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- Bodin, Lennart, et al.
(författare)
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Nasal hyperresponders and atopic subjects report different symptom intensity to air quality : a climate chamber study
- 2009
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Ingår i: Indoor Air. - : Hindawi Limited. - 0905-6947 .- 1600-0668. ; 19:3, s. 218-225
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Short-term exposure to dust and dust added with beta-(1,3)-d-glucan or aldehydes may cause sensory reactions. In random order, we exposed 36 volunteers in a climate chamber to clean air, office dust, dust with glucan, and dust with aldehydes. Three groups of subjects were exposed, eleven were non-atopic with nasal histamine hyperreactivity, 13 were non-atopic, and 12 were atopic. Subjective ratings of symptoms and general health were registered four times during four 6-h exposure sessions. Six symptom intensity indices were constructed. The nasal hyperreactive group had a high and time-dependent increase of mucous membrane irritations, whereas the atopic group had a low and stable rate of irritations with exposure time, close to the reference group (P = 0.02 for differences between the groups with respect to time under exposure for Weak Inflammatory Responses and P = 0.05 for Irritative Body Perception, significance mainly because of the nasal hyperreactive group). Exposure to dust, with or without glucan or aldehydes, showed increased discomfort measured by the index for Constant Indoor Climate, and dust with glucan had a similar effect for the index for Lower Respiratory Effects. For Psychological and Neurological Effects these were dependent on group affiliation, thus preventing a uniform statement of exposure effects for all three investigated groups.Opportunities for identifying persons with high or low sensitivity to low-level exposures are important in preventive medicine and will reduce intra-group variability and thus increase the power of experimental and epidemiological studies searching for correlations between exposures and health effects. The contrast between nasal hyperreactive on one side and atopic and reference subjects on the other side is particularly important. The atopic group indicated a non-homogenous reaction depending on their hyperreactive status, a finding that could be important but needs further confirmation.
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- Bönlökke, J. H., et al.
(författare)
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Upper-airway inflammation in relation to dust spiked with aldehydes or glucan
- 2006
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Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health. - : Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health. - 0355-3140 .- 1795-990X. ; 32:5, s. 374-382
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objectives Organic dust is associated with adverse effects on human airways. This study was done to investigate whether the addition of β-(1,3)-D glucan or aldehydes to office dust causes enhanced inflammation in human airways. Methods Thirty-six volunteers were exposed randomly to clean air, office dust, dust spiked with glucan, and dust spiked with aldehydes. The three dust exposures contained between 332 and 379 µg dust/m3. Spiking with 1 gram of dust was done with 10 milligrams of glucan or 0.1 microliters of aldehydes. Acoustic rhinometry, rhinostereometry, nasal lavage, and lung function tests were applied. Results After the exposures to dust spiked with the glucan and aldehydes, the nasal volume decreased (–1.33 and –1.39 cm3 (mean), respectively) when compared with the –0.9 cm3 after clean air or office dust (P=0.036 for a difference in decrease between exposures). After 2–3 hours the aldehyde-spiked dust caused a 0.6-mm swelling of the inferior turbinate, and glucan-spiked dust produced a 0.7-mm swelling (P=0.039 for a difference in the swelling between the four exposures). The preexposure nasal lavage cleaned off the mucosa, and lower cytokine concentrations were found after all of the exposures. For interleukin-8, this decrease in concentration was smaller after the dust exposures spiked with glucan and aldehydes (–2.9 and –25.8 pg/ml, respectively) than after office dust or clean air (–65.9 and –74.1 pg/ml, respectively) (P=0.042). The nasal eosinophil cell concentration increased after exposure to dust spiked with glucan (P=0.045). Conclusions β-(1,3)-D glucan and aldehydes in office dust enhance the inflammatory effects of dust on the upper airways
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- Ekstrand-Tobin, Annika, 1956-
(författare)
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Hälsopåverkan av åtgärder i fuktiga byggnader
- 2004
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Fukt i svenska bostäder är vanligt och ger ibland upphov till en rad olika problem. l vissa bostäder är det önskvärt att radikalt sänka fuktproduktionen till rumsluften. Alternativt kan det vara mer motiverat att öka bostadens ventilationsgrad. I de flesta skadefall är det dock inte fuktig luft utan markfukt och läckage i kombination med olämpliga material som är upprinnelsen till fuktproblem. Fuktskador kan orsaka kemisk eller biologisk nedbtytning av material och många undersökningar har visat samband med ohälsa hos brukarna. Hur kopplingarna mellan symtom på ohälsa och fukt ser ut i detalj är inte känt. Däremot finns det flera stora epidemiologiska undersökningar som stödjer detta samband. Välkänt är emellertid samband mellan fukt och mikroklimat och dammkvalstertillväxt samt samband mellan dammkvalsterexponering och symtom hos dammkvalsterallergiska patienter.I denna interventionsstudie var syftet att studera om byggnadstekniska åtgärder i fuktskadade bostäder kunde leda till att hälsan förbättrades hos en grupp kvalsterallergiska patienter. Fuktskadorna konstaterades genom professionell skadeutredning och åtgärdades efter ungefår ett år. Innemiljön och fuktsituationen följdes upp genom att kvalsterhalt mättes i madrasser och på sovrumsgolv, mögelprov togs från skadat material, luftomsättningen mättes och mätningar av fukt- och temperatur gjordes dels i rumsluften dels på och i skadade byggnadsdelar. Patienternas symtom och laboratoriedata följdes och registrerades före, under och efter avslutade byggnadstekniska åtgärder. Åtgärderna innebar att skadat material sanerades och fuktiga byggnadsdelar ersattes med mindre fuktkänsliga konstruktioner.Resultaten efter åtgärderna visar på en reducering av fukt och förbättrad upplevelse av inomhusmiljön enligt såväl patienterna som deras familjer. I de medicinska test som gjordes på patienterna hade l ungfunktionstester samt totalhalt IgE förbättrats. Resultaten kan tolkas som att en viss allmänförbättring erhållits den i övervägande delen av patienterna under perioden.Sammanfattningsvis visar denna studie att genomförande av byggnadstekniska åtgärder i allvarligt fuktskadade bostäder med dammkvalsterallergiska patienter märkbart kan förbättra inomhusluftens kvalitet, och leda till minskade allergiproblem och ökat välbefinnande hos samtliga boende i bostaden.
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- Frisk, Margot, et al.
(författare)
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An investigation of the housing environment for persons with asthma and persons without asthma
- 2006
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Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1103-8128 .- 1651-2014. ; 13:1, s. 4-12
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Asthma is a chronic disease affected by environmental factors that may increase symptoms that impact on a persons' well-being. An important issue in occupational therapy is to improve the relationship between a person's functional capacity and the physical environment. The aim of the study was to compare the housing environment of persons with asthma (cases, n=49) and persons without asthma (controls, n=48), with regard to building construction and condition, physical, chemical and biological factors, and cleaning routines. A secondary aim was to compare different types of accommodation within cases and controls. A specialist team, including a construction engineer, a biological scientist, and an occupational therapist, conducted the study. Data were collected using protocols, as well as a number of established technical methods from the field of occupational and environmentsl medicine. The primary results showed no major differences in the housing environment between the two groups. However, in individual homes environmental factors at levels that could increase symptoms were identified. When single-familyhouses were compared with multi-family houses, significant differences were found indicating that preventive interventions may be needed in some single-family houses. Further studies are needed to clarify the person-environment relationship for persons with asthma, focusing on their ability to perform daily activities.
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- Frisk, Margot L. A., 1945-
(författare)
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Asthma and respiratory symptoms related to the housing environment
- 2007
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The overall aim of this dissertation was to study the housing environment with a focus on indoor climate factors which may maintain or worsen respiratory symptoms among persons with asthma.Quasi-experimental and cross-sectional designs and a case-control approach were used. In Study I data was collected from a consecutive series of patients with asthma (n=21) and in the three other studies from a randomly selected sample, representative of the general population (n=6732). This sample was classified into subgroups (Study II): persons with asthma (n=261), healthy persons (n=5266) and persons with symptoms (n=1205). In Study III persons with asthma (n=49) were compared to persons without asthma (n=48), and the same group, persons with asthma (n=49) was also included in Study IV. Data were gathered using subjective information from diaries and questionnaires as well as objective measurements of medical and environmental factors.Lung function was improved and there was a tendency for the indoor climate to improve after the removal of textile wall-to-wall carpets or the increase of air exchange rate. No statistically significant differences were found in the housing environment when persons with and without asthma were compared. However in some individual homes, environmental factors at levels that could increase symptoms were identified. In single-family houses higher levels of humidity, insufficient ventilation and the occurrence of house dust mites indicated a less favorable indoor climate compared to multi-family houses. Respiratory symptoms attributed to specific environmental exposures increased in both healthy and unhealthy persons when they reported occurrence of indoor climate risk indicators. No statistically significant associations were found between separate risk indicators, identified by a ‘Housing Environmental-index’, or the frequency of indicators and clinical tests. The lack of significant associations may show that the chosen cut-off levels in the index were too high in reference to persons with asthma and further research is needed to establish relevant cut-off levels.In some of the investigated houses there was a need for secondary preventive interventions to improve the indoor climate in order to decrease the exposure of allergens and airway irritants. In this dissertation one aspect of the complex relationship between the person and the environment, i.e. accessibility, has been studied. Further research is needed to address the aspect of usability, i.e. the person’s own evaluation of the degree to which they can be in and use the environment.
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| 10. |
- Frisk, Margot L. A., 1945-, et al.
(författare)
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Can a housing environmental index establish associations between indoor risk indicators and clinical tests in persons with asthma?
- 2009
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Ingår i: International Journal of Environmental Health Research. - London : Taylor & Francis. - 0960-3123 .- 1369-1619. ; 19:6, s. 389-404
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim was to investigate the associations between indoor risk indicators, identified by a Housing Environmental index (HE-index), and clinical tests of lung function, allergy and bronchial hyper-responsiveness (BHR). Forty-nine eligible subjects participated in the investigation. The HE-index was based on national and international guidelines and related to measurements of humidity, temperature, carbon dioxide, formaldehyde, nitrogen dioxide, allergens and occurrence of tobacco smoke and pets. Only 18% of the investigated homes did not have any of the risk indicators. Statistically significant associations were found between exposure to mites and lung function, and to a lesser degree in BHR for subjects living in homes with pets. The cut-off levels in the HE-index were not specifically related to health effects and may therefore have been too high for sensitive persons. Further studies are needed to establish relevant guidelines for the identification of risk indicators in the housing environment for persons with asthma.
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