Indoor environment exposure and children's health

Abstract

Children are exposed to outdoor and indoor air pollution. In comparison to adults, they are more vulnerable to the effects of exposure to harmful chemicals from air pollutants. This article aims to evaluate and present the current advances on the impact of indoor air pollution on children under 19 years old. Assessing the exposure of children is complex because indoor air pollution is affected by many factors - types of cooking fuel and cookstoves, indoor ventilation, geographical and meteorological conditions, and exposure time. The most addressed health effects in literature are respiratory and birth outcomes. However, most of them reported difficulties in performing a meta-analysis due to the small number of studies on the personal exposure of children. Limited effectiveness of specific interventions at the household level points out the need for integrated and sustained public policies over time, associated with regulatory measures on pollutants emissions.