INTRODUCTION: Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways. The recent increase in its global prevalence suggests a possible role of environmental factors such as indoor air pollution. In 2000, according to the Institute Of Medicine, there was insufficient evidence to determine whether or not an association existed between high priority indoor air pollutants, listed by the French Indoor Air Quality Observatory, and asthma. The objective of this paper is to describe the current state of knowledge on the links between exposure to high priority indoor air pollutants and exacerbations of adult asthma. METHOD: A review of the Medline database has been undertaken of the following pollutants: formaldehyde, benzene, acetaldehyde, volatile organic compounds, particles (PM2.5, PM10) and diethylhexyl-phthalate. The studies were classified by type and source of pollutant. RESULTS: Twenty-three studies were included in the analysis. Most of the observational studies have shown an association between pollutants (by type and source) and adult asthma. The best documented pollutants were formaldehyde and volatile organic compounds. No studies were found on acetaldehyde and diethylhexyl-phthalate. CONCLUSION: The analysis of the literature is complicated on account of the difficulty of comparing different studies. However, since the synthesis performed in 2000, the existence of a link between chemical indoor air pollutants and increased respiratory symptoms appears to be reinforced. It seems necessary to adopt preventive health measures while pursuing scientific research on this topic.
INTRODUCTION: Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways. The recent increase in its global prevalence suggests a possible role of environmental factors such as indoor air pollution. In 2000, according to the Institute Of Medicine, there was insufficient evidence to determine whether or not an association existed between high priority indoor air pollutants, listed by the French Indoor Air Quality Observatory, and asthma. The objective of this paper is to describe the current state of knowledge on the links between exposure to high priority indoor air pollutants and exacerbations of adult asthma. METHOD: A review of the Medline database has been undertaken of the following pollutants: formaldehyde, benzene, acetaldehyde, volatile organic compounds, particles (PM2.5, PM10) and diethylhexyl-phthalate. The studies were classified by type and source of pollutant. RESULTS: Twenty-three studies were included in the analysis. Most of the observational studies have shown an association between pollutants (by type and source) and adult asthma. The best documented pollutants were formaldehyde and volatile organic compounds. No studies were found on acetaldehyde and diethylhexyl-phthalate. CONCLUSION: The analysis of the literature is complicated on account of the difficulty of comparing different studies. However, since the synthesis performed in 2000, the existence of a link between chemical indoor air pollutants and increased respiratory symptoms appears to be reinforced. It seems necessary to adopt preventive health measures while pursuing scientific research on this topic.