Indoor air pollutants

• Formaldehyde/synthetic compounds
fr.plywood,particle board,foam
rubber,’plastic upholstery’,non-iron sheets
& pillow case
• Food burned on stove/oven
• Incomplete combustion fr.fuel-fired heating
system (gas or oil furnaces,kerosene
heaters & wood stoves)
• Fumes fr. Household cleaners
 Indoor air pollutants
• Fumes fr.glues and hobby materials
• Pesticides
• Air fresheners & disinfectants.Most air
fresheners work by dulling the sense of smell so
that u don’t notice noxious odors / introduce
‘high-intensity’ smells that cover up odors.
• Aerosol sprays of all sorts (oven
cleaners,pesticides,hair sprays,cooking oil)
• Radon.Radioactive gas,by-product of
disintegration of Uranium in rock,soil &
water,can accumulate in basement .
 Indoor air pollutants
• Asbestos-natural mineral has fiberlike crystals. For
heat insulation & fire retardation. Pipes in steam-
heating systems,ceiling,ironing-board cover,paints,
roofing materials.
• Inhalation of asbestos fiber is associated with unique
form of lung cancer developed 20-30 years after the
exposure.
• Smoking
 Risk Analysis
• Toxicology – Science to study the impacts of toxic
substances on human health (especially the link to
cancer).
• Risk analysis=important tool=an approach to the
problems of environmental health.
• =Major element in public policy (billions spent on
environment protection).
• Risk analysis = process of evaluating risk associated
with a particular hazard before taking some action in
which the hazard is present. (example: 82 million people
go swimming/year, 2600 drown -> the risk of drowning is
32 in a million. To reduce the risk, swim at beach with
lifeguard, calm lagoon etc.
• Not many people make choices base on such risk assessment.
• Risk analysis = an important process in public policy development.
 Risk Analysis in US (EPA)
• 4 steps – Hazards assessment, dose-
response assessment, exposure
assessment & risk characterization.
 Hazards assessment
• Hazards assessment: Which chemical cause cancer? =
process of examining evidence linking a potential hazard
to its harmful effects.
• Important 1st step in risk analysis.
• Accident – easier for finding the link. i.e. car usage and
road accident. Historical data (annual highway death toll)
is useful in calculating risk.
• Cancer – harder:linkage not obvious,time delay in first
exposure and final outcome.
• When linkage is less obvious, data may come from 2
sources – (1)Epidemiological Studies; (2) Animal
Testing.
 (1) Epidemiological Study
• Study that tracks how a sickness spreads
through a community.
• Epidemiologist who study would examine
all the people exposed to the chemical &
determine whether this population has
more cancer.
(2) Animal Testing
• To find out NOW what might happen many
years in future.
• Example: Don’t want to wait 20 years to
find out a new food additive cause cancer
-> accept evidence from animal testing.
• Costly: Test involve several hundreds
animals, takes ~ 3 years & cost >
US$250,000.
 (2) Animal Testing
• If test=significant, the results indicate that a
substance is either a possible or probable
human carcinogen.
• 3 Objections-(a) Rodent & human have different
responses to a given chemical (b) The dose are
usually unrealistically high (c)Ethical grounds
• All chemical shown epidemiologically to be
human carcinogens are also carcinogenic to test
animals.
 Dose Response & Exposure
Assessment
• How much for how long?
• When animal tests show a link -> the next step is to
analyze relationship between the chemical in the test
(the dose) & both the incidence & severity of the
response in the test animals.
• Then projections are made to humans pop about the
number of cancers that may develop who are exposed to
different dose = Dose response assessment.
• Exposure assessment = identify human groups already
exposed, learning how that exposure came about &
calculating the doses & length of exposure time.
 Risk Characterization
• How many will die?
• Combine info.gathered in the 1st 3 steps to
determine the risk & its accompanying
uncertainties.
• Risk is express as probability.
• The Clean Air Act (1990), US directs EPA to
regulate chemicals that have a cancer risk > 1 /
million.
• Risk may be express as reduction in life
expectancy. i.e. smoking 1 cigaratte reduces life
expectancy by 5 minutes.
 Risk Management

• Risk management naturally follows

after risk analysis.
• Responsibility of lawmakers & administrators.
• Risk management involves (1) A thorough
review of risk analysis information (2) a decision
on whether the weight of evidence justifies a
regulatory action.
• Public opinion play a powerful role in
determining these decisions.
 Consideration on a regulatory
decision
• Cost-benefit analysis = very clear-cut.
• Risk-benefit analysis = useful when cost-
benefit analysis cannot be easily
expressed in $ value. i.e. X-rays (cancer
risk vs. bone fracture).
• Public preferences = People have greater
tolerance for risks that they feel are under
their control / voluntarily accepted.
 Risk Analysis & Public Policy
• Public concern (risk perception) rather than cost-
benefit analysis or risk analysis drives public
policy.
• Some serious risk will get < attention than they
deserve. i.e. environment risk is perceived less
important than they are, because public’s pre-
occupation with human-health related risk.
• Extinction of species & loss of biodiversity – not
in public concern.