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In the European Union lung cancer death is the most common cause (circa 20%) oftotal cancer deaths. For 2006 it is estimated that 236,000 lung cancer deaths occurredin the EU 25 with the majority of these being due to active cigarette smoking. Fromthe pooling of 13 residential radon epidemiological studies in 9 EU countries it hasbeen estimated that about 9% of lung cancer deaths may be due to radon exposure inthe home. In this paper an account is given of the lung cancer risk estimates derivedfrom these and other residential radon epidemiological studies.

The working group of the Global Update of WHO Guidelines for Air Qualityrecommended development of guidelines specific to indoor air, accounting for theglobal burden of disease associated especially with unvented indoor combustion ofsolid fuels and other factors that are not covered sufficiently by the general air qualityguidelines. First phase to follow up consisted of a planning meeting convened inBonn, Germany, in October 2006 that outlined a structure for the IAQ guidelines andidentified exposure factors to be included into the IAQ guidelines.

In the Sixth Environment Action Programme the European Commission'scommitment to provide "an environment where the level of pollution does not giverise to harmful effects on human health and the environment", is clearly stated.The European Commission, with strong support from the Member States and theEuropean Parliament, has put forward the European Environment and HealthStrategy (the Strategy) in June 2003 (1).

DefinitionsHealth is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merelythe absence of decease or infirmity (WHO 1948). The effects of interest indoorstherefore include both adverse effects and changes of well-being. Building-RelatedIllness (BRI) is a group of known causalities between symptoms and indoor exposuresto air pollutants. Generally, the causalities have a uniform clinical picture and aspecific cause of the complaints. Many BRIs are low exposure levels manifestationsof adverse effects known from high exposures e.g. occupational exposures.

The focus of the JRC strategy for the E&H area is on how to optimally integrateenvironment and health information on a common platform (the EuropeanEnvironment and Health Information System) and to develop methodologies toanalyse and unveil causal relationships between environmental risk factors and humanhealth outcomes. This includes the development and validation of methods andmethodologies for monitoring, for exposure assessment and for evaluation andquantification of health effects due to environmental stressors.

Pathogens, or in this case better to say, infectious agents are ubiquitous. Some of themare obligatory pathogens, cause of severe diseases and therefore are well-known.Some of them are well-known but they are considered to be either less risky or it isbelieved that they are under control. Some of them are facultative pathogens, causingfewer infections and therefore mostly are unknown. All of them should cause healthproblems indoors as the indoor environment is very special:?? People spent indoors most of their life, ill people with higher probability??

The European Respiratory Society (ERS) www.ersnet.org is a not-for profit,international medical organisation with over 8,000 members from 100 countries. It isthe largest society in Europe promoting respiratory health and lung research inEurope.

In the last decades, research on the causes of cardiovascular disease has made greatprogress. Multiple pharmaceutical and surgical approaches have been devised toprevent, treat, or otherwise manage heart disease, yet it remains the leading cause ofdeath both in Europe and United States. There are important gaps in theunderstanding the leading causes of cardiovascular disease and the underlingpathological mechanisms.

Combustion processes are an important source of a range of air pollutants as follows;?? Carbon monoxide (CO),?? Nitrogen dioxide (NO2),?? Sulphur dioxide (SO2),?? Particulates and associated inorganic and organic chemicals,?? Organic vapours e.g. formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, and benzene.Sources of these are present in both ambient and indoor environments. In Europeancountries emissions from major anthropogenic sources are controlled by legislation.This includes regulation of industrial emissions (e.g.

Carbon monoxide is a colourless, practically odourless and tasteless gas that is poorlysoluble in water, but it is soluble in alcohol and benzene. It is a product of incompletecombustion of carbon-containing fuels. Carbon monoxide burns with a violet flameand it is classified as an inorganic compound. It has a slightly lower density than air.