THE LINK BETWEEN RESIDENTIAL AIR QUALITY AND CHILDREN'S HEALTH

Nowadays, the modern way of human life has lead to an increasing exposure to residential indoor air pollution sources (i.e. building materials, solvents used in cleaning, paints, bio-contaminants, tobacco smoke, carpets and combustions) which has been associated with adverse health effects. Especially infants and young children comprise a vulnerable subpopulation as they spend the majority of their time indoors at home while their respiratory and other systems are under development. Children's health outcomes that have been studied in literature include primarily respiratory diseases such as asthma, impairment of lung function, wheeze and dry cough and allergic disorders such as, atopic dermatitis and rhinitis. The methodology followed for the determination of the above health impacts varies among questionnaires, doctor diagnosis, collection of urine samples, skin-prick tests, spirometric measurements and blood samples, depending on the health problem that had to be examined. The main indoor air pollutants that were measured and linked to children's health included particulate matter (PM), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), formaldehyde and other carbonyl compounds, carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), heavy metals and several biological agents. Furthermore, parameters such as geographical, the area of the house and the type of residence were also taken under consideration. It is the purpose of the current study to carry out a state of the art of the link between residential air quality and children's health. The review will be focused on the methodological approaches used for the assessment of air quality in homes and the determination of several health effects on children.