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Health Effects of Indoor Air Exposures

  • Conference paper
Advances in Controlled Clinical Inhalation Studies

Part of the book series: ILSI Monographs ((ILSI MONOGRAPHS))

Abstract

The pollutants inhaled in nonoccupational indoor settings can produce a variety of health effects, with the impacts being dependent on the nature of the pollutants, their concentrations, time spent indoors, respiratory rates, interindividual susceptibility to the effects of the specific pollutants, and the interactive effects of the multiple pollutant exposures. These basic considerations are well-known to those engaged in inhalation research. There have been a series of learned monographs on the health effects of indoor air, beginning with a National Research Council Report (NRC 1981), as well as international symposia on this topic at 3-year intervals since 1978 (Copenhagen, Amherst, Stockholm, Berlin, and Toronto). The Environmental Protection Agency has compiled a reference bibliography on indoor air containing 4367 citations (EPA 1989). This purpose of this presentation is to summarize current knowledge on the risks to passive building occupants from exposures to some of the indoor pollutants that have been the subject of major concern: radon (Rn) and daughters, environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), asbestos fibers, and unvented combustion products. Another important class of indoor air pollutants, the volatile organic chemicals, is addressed by Dr. Mølhave in another chapter.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nelson Inst. of Environmental Medicine, N.Y. University Medical Center, Long Meadow Road, 10987, Tuxedo, NY, USA

    M. Lippmann

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  1. M. Lippmann
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Experimentelle Pathologie, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Konstanty-Gutschow-Straße 8, 3000, Hannover 61, Germany

    Ulrich Mohr Prof. Dr. med.

  2. Dept. Health and Epidemiology, University of British Columbia, 5804 Fairview Crescent, Mather Building, V6T 1W5, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    David V. Bates M.D., F.R.C.P., F.R.C.P.C., F.A.C.P., F.R.S.C.

  3. Abteilung Pneumologie, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Konstanty-Gutschow-Straße 8, 3000, Hannover 61, Germany

    H. Fabel Prof. Dr. med.

  4. Pulmonary and Critical Care Unit, University of Rochester Medical Center, 601 Elmwood Avenue, 14642, Rochester, NY, USA

    Mark J. Utell M.D. (Professor of Medicine and Environmental Medicine) (Professor of Medicine and Environmental Medicine)

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© 1993 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Lippmann, M. (1993). Health Effects of Indoor Air Exposures. In: Mohr, U., Bates, D.V., Fabel, H., Utell, M.J. (eds) Advances in Controlled Clinical Inhalation Studies. ILSI Monographs. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-77176-7_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-77176-7_7

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-77178-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-77176-7

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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