R. Dixon Associates - Management Resources for Health, Safety and Environment

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Technical Update #6
The Indoor Environment

On 23rd. Dec/04, the “Times of London” published a front-page article entitled, “Household chemicals in direct link to asthma rise.” This article refers to a recently published study from the University of Bristol (UK) which confirms earlier studies linking household chemicals to childhood asthma.

At premises where recent water damage has occurred, asthma-related symptoms and allergic reactions are often wrongly attributed to the presence of mould. The fact is that exposure to other allergenic substances may be responsible. It is for this reason that we draw your attention to the above research findings, which strengthen the association between exposure to trace amounts of chemicals in the home or the workplace, and asthma-related symptoms.

Asthma of course does not only affect children. It is a chronic disease that causes the inside walls of the airways of the respiratory tract to be inflamed. This condition makes the airways very sensitive. Both adults and children, when exposed to airborne allergens or irritants including dust particles, develop a sensitivity which causes the airways to become narrower, - thus limiting the flow of air to the lungs. The affected person has symptoms like wheezing, coughing, chest tightness and general breathing difficulties. Asthma cannot be cured, but for most patients it can be effectively controlled.

In the course of our indoor environmental health work, we notice a significant increase in reported cases of asthma-related symptoms among building occupants. While it is clear that children are particularly susceptible, as evidenced by the growing use of “inhalers” among early school-age children, many adults are equally vulnerable.

For adults and children, there are two main factors involved:

• Increasing chemical sensitization due to an increasing use of commercial chemical formulations in the home and workplace, such as cleaners and deodorants, and,
• A “cult of cleanliness,” which limits an individual’s exposure to antigenic materials such as organic dusts, animal dander and micro-organisms (including mould) found normally in the indoor environment. This limitation of exposure restricts the development of a normally responsive immune system.

Therefore, when investigating allergy and asthma complaints in the workplace or in the home, factors other than mould exposure must always be considered.

R. Dixon Associates: rdixonconsult@hotmail.com