Indoor air pollution in old people's homes related to some health problems: a survey study.
The present research reports on a survey of 96 subjects between the ages of 60 and 95 years, living close to Paris in a social collective habitat. The aim was to show, using goodness-of-fit statistical tests (P < 0.1), how old people lifestyles can subject them to generated chemical or bacteriological indoor pollutants. Risk factors due to lifestyles were analyzed in relation to complaints and to health condition. There are many ways that old people are exposed to pollutants: difficulty in maintaining the residence, preference for staying in the kitchens, substantial use of cleaning chemicals. However, the principal risk for health problems is arguably inadequate ventilation (unclean screens, blocked air vents, etc.), which increases the concentration of indoor pollutants. These risks are amplified by ignorance about the hazards of inadequate ventilation.


CONCLUSIONS
The present investigation suggests that the lifestyle and the behavior of old people could be the cause of an interior air pollution of their housing. Measures realized in representative dwellings selected in relation to results must confirm that these risks would require the installation of an automatic monitoring system of the indoor air near these people.
Laboratoire d'Etude des Nuisances Atmosphériques et de leurs Effets, Institut Universitaire Professionnalisé Ville et Santé, Université Paris XIII, Bobigny Cedex, France. coelho.carlos@neuf.fr
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Coelho
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Steers
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Lutzler
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Schriver-Mazzuoli
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006306:Health Surveys; D016852:Housing for the Elderly; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010297:Paris; D012307:Risk Factors; D014691:Ventilation