2023-09-06 11:03:06
From the year 2000 until the end of 2020, “serious humidity problems” were observed in 17% of the Brussels homes visited by the Regional Cell for Intervention in Interior Pollution (CRIPI), known as the ambulance green, said Wednesday its head of department, Sandrine Bladt, on the eve of the International Day of Clean Air for blue skies. “During 20% of home visits, more than three square meters of housing had “visible mold,” she adds.
Given that 3,051 surveys have been carried out in 20 years by the CRIPI, this means that around 518 homes suffer or have suffered greatly from humidity and that visible mold is or has been present in around 610 homes.
These figures do not reflect the extent of the problem in the Brussels-Capital Region. Because the green ambulance can only intervene at the request of a doctor who notices a recurring health concern in a patient without the cause having been able to be determined.
Once in the field, she goes in search of any chemical and biological pollutants. It also measures physical parameters “such as ambient temperature and relative humidity and, more recently, light intensity”, according to the report drawn up by Bruxelles Environnement on its activities.
In collaboration with the institute in charge of public health in Belgium, Sciensano, the CRIPI was able to identify the most common pollutants. These are “benzene found, for example, in tobacco or DIY products, formaldehyde contained in particular in cosmetic products and terpenes often included in home fragrances or cleaning products. “, details its manager.
In 2019, more than 5,800 young people and children died in Europe and Central Asia due to air pollution, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) recently announced.
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