England (Commonwealth Union) – Air quality has been linked to a variety of health hazards with many instances of cities facing extreme pollution have had authorities’ advice against travel and the use of masks.
The Chef Medical Officer (CMO) of England has released a report with experts stating that building standards were not meeting healthy ventilation standards for offices, shops, public buildings and homes. The panel consisting of scientists and engineers stated that the system where buildings were meeting the standards at the design phase but there was limited inspection ensuring if those standards had been kept as the buildings came up or when used or adjusted over time.
“Whilst new buildings are subject to building standards, these are quite limited in scope and often poorly applied. There is good evidence that many buildings constructed to recent building standards fail to meet the minimum requirements for a number of aspects including ventilation,” the Chef Medical Officer’s report explained.
With the older buildings, the expert panel indicated that it was critical these standards are not pertinent to a significant number of older buildings across the UK.
The long-term benefits of clean air for individual health and that of environment are numerous. However, new adjustments to older buildings will most definitely require economic feasibility as many across the UK and most parts of the world are struggling financially.
Lead author for the technical review on solutions for indoor air quality in the CMO report, Cath Noakes, who is Professor of the Environmental Engineering for Buildings at the University of Leeds, stated that they recognized for many years that individuals were required to be shielded from outdoor air pollution. “Now, there is growing evidence that we need to adopt the same rigorous approach to indoor air quality and acknowledge that it plays a significant role in people’s health and wellbeing through exposure to pollutants and pathogens,” she said. “The technology exists to help keep people safe. We just need to ensure that it is in place, is working effectively and that people are able to use ventilation properly.”
