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The Shift in Human Health from Infection-Related Diseases to Chronic Illnesses and the Importance of Indoor Chemical Exposure

  • Chapter
Indoor Air Pollution

Part of the book series: The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry ((HEC,volume 64))

Abstract

It has been recently estimated that the pattern of the global burden of diseases – expressed as disability-adjusted life years (DALY) – has changed over the last 20 years and a shift from communicable disorders to noncommunicable disorders has been observed. This shift is more pronounced in high-income countries. Even though there is lack of knowledge regarding the cause(s) behind the increase in chronic diseases/disorders, there are scientifically based suspicions that environmental factors do play an important role in interaction with genetic predisposition. Especially diffuse emissions of endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs) from consumer products are a matter of concern. The four reasons for concern with human EDC exposure are:

  • The low-dose effect and a non-monotonic dose-response relationship

  • Early life sensitivity and the persistency of effects

  • The large number of EDC sources in our daily life

  • The wide range of health effects

A full chain model is proposed which is following chemicals from their sources over environmental exposures in food, air, and dust over to human uptake and finally to human health effects. The model also includes modifying factors for environmental exposures, different pathways for human uptake, and biological mechanisms involved in health effects. With scientific information in this model risk management should be possible and result in preventive actions in order to reduce children’s exposure to health relevant factors.

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Abbreviations

ADHD:

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

ASD:

Autism spectrum disorders

BBzP:

Butyl benzyl phthalate

BPA:

Bisphenol A

DALY:

Disability-adjusted life years

DEHP:

Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate

DES:

Diethylstilbestrol

DiBP:

Di-iso-butyl phthalate

DiDP:

Di-iso-decyl phthalate

DINP:

Di-iso-nonyl phthalate

DnBP:

Di-n-butyl phthalate

DnOP:

Di-n-octyl phthalate

EDCs:

Endocrine-disrupting compounds

HIV:

Human immunodeficiency virus

NCD:

Noncommunicable disease

PFC:

Perfluorinated chemicals

PFOA:

Perfluorooctanoic acid

PFOS:

Perfluorooctane sulfonate

PVC:

Poly vinyl chloride

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Health Sciences, Karlstad University, SE-651 88, Karlstad, Sweden

    Carl-Gustaf Bornehag

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  1. Carl-Gustaf Bornehag
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Correspondence to Carl-Gustaf Bornehag .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. City of Nuremberg, Department of Environment and Health, Nürnberg, Germany

    Peter Pluschke

  2. National Research Council Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    Hans Schleibinger

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Bornehag, CG. (2014). The Shift in Human Health from Infection-Related Diseases to Chronic Illnesses and the Importance of Indoor Chemical Exposure. In: Pluschke, P., Schleibinger, H. (eds) Indoor Air Pollution. The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry, vol 64. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/698_2014_256

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