The health impact of air: the experts' recommendations

The French Agency for the Safety of the environment has made public health recommendations for the installation of air-conditioning in the facilities housing the elderly.
Although still preliminary, these recommendations with the partnership of the Scientific and Technical Centre for Building draw attention to the precautions and in particular on the role of maintenance.

In case of extreme heat as the summer, excess mortality primarily affects the elderly or very elderly, mostly female in Europe.

The main cause of death is not hyperthermia, it lies in the sudden worsening of an existing condition or a state of overall poor health. It concerns the autonomous people at home as people staying in schools, he recalled.

The excess mortality observed especially in large urban areas. This is due to many factors especially regarding habitat with a concentration of deaths in the upper floors of buildings, located in the attic and more exposed to solar radiation. "Urban pollution, almost always associated with episodes of heat wave is a factor of increased risk," it is stressed.

According to the authors, the beneficial effect of space cooling is allowed on the basis of only a few American scientific studies, which are almost exclusively centralized systems in residential buildings and the tertiary sector.

While it is often stated in publications as refreshing sensitive people and especially older people for a period of two to three hours each day, would significantly reduce the risk of mortality, "this statement is currently based on any clinical or epidemiological study, but an empirical estimate of the time required for the body to get back to a normal temperature, "say the experts consulted.

While it has been proposed in the home of a conditioned space or elderly people refreshed institutions, the report points out that the air conditioning can not be regarded as a "panacea" to solve design errors or management of a building. It is especially essential to provide buildings sunscreen quality (curtains, blinds, shutters, filters).

It also requires "good management of the doors keeping doors, windows and shutters closed during the sunshine and ventilating the room at night, from 2:00 in the morning when the night outside temperature drops by minimum. " It is advisable to use parts such as naturally refreshed rooms in the basement.

It is advisable not only to equip air conditioning systems but to call in the professionals to size the facility and amortize the cost of investment. As for individual mobile air conditioners, they are second best.

To avoid adverse effects on health, should be avoided at all times the impact of too much temperature difference with the outside, causing a sensation of cold "with the possible development of respiratory infectious diseases, viral bacterial or, if necessary, covering people before entering a room refreshed. "

It should also be avoided by monitoring and ongoing maintenance of facilities, the phenomena of skin irritation and eye and respiratory mucous membranes, or more rarely demonstrations allergic in nature, related to the emission of dust, bacteria or mold by poorly maintained equipment or systems, especially in terms of dust filters. This consideration also applies to devices centralized air conditioning ducts which are likely to contain large amounts of dust are the nest of mold and bacteria.