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Indoor Air Quality
Indoor air quality (IAQ) is the air quality within buildings and Nonbuilding structure, structures. Poor indoor air quality due to indoor air pollution is known to affect the health, comfort, and well-being of building occupants. It has also been linked to Sick Building Syndrome, sick building syndrome, respiratory issues, reduced productivity, and impaired learning in schools. Common pollutants of indoor air include: Passive smoking, secondhand tobacco smoke, Household air pollution, air pollutants from indoor combustion, radon, Mold health issues, molds and other allergens, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, legionella and other bacteria, Asbestos, asbestos fibers, carbon dioxide, ozone and Atmospheric particulate matter, particulates. Source control, filtration, and the use of ventilation (architecture), ventilation to dilute contaminants are the primary methods for improving indoor air quality. Although ventilation is an integral component of maintaining good indoo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ventilation (architecture)
Ventilation is the intentional introduction of outdoor air into a space. Ventilation is mainly used to control indoor air quality by diluting and displacing indoor effluents and pollutants. It can also be used to control indoor temperature, humidity, and air motion to benefit thermal comfort, satisfaction with other aspects of the indoor environment, or other objectives. The intentional introduction of outdoor air is usually categorized as either mechanical ventilation, natural ventilation, or mixed-mode ventilation. * Mechanical ventilation is the intentional fan-driven flow of outdoor air into and/or out from a building. Mechanical ventilation systems may include supply fans (which push outdoor air into a building), Exhaust ventilation systems, exhaust fans (which draw air out of a building and thereby cause equal ventilation flow into a building), or a combination of both (called balanced ventilation if it neither pressurizes nor depressurizes the inside air, or only slightly ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Toxicant
A toxicant is any toxic substance, whether artificial or naturally occurring. By contrast, a toxin is a poison produced naturally by an organism (e.g. plant, animal, insect, bacterium). The different types of toxicants can be found in the air, soil, water, or food. Occurrence Toxicants can be found in the air, soil, water, or food. Humans can be exposed to environmental toxicants. Fish can contain environmental toxicants. Tobacco smoke contains toxicants. E-cigarette aerosol also contains toxicants. The emissions of a heat-not-burn tobacco product contains toxicants. Most heavy metals are toxicants. Diesel exhaust contains toxicants. Pesticides, benzene, and asbestos-like fibers such as carbon nanotubes are toxicants. Possible developmental toxicants include phthalates, phenols, sunscreens, pesticides, halogenated flame retardants, perfluoroalkyl coatings, nanoparticles, e-cigarettes, and dietary polyphenols. Related terms By contrast, a toxin is a poison produced natu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Global Burden Of Disease Study
The Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) is a comprehensive regional and global research program of disease burden that assesses mortality and disability from major diseases, injuries, and risk factors. GBD is a collaboration of over 12,000 researchers from more than 160 countries. Under principal investigator Christopher J.L. Murray, GBD is based in the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington and funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. History The Global Burden of Disease Study began in 1990 as a single World Bank–commissioned study that quantified the health effects of more than 100 diseases and injuries for eight regions of the world, giving estimates of morbidity and mortality by age, sex, and region. It also introduced the disability-adjusted life year (DALY) as a new metric to quantify the burden of diseases, injuries, and risk factors, to aid comparisons. GBD 1990 was "institutionalized" at the World Health Organizati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and has 6 regional offices and 150 field offices worldwide. Only sovereign states are eligible to join, and it is the largest intergovernmental health organization at the international level. The WHO's purpose is to achieve the highest possible level of health for all the world's people, defining health as "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity." The main functions of the World Health Organization include promoting the control of epidemic and endemic diseases; providing and improving the teaching and training in public health, the medical treatment of disease, and related matters; and promoting the establishment of international standards for biologic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crop Residue
Crop residues are waste materials generated by agriculture. The two types are: * Field residues are materials left in an agricultural field or orchard after the crop has been harvested. These residues include stalks and stubble (stems), leaves and seed pods. Good management of field residues can increase efficiency of irrigation and control of erosion. The residue can be ploughed directly into the ground, or burned first. In contrast, no-till, strip-till or reduced-till agriculture practices are carried out to maximize crop residue cover. * Process residues are materials left after the crop is processed into a usable resource. These residues include husks, seeds, bagasse, molasses and roots. They can be used as animal fodder and soil amendment, fertilizers and in manufacturing. Measurements Simple line-transect measurements can be used to estimate residue coverage. The amount of crop residues can also be estimated using photographic techniques, or remote sensi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dry Dung Fuel
Dry dung fuel (or dry manure fuel) is animal feces that have been dried in order to be used as a fuel source. It is used in many countries. Using dry manure as a fuel source is an example of reuse of human excreta. A disadvantage of using this kind of fuel is increased air pollution. Types Dry dung and moist dung Dry dung is more commonly used than moist dung, because it burns more easily. Dry manure is typically defined as having a moisture content less than 30 percent. Dung cakes "Dung cakes", made from the by-products of animal husbandry, are traditionally used as fuel in India for cooking food in a domestic hearth called a Chulha. They are made by hand by village women and are traditionally made from cow or buffalo dung. One dung cake of an average size gives 2100 kJ of energy. Dung cakes are also known as ''goitha'', ''uple'', ''kande'', ''gosse'' or ''thepdi''. These are the cakes of cow dung molded by bare hands with a curvature to keep them stuck to the walls. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charcoal
Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, called charcoal burning, often by forming a charcoal kiln, the heat is supplied by burning part of the starting material itself, with a limited supply of oxygen. The material can also be heated in a closed retort. Modern charcoal briquettes used for outdoor cooking may contain many other additives, e.g. coal. The early history of wood charcoal production spans ancient times, rooted in the abundance of wood in various regions. The process typically involves stacking wood billets to form a conical pile, allowing air to enter through openings at the bottom, and igniting the pile gradually. Charcoal burners, skilled professionals tasked with managing the delicate operation, often lived in isolation to tend their wood piles . Throughout histo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wood
Wood is a structural tissue/material found as xylem in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulosic fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin that resists compression. Wood is sometimes defined as only the secondary xylem in the stems of trees, or more broadly to include the same type of tissue elsewhere, such as in the roots of trees or shrubs. In a living tree, it performs a mechanical-support function, enabling woody plants to grow large or to stand up by themselves. It also conveys water and nutrients among the leaves, other growing tissues, and the roots. Wood may also refer to other plant materials with comparable properties, and to material engineered from wood, woodchips, or fibers. Wood has been used for thousands of years for fuel, as a construction material, for making tools and weapons, furniture and paper. More recently it emerged as a feedstock for the production ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Biomass
Biomass is a term used in several contexts: in the context of ecology it means living organisms, and in the context of bioenergy it means matter from recently living (but now dead) organisms. In the latter context, there are variations in how biomass is defined, e.g., only from plants, from plants and algae, from plants and animals. The vast majority of biomass used for bioenergy does come from plants and fecal matter. Bioenergy is a type of renewable energy that the bioenergy industry claims has the potential to assist with climate change mitigation. Uses in different contexts Ecology * Biomass (ecology), the mass of living biological organisms in a given area or ecosystem at a given time. This can be the biomass of particular species or the biomass of a particular community or habitat. Energy * Biomass (energy), biomass used for energy production or in other words: biological mass used as a renewable energy source (usually produced through agriculture, forestry or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Household Air Pollution
Household air pollution (HAP) is a significant form of indoor air pollution mostly relating to cooking and heating methods used in developing countries. Since much of the cooking is carried out with biomass fuel, in the form of wood, charcoal, dung, and crop residue, in indoor environments that lack proper ventilation, millions of people, primarily women and children face serious health risks. In total, about three billion people in developing countries are affected by this problem. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that cooking-related pollution causes 3.8 million annual deaths. The Global Burden of Disease study estimated the number of deaths in 2021 at 3.1 million. The problem is closely related to energy poverty and cooking. Smoke from traditional household solid fuel combustion commonly contains a range of incomplete combustion products, including both fine and coarse particulate matter (e.g., PM2.5, PM10), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Developing Countries
A developing country is a sovereign state with a less-developed Secondary sector of the economy, industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to developed countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is also no clear agreement on which countries fit this category. The terms low-and middle-income country (LMIC) and newly emerging economy (NEE) are often used interchangeably but they refer only to the economy of the countries. The World Bank classifies the world's economies into four groups, based on gross national income per capita: high-, upper-middle-, lower-middle-, and low-income countries. Least developed countries, landlocked developing countries, and Small Island Developing States, small island developing states are all sub-groupings of developing countries. Countries on the other end of the spectrum are usually referred to as World Bank high-income economy, high-income countries or Developed country, developed countries. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
