Gaelan Komen
Policy and Research Manager, Policy Connect
Barry Sheerman
MP for Huddersfield
Uncover hidden health risks in your home. Learn how indoor air quality impacts wellbeing and what the Government must do to safeguard public health.
Our health is a product of our environment. Home conditions — homes’ components and the environment within them — impinge on our health, with annual costs to the NHS running into the billions.
Factors affecting indoor air quality
We are accustomed to obvious risks, such as fire and fall hazards. The air in our homes, though often forgotten, significantly impacts our wellbeing. There is a concoction of airborne chemicals indoors — from building fabric emissions to combustion products, such as carbon monoxide from cooking and heating appliances.
Indoor air pollutants can lead to numerous health issues, from chronic ill health to potentially fatal complications. With 90% of time spent indoors, indoor exposure represents a grave portion of the 36,000 deaths in the UK attributed to air pollution.
Lacking strategy for indoor air quality
Indoor air quality (IAQ) is affected by a complex system of causes and mitigations. While individuals’ behaviours (like smoking or opening a window) are key, public services have considerable influence on many factors, including heating appliance safety and ambient pollution from congestion. Public servants bear the responsibility to address the inequitable impact on socioeconomically disadvantaged groups. There is a fragmented assortment of legislation and non-statutory guidance on aspects of IAQ, but many pollutants and sources go unaddressed. What’s missing is a concerted strategy to improve IAQ.
Indoor air quality (IAQ) is affected by a
complex system of causes and mitigations.
Government guidance on improving IAQ
The housing and health departments’ recent guidance on damp and mould, while narrowly focused, can be a good first step towards improving IAQ. Drawing such guidance into a single dossier can inform broader cross-departmental collaboration on IAQ and build awareness in policymaking and the public of the full effects of indoor air pollution.
The Government can draw on a range of expertise for its IAQ strategy. The All-Party Parliamentary Carbon Monoxide Group (APPCOG) convenes stakeholders that support the prevention of carbon monoxide poisoning through initiatives in, among others, healthcare, gas safety and healthy housing. The APPCOG network can be a key part of a coalition to advise on policy and coordinate on-the-ground IAQ action.
Address indoor air pollution now
With a general election looming, the next government must begin its preventative health agenda at home. Indoor air pollution sows the seeds of ill health and must be rooted out to drive improvements in public health and alleviate pressure on the NHS.
