Māris kļaviņŠ, azamat azizov, JĀnis zaļoksnis environment, pollution, development: the case of uzbekistan

 5.4. 
 Indoor air pollutants
Air pollution is usually associated with the quality of outdoor 
urban air. However, the health of humans may be much more 
affected by air pollution in their living environ ment – dwelling and 
working premises (Figure 5.19).
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
India 
Africa 
China 
Asia 
Latin 
America 
Industrial 
countries
Health risk fa
ct
or
, %
Diseases caused as a result of 
indoor air pollution, 
per cent of the total
Diseases caused as a result of 
outdoor air pollution, 
per cent of the total
Figure 5.19. 
Relative 
impact of indoor and 
outdoor air pollution 
on the human health in 
different regions of the 
world

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94 
ENVIRONMENT, POLLUTION, DEVELOPMENT:  THE CASE OF UZBEKISTAN
There are several factors that determine indoor air pollution. 
First, there is the air pollution in human living environ ment caused 
by  the  external  air  inflow.  An  example  of  such  a  situation  is  an 
excessive concentration of lead and polyaromatic hydrocarbons in 
dwelling premises near motorways. Second, different local sources – 
such as kitchens, stoves, furniture, polymer materials, painted 
surfaces, animals – may also cause serious indoor air pollution.
Another  factor  that  affects  the  indoor  air  quality  is  the  pro-
duc tion of new materials and substances. In this way, increased 
quan tities of new substances are brought into the human living en-
vi ron ment, contaminating it. For example, new insulation materials, 
cleaning agents, cosmetic products, solvents, plant protection pro-
ducts expose humans to the substances whose toxic properties have 
been proved. Pollution of human living environ ment can cause a 
variety of adverse effects, including instant death. Quite often people 
die from poisoning with carbon monoxide emitted from stoves, 
fireplaces  and  gas  heaters.  Even  in  developed  countries  indoor 
pollution may be fatal, as evidenced by the deaths from legionellosis.
However,  long-term  effects  of  living  environ ment  pollution  on 
the  human  health  are  considerably  more  common.  These  effects 
can manifest themselves after longer periods of time, even decades; 
hence, it is difficult to prove them using today’s research methods 
(such as epidemiological study results). Such effects are characteristic 
of such substances as radon, asbestos, formaldehyde and others. 
Moreover, today the air pollution in dwelling premises is considered 
one of the main causes of certain illnesses, for example, lung cancer.
Formaldehyde
Benzol
Dust
Nitrogen oxides
Sulphur dioxide
Carbon oxide
Carbon dioxide
Concentration (µg/m
3
)
1 
10 
10
2
 
10
3 
10
4 
10
5 
10
6 
10
7
Air  environ mental  pollution  can  be  caused  by  both  organic 
and inorganic substances as well as micro-organisms. Legionnaires’ 
disease – a more severe form of the illness known as legionellosis – is 
a typical illness caused by the living environ ment air pollution with 
micro-organisms, in this particular case – by the bacteria Legionella 
pneumophila,  which  is  one  of  more  than  20  similar  bacteria  that 
cause legionellosis.