What is it about ?
We spend most of our time indoors: at home, in the office, at school, in stores, in restaurants, … The quality of the air we breathe there is therefore important. for our health. There are many causes of indoor air pollution, causes which can be chemical or biological.
- Among the chemical causes, let us point out:
- poorly maintained air conditioning;
- building materials such as cement;
- insulation materials that can release volatile organic compounds (VOCs);
- chemical pollution from cleaning products, e.g.;
- tobacco smoke;
- …
- On the side of biological factors, let us quote:
- bacteria ;
- viruses ;
- the mushrooms (mainly caused by humidity);
- dust mites and the hair and body hair of humans and animals.
The outdoor air pollution, like fine particles and ozone, can also enter buildings.
The indoor air pollution is associated with various respiratory tract symptoms, but to date no causal relationship has been demonstrated. There is therefore no clear relationship between environmental factors and symptoms. The health effect depends on the nature of the contact and the concentration of the pollutant, as well as the frequency and duration of exposure.
a stuffy nose (rhinitis) is the consequence of inflammation of the nasal mucosa in reaction to certain inhaled substances. We distinguish two types:
- the allergic rhinitis, when the reaction is triggered by an allergy, e.g. to house dust mites or mushrooms ;
- non-allergic rhinitis, when it is not a question of an allergy, but of a hypersensitivity to other stimuli, such as tobacco smoke, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), humidity, etc.
How to recognize it?
You may recognize some warning signs yourself that may indicate that the indoor air pollution has effects on your health:
- complaints come back systematically;
- complaints are related to a particular location;
- many people around you have similar complaints.
Complaints often associated with air pollution resemble the symptoms ofasthma : wheezing, cough, hoarseness, eye irritation and runny nose. The complaints that may suggest inflammation in the nose are: runny nose, stuffy nose, itchy nose, sneezing,… Depending on the stimuli to which you react, complaints will appear in certain circumstances, eg only at home or at work. Their severity can also vary greatly.
The environment is one of the (many) possible causes of complaints. You should know that young children, sick people and the elderly represent a group at risk for the effects of air pollution about health.
How is the diagnosis made?
It is difficult to distinguish the upper respiratory tract symptoms associated with indoor air impurities other types of rhinitis, such as hay fever. This is an exclusion diagnosis, which means that the diagnosis will not be made with certainty until all other causes that may be causing similar symptoms have been controlled and excluded.
The doctor will start by asking you a few questions:
- Are the complaints constant or occasional?
- In the latter case, are you usually in a specific location?
- What is your profession ?
- Has renovation work been done at home or at work?
- Are you exposed to tobacco smoke?
- Do you have a new pet?
- Do other people in the house have the same symptoms?
- …
All people who have rhinitis without an established cause are subject to allergy tests. These tests consist of patch tests or patch tests, blood test or provocation tests, all carried out by a specialist.
If the doctor suspects an environmental cause, he may call in an expert in the medical environment.
The doctor will refer you to a specialist in the following cases:
- he suspects a causal relationship between your work and your complaints;
- he doubts the diagnosis;
- from allergy tests additional must be done.
What can you do ?
If the complaints are related to a specific building, it is important that you know it and that you can, if possible, take action on the cause. For the rest, you can aerate and ventilate properly to avoid the accumulation of harmful and toxic substances inside.
What can your doctor do?
There is nothing dangerous about rhinitis. If the cause cannot be eliminated or if its removal does not produce a sufficient effect, the doctor may prescribe medication:
- a cortisone nasal spray;
- allergy medications (antihistamines).
Medication relieves symptoms, but does not remove the cause.
Want to know more?
- Air pollution and health – mongeneraliste.be – SSMG – Scientific Society of General Medicine
- Indoor air quality – EEA – European Environment Agency
- Allergological assessment (patch tests or prick tests), here, Where to find on this page of Cliniques St Luc UCL
- Nasal corticosteroids – CBIP – Belgian Center for Pharmacotherapeutic Information
- Antihistamines – CBIP – Belgian Center for Pharmacotherapeutic Information
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