Title: Pollution: In and Out
Date: Wednesday 6 October 2021
Time: 19:00
Venue: Spazju Kreattiv Valletta, Studio B
Booking donation: ​€3​ (limited spaces available - first come first served basis)​
Tickets:
Speaker: Dr Noel Aquilina
Air pollution is one of the major concerns that impacts our health system. In Malta, the major contributor to air pollution in urban areas is probably traffic. So what about indoor pollution?
With around 80-90% of our time spent in an indoor environment, it comes as no surprise that indoor pollution greatly affects our health. Enclosed indoor environments with restricted ventilation allows pollutants to accumulate over time, resulting in potentially several health impacts, both immediately and later on in life.
Some examples of indoor sources of pollution include cooking, burning candles/incense, gas heating, gas/wood burning in fireplaces, use of air fresheners, sweeping, use of insecticides and use of cleaning products. Another major source is indoor smoking. Over time in contained, non-ventilated environments, smoke pollutants accumulate and adhere to clothes and all furnishings like curtains and carpets. Even with the use of air purifiers, the smoke pollutants don’t get cleaned from the air and keep on accumulating, increasing the exposure to these toxic chemicals.
It is important then to understand the chemistry of both outdoor and indoor environments, first because they are essentially different and secondly because the exposure to the air quality in these distinguishable environments poses different grades of risk to our health. Doing so will help scientists understand the various sources of air pollution. Is it more from the outside environment or from within our homes? Does the outdoor environment influence the pollution levels of the indoor environment? We want to know if there is a difference in atmospheric chemistry between both environments, and which of them influences most our health. Is there a lesser evil?
Join Malta Café Scientifique with Dr Noel Aquilina to dive into this interesting topic and answer these questions and more. Info and booking link available .
