Effects of Indoor Air Pollutants on Atopic Dermatitis

JaKyoung Kim, HyungJin Kim, DaeHyun Lim, Young-Kyu Lee and Jeong Hee Kim
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JaKyoung Kim: Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Kangwon National University, 1 Kangwondaehak-gil, Chuncheon-si, Gangwon-do 24341, Korea
HyungJin Kim: Department of Pediatrics, Inha University School of Medicine, 100 Inha-ro, Nam-gu, Incheon 22212, Korea
DaeHyun Lim: Department of Pediatrics, Inha University School of Medicine, 100 Inha-ro, Nam-gu, Incheon 22212, Korea
Young-Kyu Lee: Indoor Air Quality Analysis Center, National Instrumentation Center for Environmental Management, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea
Jeong Hee Kim: Department of Pediatrics, Inha University School of Medicine, 100 Inha-ro, Nam-gu, Incheon 22212, Korea

IJERPH, 2016, vol. 13, issue 12, 1-13

Abstract: The increasing prevalence of atopic dermatitis (AD) is associated with variations in indoor environments. In Korea, many inner walls of homes are covered with wallpaper: such walls emit indoor air pollutants, including volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and formaldehyde. This randomized, double-blind study investigated the effects of wallpaper on indoor air quality and AD. Thirty-one children (aged three to eight years) with moderate AD were assigned to environmentally-friendly (EF) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) wallpaper groups. Indoor air concentrations of VOCs, natural VOCs (NVOCs), formaldehyde, and total suspended bacteria were measured before and two (W 2 ) and eight weeks (W 8 ) after wallpapering. Scoring Atopic Dermatitis (SCORAD) evaluations and blood tests were performed during the same period. The EF wallpaper and PVC wallpaper groups showed similar trends in the changes in total VOCs (TVOC) and formaldehyde content in the indoor air. However, the EF wallpaper group showed more improvement on the SCORAD at W 2 and W 8 than the PVC wallpaper group. The SCORAD index was positively correlated with several indoor air pollutants. Further, the SCORAD index and NVOC % were negatively correlated. Improved SCORAD index and effects of wallpapering on indoor air quality improvements occurred within a short period of time in both groups. We believe that NVOCs in indoor air after EF wallpapering have a beneficial effect on health.

Keywords: dermatitis; atopic; air pollution; indoor; VOCs; formaldehyde (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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