Who Won the U.S. Presidential Debate?

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), air pollution is one of the greatest environmental health challenges that we face today. Various studies have shown that in addition to the lungs, it affects essential organs like the heart and brain, and that those who suffer most from its consequences are the most exposed or vulnerable people in society. It is a pervasive issue that affects all of humanity, and reinforces entrenched inequalities.

While vehicles and industry pollute the air outside, indoors we are exposed to a range of chemical pollutants that—even in moderate amounts—can cause headaches, dizziness, fatigue and nausea. In the long term, they can lead to more serious health problems.

One of the key factors behind the deterioration of interior air quality is that new buildings are becoming more airtight in order to improve energy efficiency. In buildings with very well insulated façades, mechanical ventilation systems have to play a bigger role than more traditional ventilation methods like windows and drafts.

In hermetically sealed buildings, less fresh air gets in. This means indoor air is replenished less often and pollutants from internal sources—or those that come in from outside—become more concentrated.

Eventually, this polluted indoor air—which is making more than a third of the planet sick—is expelled into the surrounding environment. This raises the question of how buildings pollute the air around them, what pollutants they produce, and whether this expelled air is sufficiently diluted once outdoors.

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