Why indoor environment is unhealthy & how to repair it
Photo: Sandy Halliday professor ingeneering. GAIA. The okohaus : Referenced as Case Study 7.9 An Alternative Business Premises. Architects Sambeth and Eble.
The health topic in DM article “The indoor microbiome” raises some important aspects that deserve attention.
Article written by Chris Butters – GAIA Architects. It is based on scientific sources below, and any opinions expressed are the responsibility of the author.
Awareness
Everyday indoor conditions greatly affect our health, but few people have much awareness about the many factors involved. For it is not only a question of our housekeeping and hygiene, but of the building materials, the paints, textiles, furniture and much else that we choose to live with.
Sick building and products syndrome
Many products in buildings and in home interiors can be harmful. Already in the 1980s the term “sick building syndrome” emerged, with medical studies that showed the effects of unhealthy interiors, ventilation systems and materials. A few of these are now banned but many other questions persist. Asbestos was an early example; solvents, synthetic glues and formaldehydes are others.
This extends to many other home items, even toys: a well-known case has been that of cheap imported soft toys – which infants often suck on – containing the harmful softeners known as phthalates.
Legislation and control
Legislation and control in this area is very insufficient in most countries. Industries are moving, if slowly, in the direction of healthier and more eco-friendly products, but industry looks for the most profitable supplies and often resists change.
Medical science about health and microorganisms
In health, medical science often meets common sense. The microorganisms we have both in our houses and in our gut are not only harmful: in fact they are essential for good health and in particular for strong immune systems. The biodiversity hypothesis in medicine has shown that people in very hygienic, urban environments often have a higher prevalence of ailments such as allergies and asthma.
Reams of research on these topics are available in Pubmed, the global medical research database. But, as our medical colleagues bemoan, little of this knowledge is applied in practice.
Casestudy of hygienic DNA in two countries
A major case is the Karelia study. Briefly: part of Finland’s Karelia region was annexed by the Soviet Union after World War 1. The populations on each side of the border have the same DNA.
The Finnish side became a prosperous and very “hygienic” society; the Russian side remained very poor and relatively “dirty”. But the Russian side has far, far lower levels of ailments such as allergies and asthma.
In other words – to simplify a very complex issue – we need dirt and microbes and bugs.
Farmers and housewives knew this; in common sense parlance this was often referred to as “old friends”. Sciences prove this in National Library of Medicine:”.. Soil and the human gut contain approximately the same number of active microorganisms, while human gut microbiome diversity is only 10% that of soil biodiversity and has decreased dramatically with the modern lifestyle…”
The concrete jungle
The concrete jungle of cities often offers our systems a very limited range of such microorganisms. Small kids in the garden or sandpit sometimes eat handfuls of dirt: it’s not entirely negative. In short, we need nature.
This is not (repeat, not!) an argument for being dirty or not housecleaning. But our culture has – constantly encouraged by adverts – developed an excessive obsession with hygiene.
Primeval fear of “dangerous nature”
To dig deeper: many have also pondered on the puritanistic mentality with an old, primeval fear of “dangerous” nature which needs to be sanitised, “purified”, bombed with chemical products, in order for us to “feel” clean.
The obsession with hygiene can be seen in typical housekeeping cupboards, which now hold a veritable arsenal of chemicals. In addition to cleaning and killing germs, both the bad ones and the good ones, these also contain many dubious chemicals including totally unnecessary ones such as colorants and perfumes.
Consuption habits
And what about our consumption habits? In industry there is constant pressure to compete, inventing new products of all kinds …. even though our old bar of Lifebuoy soap is probably as useful as ever.
Industry bombards us with advertising to start using all the “new, improved” products. And to use large quantities of them – good for sales even if it’s a waste of our money. Examples are ads which show a kitchen sink which is a sea of bubbles. This is telling us that we “need” the quantities shown, whereas in reality we may be using several times what is actually needed to clean those dishes. Most of those pretty bubbles in the kitchen sink are excessive and we are going to flush them away, just needless pollution to the environment.
Solutions to healthy environment
There are lots of solutions. The “seven sisters of indoor environment” are: thermal, atmospheric, acoustic, actinic, mechanical, psychosocial and aesthetic.
Health is about design, and there are networks that include the few architects who do focus on indoor environment, assisted by medical experts. This topic is almost entirely neglected in the building industry and at schools of architecture, engineering and interior design.
Unhealthy ventilation is another huge issue where the same pioneers have developed new solutions using natural ventilation. For several decades we have taught, written about and designed indoor environment. (About 12 years ago this author published a book that includes a whole chapter on the topic … unfortunately it’s in Norwegian). For this reason, we have also extensively researched building materials – of which there are thousands, many of them not fully analysed and many others containing known harmful chemicals.
Eco-products and buildings
Hence, better products are often hard to find or more expensive caused by essential control and quality. Consumer advice is limited too; “ecolabels” are certainly helpful, but they are few and not always very scientific. Environmental product declarations (EPDs) provide the needed information; they are rare but should be mandatory.
Interestingly, studies have shown that older buildings, which used far fewer (and simpler) materials, caused fewer indoor health problems. But the term “natural” materials can be misleading. A wooden floor is not “natural” nor very healthy if it is impregnated with fungicide chemicals and covered with layers of synthetic varnishes. And there are wider impacts; our beautiful wooden furniture, is that mahogany taken from a threatened rainforest in the Amazon or the Congo? Products may be safe indoors but may have caused serious environmental impacts – far away – before we buy them.
Outdoor livelihood
It should be added that outdoor environment requires equal attention. This is not only traffic fumes, particulates and other air pollution but about heat stress, noise and many other factors that influence both our physical health and our wellbeing.
Climate change is contributing to very serious impacts such as the urban heat island effect. This is leading to heat events with many deaths in cities which are getting much hotter.
And it is usually the poor who suffer most since their environments, both indoor and outdoor, are of low quality and polluted. Nor do the poor have the resources to pay for cooling, or heating, or to avoid damp, or to select healthier materials and products.
More focus on health in architectural design
Health needs far more focus in the field of “sustainable” architectural design and city planning. Many solutions exist already. And it’s important to remember that this applies not only to household hygiene products but to the furniture, the fittings, the textiles and the very building materials. Hence our aim with ecological design is simply: buildings that are healthy for people and for the planet.
Sources
Helsinki alert of biodiversity and health – PubMed
Does Soil Contribute to the Human Gut Microbiome? – PMC
The Surprising Ways Soil Can Aid Our Mental Health | Psychology Today
Materials and health: The seven sisters of indoor environment. Science.
Exposed: Environmental documentation errors and EU’s greenwashing sanctions
