Indoor air quality standards

Improving indoor air quality is one of the best ways to improve public health and reduce the health burden associated with infectious diseases, asthma, and a range of other health conditions. While we spend nearly 90% of our time indoors, indoor air quality is largely unregulated and is subject to pollution from a range of indoor and outdoor sources. In this Centre for Safe Air webinar, we heard from a leading expert in indoor air quality, Distinguished Professor Lidia Morawska (QUT), and Policy Manager at Asthma Australia, Angela Cartwright. The webinar and Q&A was facilitated by Centre for Safe Air Postdoctoral Researcher, Dr Nicolás Borchers Arriagada. The webinar explored indoor air quality as it relates to public buildings (including the science behind the push for national indoor air quality standards) and in the home (in relation to asthma triggers, policy developments and recommendations). Join the Centre for Safe Air mailing list to receive invitations to future webinars: www.safeair.org.au/connect Access the YouTube recording here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gp5NKvJrCIE&t=3s

The home environment is crucial for health and wellbeing. People inhale 11,000 litres of air per day on average, mostly inside homes. Even small amounts of air pollution in the home environment can have a significant impact on health. Moreover, the people who are most vulnerable to air pollution (children, older adults and people with disabilities) spend a greater proportion of time indoors where they are exposed to a number of hazards relating to heating and cooking appliances, sealing and ventilation. As such, enhancing minimum rental standards presents a major opportunity to improve air quality in rental properties and consequently the health of renters.

COVID-19, like other respiratory viral infections, is primarily transmitted in small airborne particles that carry the virus and are emitted during all human activities related to respiration (1). Particles are emitted during speech, coughing, sneezing, exercise or also quiet breathing. The particles are small enough to remain airborne for prolonged periods, especially in poorly ventilated indoor environments, and be transmitted long distances. Hence, the presence of one or more people with COVID-19 in an indoor environment places all persons who share the air in that indoor space at risk of infection. Airborne transmission is the main mechanism of transmission of COVID-19, including ‘super spreader’ events (1,2). Despite confusing and sometimes misleading public health messages (3), preventive measures to mitigate the airborne transmission of COVID-19 became an important and effective part of the public health response to COVID. These measures included mask mandates, restrictions on indoor gathering, requirements for enhanced ventilation for indoor settings, and air filtration in health care facilities, schools, aged care facilities and other high risk indoor environments. However, these were essentially emergency measures. The most effective interventions to reduce the severity and cost of future pandemics involve continuously improving indoor air quality (IAQ) for all Australians, with co-benefits for reducing the health and economic burden of indoor air pollution more generally.