Health impacts due to personal exposure to fine particles caused by insulation of residential buildings in Europe

Impacts of energy efficiency retrofitting measures on indoor PM2.5concentrations across different income groups in England: a modelling study

“…Exposure levels modelled are generally consistent with previous research using different modelling programmes and techniques (e.g. Milner et al, 2005;Shrubsole et al, 2012;Gens et al, 2014), which shows that the application of energy efficiency interventions on the domestic stock, whilst reducing exposure to outdoor sourced PM2.5 may increase exposure to indoor sources.…”

“…Previous studies have indicated that indoor PM2.5 concentrations can be higher relative to external levels due to internal sources (Chen and Zhao, 2011), and that increases in indoor PM2.5 levels can occur following energy efficient refurbishment without additional purposed-provided ventilation (Gens et al, 2014). Interventions that lead to increased airtightness without compensatory purpose-provided ventilation have been shown to increase exposure to indoor sourced PM2.5 (Wilkinson et al, 2009;Shrubsole et al, 2012).…”

Can housing improvements cure or prevent the onset of health conditions over time in deprived areas?

“…For example, older people may suffer negative effects of disruption from the improvement works and women are more likely to suffer depression in damp homes [13, 43] so may also benefit more from reduced dampness. There is also evidence to suggest that insulation can reduce ventilation leading to adverse health consequences [44]. So both individual differences and the counteracting effects of housing improvements may be masked by our current approach to analysis and more detailed analysis of subgroups in future research may highlight different relationships.…”

Long-term trends of chemical characteristics and sources of fine particle in Foshan City, Pearl River Delta: 2008–2014

“…Fine particle is the primary pollutant of concern in the context of regional and complex air pollution in China (Chan and Yao, 2008), although rising NOx and high O 3 are also causes for concern. PM 2.5 has long been associated with adverse health impacts such as respiratory disease and increased mortality (Gens et al, 2014;Hagerman et al, 2014;Lin et al, 2014). Recent interest has focused on the chemical species, transformation and sources (Cao et al, 2003;Chan and Yao, 2008;He et al, 2001;Tan et al, 2009aTan et al, , 2009bTang et al, 2006;Yang et al, 2011b) of PM 2.5 since it is both an air pollutant and also has climatic implications; moreover, the mechanisms of formation, evolution, as well as their quantification, are complex (Duan et al, 2007;Liu et al, 2008;Querol et al, 2008;Sun et al, 2006;Wang et al, 2002;Yang et al, 2011a).…”