Experts highlighted the lack of data and public awareness as major obstacles to improving indoor air quality at the first World Health Organisation/Europe Indoor Air Conference. The event, co-hosted by WHO’s European Region, the Swiss government, and the Geneva Health Forum, focused on various indoor air pollutants affecting people in modern homes and buildings.

While issues like indoor air pollution from coal and biomass heating were discussed, the broader health impacts of pollutants like radon, asbestos, and formaldehyde were underscored. Inadequate ventilation, common in energy-efficient buildings, was also a concern.

The conference emphasised the urgent need for integrating efforts to improve indoor and outdoor air quality and stressed the importance of ethical considerations in addressing this critical issue.

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