TY - JOUR
T1 - Indoor environmental problems and health status in water-damaged homes due to tsunami disaster in Japan
AU - Hasegawa, Kenichi
AU - Yoshino, Hiroshi
AU - Yanagi, U.
AU - Azuma, Kenichi
AU - Osawa, Haruki
AU - Kagi, Naoki
AU - Shinohara, Naohide
AU - Hasegawa, Asako
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank the residents who were involved in this study for their helpful cooperation. This project was conducted as one of the activities of the “Working Group for study on the measures for the reduction of the health effects of residences relevant to an earthquake disaster”, which was organized in the Committee of Environmental Engineering, Tohoku branch of the Architectural Institute of Japan, soon after the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011. This survey was supported partly by the Kajima Foundation Research Grant ( 2011-2012 ).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Elsevier Ltd.
PY - 2015/11/1
Y1 - 2015/11/1
N2 - The Great East Japan Earthquake occurred on March 11, 2011. The resulting tsunami caused extensive damage in seaside cities along the Pacific coast of the Tohoku district of Japan. The long-term presence of water in crawl spaces and wall cavities causes elevated humidity and fungal contamination, with potential implications for affecting the health of the occupants. In order to clarify the actual indoor environment and occupants' adverse health effects, a cross-sectional study in the flood-damaged homes located in the flooding areas was conducted from July to December of 2012. We randomly selected 234 dwellings, and a total of 170 responses were obtained for a main survey (Phase 2). Indoor environmental problems related to dampness and mould growth were observed in flood-damaged homes after the flooding. Exposure to poor indoor environmental quality after flooding was positively associated with adverse health effects. Persistent health and environmental problems were recognized within six months after flooding and the long-term effects of mould growth after flooding was observed at least for one year.
AB - The Great East Japan Earthquake occurred on March 11, 2011. The resulting tsunami caused extensive damage in seaside cities along the Pacific coast of the Tohoku district of Japan. The long-term presence of water in crawl spaces and wall cavities causes elevated humidity and fungal contamination, with potential implications for affecting the health of the occupants. In order to clarify the actual indoor environment and occupants' adverse health effects, a cross-sectional study in the flood-damaged homes located in the flooding areas was conducted from July to December of 2012. We randomly selected 234 dwellings, and a total of 170 responses were obtained for a main survey (Phase 2). Indoor environmental problems related to dampness and mould growth were observed in flood-damaged homes after the flooding. Exposure to poor indoor environmental quality after flooding was positively associated with adverse health effects. Persistent health and environmental problems were recognized within six months after flooding and the long-term effects of mould growth after flooding was observed at least for one year.
KW - Adverse health effects
KW - Dampness
KW - Flood
KW - Great East Japan earthquake
KW - Questionnaire survey
KW - Tsunami
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U2 - 10.1016/j.buildenv.2015.02.040
DO - 10.1016/j.buildenv.2015.02.040
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84938554357
SN - 0360-1323
VL - 93
SP - 24
EP - 34
JO - Building and Environment
JF - Building and Environment
IS - P1
ER -