02/08/2020
WHO :
The Right to Healthy Indoor Air
Principles
Principle 1 - Under the principle of the human right to health, everyone has the right to
breathe healthy indoor air .
Principle 2 - Under the principle of respect for autonomy (“self-determination”), everyone
has the right to adequate information about potentially harmful exposures, and to be
provided with effective means for controlling at least part of their indoor exposures .
Principle 3 - Under the principle of non-maleficence (“doing no harm”), no agent at a
concentration that exposes any occupant to an unnecessary health risk should be
introduced into indoor air .
Principle 4 - Under the principle of beneficence (“doing good”), all individuals, groups and
organizations associated with a building, whether private, public, or governmental, bear
responsibility to advocate or work for acceptable air quality for the occupants .
Principle 5- Under the principle of social justice, the socioeconomic status of occupants
should have no bearing on their access to healthy indoor air, but health status may
determine special needs for some groups .
Principle 6 -Under the principle of accountability, all relevant organizations should establish
explicit criteria for evaluating and assessing building air quality and its impact on the health
of the population and on the environment.
Principle 7 -Under the precautionary principle, where there is a risk of harmful indoor air
exposure, the presence of uncertainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing costeffective measures to prevent such exposure .
Principle 8- Under the “polluter pays” principle, the polluter is accountable for any harm to
health and/or welfare resulting from unhealthy indoor air exposure(s). In addition ,the
polluter is responsible for mitigation and remediation .
Principle 9 -Under the principle of sustainability, health and environmental concerns cannot
be separated, and the provision of healthy indoor air should not compromise global or local
ecological integrity, or the rights of future generations.
SOURCE:
WHO/Europe, 2000