The new model for evaluating indoor air quality based on childhood allergic and respiratory diseases in Shanghai

Abstract Introduction Indoor environment has an important impact on human health, especially on children's health. However, the current assessment indicators are difficult to reflect the health-related indoor air quality (IAQ). Methods Based on the field measurements in 454 residential buildings in Shanghai, this study investigates the associations between indoor pollutants and children's health by logistic regression analyses to determine the health-related pollutant indicators. The combination of grey relational analysis and analytic hierarchy process was used to determine the weight coefficient of pollutants. The index method based on the assigned weighted coefficient was then used to evaluate IAQ. Results A total of 23.4%, 22.3% and 25.4% families had the higher concentration of CO2, PM2.5 and PM10 than the limits in the indoor environmental quality standards, while only 0.8%, 0.7% and 1.3% of all the families had the concentration of total volatile organic compounds (TVOC), formaldehyde and airborne fungi exceeding the standard. The correlation analyses showed that di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) was significantly correlated with children's respiratory diseases (croup and wheeze). Therefore, DEHP was added as one of the targeted pollutants. The health-related IAQ assessments showed that the weighted coefficients from high to low were as follows: PM2.5 (0.149), PM10 (0.148), formaldehyde (0.147), airborne fungi (0.147), DEHP (0.146), CO2 (0.144) and TVOC (0.119). Conclusion The evaluation results of the new indicator can more accurately reflect the IAQ than before. The suggested value of DEHP was introduced in the IAQ standard. The findings provide some reference for the evaluation of IAQ.