Approaches for assessing health risks from complex mixtures in indoor air: a panel overview.
Authors
Henry-CJ; Fishbein-L; Meggs-WJ; Ashford-NA; Schulte-PA; Anderson-H; Osborne-JS; Sepkovic-DW
Source
Environ Health Perspect 1991 Nov; 95:135-143
Abstract
Topics considered during a panel discussion of health risks associated with complex mixtures of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in indoor air were reviewed. Clinical research focussing on the impact of VOCs on human health were considered. Criteria for prioritizing research on VOCs were reviewed. Multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) was discussed. The discussion focussed on four groups which were at high risk for MCS: Industrial workers, occupants of tight buildings, communities adjacent to contaminated areas, and certain sensitive people exposed to consumer products, pesticides, or indoor air pollutants. Using biological markers to identify susceptibility to complex VOC mixtures was discussed. Past and present priorities for dealing with indoor VOC exposures were reviewed. The review emphasized exposures to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) and outgassing of formaldehyde (50000) from materials used in mobile homes. Studies of the effects of wood smoke on children were discussed. These have indicated that young, but not older children exposed to smoke from wood burning stoves have an elevated prevalence of chronic respiratory symptoms and acute chest illnesses. The use of cotinine (486566) as a marker for exposure to ETS was discussed.
Keywords
NIOSH-Author; Risk-analysis; Indoor-air-pollution; Epidemiology; Tobacco-smoke; Environmental-exposure; Aldehydes; Organic-vapors; Biological-monitoring; Health-hazards; Chemical-hypersensitivity; Indoor-environmental-quality
Document Type
Journal Article
Source Name
Environmental Health Perspectives
