Humidity and indoor air pollution: a scourge for health and buildings

Many pathologies, sometimes serious, result from this, such as respiratory and skin allergies, lung cancers and even strokes. As for asthma, the risk of contracting this chronic disorder increases by 40% in damp housing. A health concern that it is urgent to make known to as many people as possible at a time when, in France, 90% of life takes place indoors[3] and 1/5 housing is affected by the humidity[4]. 37% of French housing also contains traces of mold[5] sometimes invisible to the eye. Phenomena ending up causing unsanitary air but also a weakening of the walls, capable of compromising the solidity of the building itself.

But if it is urgent to inform owners and tenants, communities have a leading role on this public health subject, particularly with establishments open to the public.

Air quality in schools, a hot topic for communities

Since January 2023, certain ERPs such as educational establishments must ensure reinforced annual monitoring of the quality of their indoor air (Decree No. 2022-1689 of December 27, 2022). The press has also echoed numerous actions by parents, teachers or students themselves denouncing buildings infested with mold and worrying, rightly so, about their impact on health.

An element to be closely monitored within ERPs, as the cause and effect link between humidity, mold development, indoor air pollution and respiratory pathologies is more than established by health professionals.

A threat to the integrity of the building

Alongside health risks, the risk of damage to buildings resulting from indoor humidity must also receive increased attention. Indeed, rising capillaries, water infiltration, condensation, high humidity and multiple leaks can cause loss of thermal insulation of walls, degradation of materials, proliferation of fungi, overconsumption of heating or even electrical risks.

Pollution of the indoor environment is thus made up of three major risks. The first of these risks lies in structural humidity, which is created due to the envelope of a building being overly or, on the contrary, poorly insulated. In second position, we find Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) present in all construction materials - decoration, paint, furniture, perfume, incense and even household products. 100% of housing is also polluted with formaldehyde, a carcinogenic substance found in these materials[6]. The third risk finally lies in exposure to radon, a gas directly responsible for 3.000 deaths per year from lung cancer and resulting from the decomposition of the rocks making up the basements of buildings.

Diagnosis and treatment of walls: the key to healthy air in a healthy building

It is therefore recommended to carry out a diagnosis as soon as the first symptoms appear, whether they are health-related or building-related. Once the diagnosis has been established, it is then necessary to stop any entry of water into the walls and buried areas and to regulate the humidity level. The installation of an air handling unit can, beyond this management of hygrometry, allow effective ventilation and filtration of indoor air pollutants. It uses a cutting-edge technique intended to blow in filtered, sanitized and preheated outdoor air in order to avoid any condensation and expel pollutants.

Guaranteeing healthy air breathing in a healthy building is therefore possible. This requires short-term collective awareness of the dangers of humidity and indoor air pollution. Each player in the building and real estate industry can help ensure that treating walls can save lives!

Opinion piece by Garry Ordener, Managing Director of Murprotec France and Switzerland ( LinkedIn ).

[1] Public health France

[2] World Health Organization

[3] Public health France

[4] Murprotec.fr

[5] Indoor Air Quality Observatory

[6] Health Passport – Indoor Air Quality Observatory