Initiatives at the European Respiratory Society on indoor air quality

The European Respiratory Society (ERS) www.ersnet.org is a not-for profit,international medical organisation with over 8,000 members from 100 countries. It isthe largest society in Europe promoting respiratory health and lung research inEurope. These objectives are accomplished by promoting basic epidemiological andclinical respiratory research, collecting and disseminating scientific information,organising congresses and conferences, producing scientific publications, supportingtraining and continuous education in respiratory medicine and collaborating withorganisations representing patients. Its sister organisation the European LungFoundation (ELF) www.european-lung-foundation.org was created by the ERS in2000 with the mission of making its expertise in respiratory medicine and respiratoryhealth more accessible to the European scientific community and the European public.The ELF is the only pan-European foundation dedicated to advancing lung health inall its aspects.Indoor air quality is important because people spend more than 90% of their timeindoors. Many biological and non-biological agents contaminate indoor air andseveral scientific studies have identified a number of specific air pollutants as thecause of medical problems among children and adults. Buildings tend to beconstructed to be more energy efficient. To reduce the cost of heating or cooling, thisenergy efficiency translates into greater recirculation of air with indoor pollutants anddecreased fresh air intake. A proper ventilation is critical since energy costs aredriving the population into very tight unvented occupancy which leads toaccumulation of pollutants. Indoor air quality has been associated with respiratorydiseases such as asthma and allergies, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lowerrespiratory infections and lung cancer.The link between indoor factors and respiratory diseases has been well elucidated andseveral documents provide background information of the scientific evidence. Inparticular, WHO documents on indoor air quality are available(http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs292/en/index.html). A comprehensivereport of the European Federation of Allergy and Airways Diseases Patients18Associations Towards Healthy Air in Dwellings in Europe (the THADE Report)indicates the major issues in the field and presents several options for a Europeanprogramme on indoor air quality(http://www.efanet.org/activities/documents/THADEReport.pdf). In a position paperto be published soon, the Environment and Health Committee of the ERS highlightsthe sources and substances of concern for possible health effects, indicate prioritiesfor intervention, and propose issues for policy building at EU level.