Climate Change, the Indoor Environment, and Health (2011) / Chapter Skim
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2 Background
2 Background
Pages 33-52
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From page 33... ...
The chapter identifies the five major issues related to potential alterations in indoor environmental quality induced by climate change: air quality, dampness, moisture and flooding, infectious agents and pests, thermal stress, and building ventilation, weatherization, and energy use. It also addresses populations that are particularly vulnerable to health problems associated with indoor environmental quality.
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From page 34... ...
Such findings are relevant to the committee's work because conditions in the outdoor environment greatly influence conditions in the indoor environment. Literature Regarding Observations of Climate Change This report uses the term climate to refer to prevailing outdoor environmental conditions -- including temperature, humidity, wind, precipitation, sea level, and other phenomena -- and climate change to refer to modifications in those outdoor conditions that occur over an extended period of time.
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From page 35... ...
Within the United States, hot days, hot nights, and heat waves have become more frequent in recent decades and were the leading cause of weather-related morbidity and mortality during 1970–2004 (USGCRP, 2009)
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From page 36... ...
assessment report in 1990, the best resolution of climate models was around 500 km; for the fourth IPCC assessment report (AR4) in 2007, the best resolution was around 100 km; and to support the fifth IPCC assessment, due in 2013, some climate-change models are being run at resolutions of tens of kilometers.
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From page 37... ...
Implications for the continental United States are that the northern tier of states will become wetter with attendant increased runoff and that the southern states will become drier, especially in the West. In the face of those changing patterns of temperature, precipitation, and extreme events, the range and effects of pathogens and pests are also expected to change.1 Beyond anecdotal evidence and extrapolation, there has been little study of how climate change will influence the indoor environment from the perspective of adverse effects on human health.
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From page 38... ...
Indoor environmental quality is a function of four general factors: macroenvironment, building infrastructure, occupant furnishings and activities, and occupant health and perceptions. These factors are detailed below.
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From page 39... ...
. Occupant health and perceptions, which influence susceptibility and response to contaminant exposures and indoor conditions, are perhaps the most complicated component of indoor environmental quality because of the inherent variability in human expectations and vulnerabilities.
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From page 40... ...
40 CLIMATE CHANGE, THE INDOOR ENVIRONMENT, AND HEALTH Potential direct and Potential impacts on the Potential impacts on health indirect consequences indoor environment of climate change Increased mortality and Change in loads on HVAC decreased productivity Increased incidence of systems from temperature extremes extreme temperature Increased energy Altered infectious events consumption respiratory disease transmission Exposure to chemical Damage to and degradation emissions from damaged of building materials Increased incidence of materials hurricanes and other extreme precipitation Water and vectorborne events in some locations diseases Flooding and water damage Higher sea levels Dampness/mold associated Displaced persons during symptoms or illness evacuations Physical and psychologic Increased incidence of stress from displacement drought in some locations Increased airborne Respiratory distress and particulates from crustal Increased incidence of illness dust and combustion wildfires Possible changes in irrigation practices Increased indoor Respiratory distress and ozone levels illness Increased outdoor Increased release of other ozone levels Other distress and illnesses pollutants from ozone from chemical exposures initiated chemistry Increased outdoor Allergen-mediated distress Alterations in indoor pollen levels and illness allergen levels Changes in geographic Distress and illnesses from Greater use of pesticides ranges of pests pesticide exposures More frequent Loss of mechanical Exposure to excessive interruptions in electrical ventilation heat or cold power from extreme weather events or Loss of mechanical cooling Exposure to CO from overstressing of the or heating back-up electrical generators electrical grid FIGURE 2-1 Possible pathways by which climate change could affect the indoor environment and health (adapted from Su, undated)
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From page 41... ...
The committee organized its examination of the literature regarding potential alterations in indoor environmental quality induced by climate change into five primary categories: air quality; dampness, moisture and flooding; infectious agents and pests; thermal stress; and building design, construction, operation, maintenance, and retrofitting. The divisions are in some respects arbitrary -- for example, damp spaces provide a hospitable environment for some pests and infectious agents and thus affect air quality -- but they are a means of rationalizing a complex set of circumstances that influence the health of building occupants.
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From page 42... ...
. That shift is peculiar to children: time spent indoors not only has increased slightly but has shifted between time spent in the residence and time spent in other indoor facilities.
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From page 43... ...
However, the lack of regional differences in time spent indoors in the United States suggests that adaptation also plays a role in this decision and insufficient information exists to draw confident conclusions about whether and how such factors will influence future behavior. CLIMATE CHANGE AND VULNERABLE POPULATIONS Segments of the population will vary in their ability to adapt to climate change–induced alterations in the indoor environment, depending on their circumstances.
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From page 44... ...
Several other aspects of climate change's effects on the indoor environment might also affect various segments of the population disproportionately. Susceptibility to such changes as increased incidence of extreme weather events, high humidity, and expanded ranges of some pests can be expected to be influenced by physiologic factors.
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From page 45... ...
, other research indicates that brick homes that have high thermal mass and top-floor apartments that have poor ventilation and closed windows are associated with increased mortality during heat waves relative to other buildings (Mirchandani, 1996; Vandentorren et al.; 2006)
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From page 46... ...
Among the uncertainties listed by the NRC report is "an inability to attribute explicitly many observed changes at local and regional scales to climate change." In summary, vulnerability to health effects associated with climate change and indoor environmental quality will depend on the process under scrutiny and will be the result of an interaction of extrinsic and intrinsic factors. Most of the adaptation to climate change and resulting indoor environmental quality will depend on changes implemented by the residents of homes.
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From page 47... ...
TABLE 2-2 Summary of Selected Potential Regional Climate-Change–Related Impacts Climate Related Impacts Extreme Degraded Urban Rainfall Sea United States Air Heat Tropical with Level Census Region Quality Islands Wildfires Heat Waves Storms Flooding Rise ● ● ● ● ● New England ME VT NH MA RI CT ● ● ● ● ● ● Middle Atlantic NY PA NJ DE MD ● ● ● ● East North Central WI MI IL IN OH ● ● ● West North Central ND MN SD IA NE KS MO ● ● ● ● ● ● ● South Atlantic WV VA NC SC GA FL DC ● ● ● ● ● East South Central KY TN MS AL ● ● ● ● ● ● ● West South Central TX OK AR LA ● ● ● ● ● Mountain MT ID WY NV UT CO AZ NM ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Pacific AK CA WA OR HI (excerpted from NRC, 2010a; adapted from CCSP, 2008)
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From page 48... ...
Models suggest that there will be important regional differences in these events: some areas of the country will become drier and others and wetter. • T here is a lack of understanding of the linkages between climate change, indoor environmental quality, and health.
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1996. Descriptive statistics tables from a detailed analysis of the National Human Activity Pattern Survey (NHAPS)
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2001. The National Human Activity Pattern Survey (NHAPS)
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indoor epidemiological study: Home characteristics, indoor pollutants, and subjects' daily activity pattern. Indoor Air 8(2)
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From page 52... ...
2009. Time allocated shifts and pollutant exposure due to traffic con gestion: An analysis using the national human activity pattern survey.
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