations for six key air pollutants: PM2.5, PM10, ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide. In addition, the guidelines provide interim targets to guide reduction efforts of these pollutants, as well as good practice statements for the management of certain types of PM (i.e., black carbon/elemental carbon, ultrafine particles, particles originating from sand and duststorms). These guidelines are not legally binding standards; however, they provide WHO Member States with an evidence-informed tool, which they can use to inform legislation and policy. Ultimately, the goal of these guidelines is to help reduce levels of air pollutants in order to decrease the enormous health burden resulting from the exposure to air pollution worldwide.


Links Between Air Quality and Economic Growth

Links Between Air Quality and Economic Growth

Author: Shanthi Nataraj

Publisher: Rand Corporation

Published: 2013-12-20

Total Pages: 119

ISBN-13: 0833083996

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This report assesses what evidence exists for the ways in which local air quality could influence local economic growth and how those effects might be relevant to the Pittsburgh region.


Valuing public goods using happiness data : the case of air quality

Valuing public goods using happiness data : the case of air quality

Author: Arik Levinson

Publisher:

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 33

ISBN-13:

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This paper describes and implements a method for estimating the average marginal value of a time-varying local public good: air quality. It uses the General Social Survey (GSS), which asks thousands of people in various U.S. locations how happy they are, along with other demographic and attitude questions. These data are matched with the Environmental Protection Agency's Air Quality System (AQS) to find the level of pollution in those locations on the dates the survey questions were asked. People with higher incomes in any given year and location report higher levels of happiness, and people interviewed on days when air pollution was worse than the local seasonal average report lower levels of happiness. Combining these two concepts, I derive the average marginal rate of substitution between income and air quality - a compensating variation for air pollution.


Indoor Air Quality

Indoor Air Quality

Author: M. Maroni

Publisher: Elsevier

Published: 1995-08-16

Total Pages: 1103

ISBN-13: 0080534627

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People spend most of their time indoors, and indoor air pollutants can cause both long and short term health effects. Awareness of indoor air pollution as an environmental issue, however, is relatively new. This book has been prepared to offer an up-to-date, comprehensive reference manual on indoor air quality to scientists and professionals active in this area. The intention of the book is to bring together a collection of contributions from specialists in the specific disciplines of indoor air quality, covering all points of view from various angles, from building design and building sciences, to health effects and medical diagnosis, toxicology of indoor air pollutants, and air sampling and analysis. One of the characteristics of this book is the multidisciplinary approach that integrates the expertise of medical doctors, architects, engineers, chemists, biologists, physicists and toxicologists. The resulting product is of great educational value and recommended for consultation as well as teaching purposes. The panel of conrtibuting authors includes top experts on indoor air worldwide, who have participated in international workshops and led the development of indoor air sciences over the recent years.


Air Quality Management in the United States

Air Quality Management in the United States

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2004-08-30

Total Pages: 426

ISBN-13: 0309167868

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Managing the nation's air quality is a complex undertaking, involving tens of thousands of people in regulating thousands of pollution sources. The authors identify what has worked and what has not, and they offer wide-ranging recommendations for setting future priorities, making difficult choices, and increasing innovation. This new book explores how to better integrate scientific advances and new technologies into the air quality management system. The volume reviews the three-decade history of governmental efforts toward cleaner air, discussing how air quality standards are set and results measured, the design and implementation of control strategies, regulatory processes and procedures, special issues with mobile pollution sources, and more. The book looks at efforts to spur social and behavioral changes that affect air quality, the effectiveness of market-based instruments for air quality regulation, and many other aspects of the issue. Rich in technical detail, this book will be of interest to all those engaged in air quality management: scientists, engineers, industrial managers, law makers, regulators, health officials, clean-air advocates, and concerned citizens.


Monitoring Ambient Air Quality for Health Impact Assessment

Monitoring Ambient Air Quality for Health Impact Assessment

Author: World Health Organization. Regional Office for Europe

Publisher: WHO Regional Office Europe

Published: 1999

Total Pages: 220

ISBN-13: 9789289013512

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A guide to the principles and methods of air quality assessment aimed at measuring population exposure to ambient air pollutants and estimating the effects on health. Addressed to policy-makers as well as scientists engaged in air quality monitoring, the book responds to the failure of most monitoring systems to provide data that are useful in estimating and managing threats to health. The need for exposure data on populations at special risk is also addressed. Throughout, emphasis is placed on methods of monitoring and modelling that are cost-effective, targeted, and appropriate to local and national conditions. The report has six chapters. The first introduces WHO activities related to air quality management and explains the need for monitoring systems capable of assessing health impact. The types of information required for health impact assessment are described in chapter two, which outlines several methods of monitoring and modelling that can be used to measure the level and distribution of exposure to air pollutants in populations, identify population groups with high exposure, and estimate adverse effects on health. Chapter three formulates a general concept of air quality assessment, offering advice on principles for designing a monitoring network, interpreting and reporting data, and solving problems with quality assurance. Also included is a comparison of the advantages, disadvantages, and costs of different methods for air quality monitoring. Against this background, the fourth and most extensive chapter describes specific methods for the monitoring of carbon monoxide, ozone, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, particulate matter, benzene, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, lead, and atmospheric cadmium. Monitoring strategies for each pollutant are presented according to a standard format, which covers health effects, sources and exposure patterns, monitoring methods, recommended strategies for monitoring and assessment, and a practical example. The remaining chapters offer advice on the collation, analysis, interpretation, and dissemination of data, and summarize the main conclusions and recommendations of the report. Detailed technical guidelines for the use of various methods and models are provided in a series of annexes. The report also reproduces the newly revised WHO air quality guidelines for Europe.


Environment, Natural Systems, and Development

Environment, Natural Systems, and Development

Author: Maynard M. Hufschmidt

Publisher:

Published: 1983

Total Pages: 376

ISBN-13:

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Benefit-cost analysis. Conceptual framework. Organization of the guide. Institutional and planning context. Multiple objetive nature of decisions. Planning and decision-making context. Organizational and administrative structure. Principles and environmental quality extensions of benefit-costs analysis. The purpose of benefit-cost analysis. Sources of values. Investment planning and decisions. Extension of benefit-cost analysis to environmental quality. Economic valuation techniques. Analyzing activities. Key definitions and concepts. Analyzing activities. Some examples of analysis. Analyzing effects on natural systems and receptors. Some problems in analyzing effects. Types of models for analyzing effects. Approaches to estimating effects. Choosing a model or set of models. Examples of estimating effects on natural systems. Some problems in estimating effects on natural systems. Approaches for estimating effects on receptors. Environmental quality valuation from the benefit side. Valuing benefits - a brief summary. Market value or productivity approaches. Surrogate market approaches. Litigation and compensation. Survey-based valuation techniques. Environmental quality valuation from the cost side. Cost analysis techniques. Cost-effectiveness analysis. Multiactivity economic-environmental quality models. Input-output models. Linear-programming models of environmental quality. Other models.