title: Enhancing indoor air quality -The air filter advantage.
abstract: Air pollution has become the world's single biggest environmental health risk, linked to around 7 million deaths in 2012 according to a recent World Health Organisation (WHO) report. The new data further reveals a stronger link between, indoor and outdoor air pollution exposure and cardiovascular diseases, such as strokes and ischemic heart disease, as well as between air pollution and cancer. The role of air pollution in the development of respiratory diseases, including acute respiratory infections and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, is well known. While both indoor and outdoor pollution affect health, recent statistics on the impact of household indoor pollutants (HAP) is alarming. The WHO factsheet on HAP and health states that 3.8 million premature deaths annually - including stroke, ischemic heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer are attributed to exposure to household air pollution. Use of air cleaners and filters are one of the suggested strategies to improve indoor air quality. This review discusses the impact of air pollutants with special focus on indoor air pollutants and the benefits of air filters in improving indoor air quality.
authors.affiliation: Advisor to Director General, ICMR Bhopal Memorial Hospital and Research Centre and National Institute for Research in Environmental Health, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Vannan Kandi
authors.initials: VK
authors.lastname: Vijayan
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Pulmonologist and Environmentalist, Advisor Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Public Health and Center for Disease Control of Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Bangalore, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: Haralappa
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Paramesh
authors.affiliation: Director, Chest Research Foundation, Pune, Maharashtra, India.
authors.forename: Sundeep Santosh
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Salvi
authors.affiliation: Department of Pulmonology, Jupiter Hospital, Thane, Maharashtra, India.
authors.forename: Alpa Anil Kumar
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Dalal
keywords: Air filters; HEPA; air pollution; cardiorespiratory health; enhancing indoor air quality