Associations between indoor environment in residential buildings in wet and dry seasons and health of students in upper northern Thailand

We performed a repeated questionnaire study on home environment and health (six medical symptoms) in 1159 junior high school students (age 12.8 ± 0.7 years) in upper northern Thailand in wet and dry seasons. Data on outdoor temperature, relative humidity (RH), and air pollution were collected from nearest monitoring station. Odds ratios (OR) were calculated by multi-level logistic regression. Most common symptoms were rhinitis (62.5%), headache (49.8%), throat (42.8%), and ocular symptoms (42.5%). Ocular symptoms were more common at lower RH and rhinitis more common in dry season. Water leakage (28.2%), indoor mold (7.1%), mold odor (4.1%), and windowpane condensation (13.6%) were associated with all six symptoms (ORs: 1.3–3.5). Other risk factors included cat keeping, environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), other odor than mold odor, gas cooking, and cooking with biomass fire. Biomass burning inside and outside the home for other reasons than cooking was associated with all six symptoms (ORs: 1.5–2.6). Associations between home environment exposure and rhinitis were stronger in wet season. In conclusion, dampness-related exposure, windowpane condensation, cat keeping, ETS, gas cooking, and biomass burning can impair adolescent health in upper northern Thailand. In subtropical areas, environmental health effects should be investigated in wet and dry seasons.     

Influence of Solvents on Solution‐Mediated Polymorphic Transformation of the Polymorphs of L‐Histidine

Solution‐mediated polymorphic transformation (SMPT) of the metastable polymorph B of L‐histidine (L‐his) into the stable polymorph A in water‐antisolvent solutions was performed. Methanol, acetone, and acetonitrile served as antisolvents. The SMPT was studied via nucleated batch antisolvent crystallization process by determining the change of the fraction of the stable polymorph A of L‐his in the crystal phase with time during the crystallization process. The fraction of the stable polymorph A of L‐his was assessed offline by Raman spectroscopy. The transformation time depended on the fractions of form A obtained at the initial stage of crystallization. The transformation rate of the metastable polymorph B into the stable polymorph A at lower antisolvent volume fraction was faster than at higher antisolvent volume fraction. The transformation time of polymorph B into polymorph A in water‐acetonitrile solution was the shortest compared to the other solutions.