Effects of indoor plants on office workers: a field study in multiple Dutch organizations.

In the period 2019-2020, the effect of plants in the workspace on (a) the physical indoor climate, (b) the perception of the workspace by office workers, and (c) their health, well-being and functioning was investigated in nine organizations. This paper reports the outcomes of the latter part. A conceptual model describing the short-term, medium and long-term effect of plants on people was formulated, containing 18 outcome variables. A "Before After Control Impact" quasi-experimental research design was used. A control workspace and an intervention workspace were selected in each of the organizations. A pre-measurement was conducted in both. Correlational analyses, based on the pre-measurements in all organizations and workspaces, confirmed the associations proposed by the conceptual model to a large extent. After placing plants in the intervention workspace, a maximum of two post-intervention measurements were conducted (due to COVID-19 not in all nine organizations), the last one at least 4 months after the introduction of the plants. Overall significant effects were found on complaints about dry air (fewer), the sense of privacy (higher), the attractiveness of the workspace (higher), satisfaction with the workspace (greater) and having a health-related complaint, especially when at work (fewer). The first three effects were already observed in the analyses only including the first post-measurement. The latter two effects only showed up in the analyses including two post-measurements. No direct effect of the plants could be demonstrated on the 13 other outcome variables. The observed effects mainly concern outcome variables that are positioned at the beginning of the proposed causal chain, starting with plants and ending with mental health, absenteeism and job satisfaction.

Research challenges for cultural ecosystem services and public health in (peri-)urban environments.

Urbanization is a global trend, and consequently the quality of urban environments is increasingly important for human health and wellbeing. Urban life-style is typically associated with low physical activity and sometimes with high mental stress, both contributing to an increasing burden of diseases. Nature-based solutions that make effective use of ecosystem services, particularly of cultural ecosystem services (CES), can provide vital building blocks to address these challenges. This paper argues that, the salutogenic, i.e. health-promoting effects of CES have so far not been adequately recognised and deserve more explicit attention in order to enhance decision making around health and wellbeing in urban areas. However, a number of research challenges will need to be addressed to reveal the mechanisms, which underpin delivery of urban CES. These include: causal chains of supply and demand, equity, and equality of public health benefits promoted. Methodological challenges in quantifying these are discussed. The paper is highly relevant for policy makers within and beyond Europe, and also serves as a review for current researchers and as a roadmap to future short- and long-term research opportunities.

Greener living environment healthier people?: Exploring green space, physical activity and health in the Doetinchem Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: Evidence is emerging that more green space in the living environment is associated with better health, partly via the pathway of physical activity. OBJECTIVES: We explored the cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between green space and physical activity and several health indicators in the Doetinchem Cohort Study. METHODS: A random sample of men and women aged 20-59years at baseline was measured max 5 times with 5year-intervals in the period 1987-2012. Data of round 3-5 were used. Measurements were based on examinations (height, weight, blood pressure) or questionnaires (physical activity, perceived health, depressive symptoms, chronic conditions). The percentage of green space (mainly urban and agricultural green) around the home address (125m and 1km) was calculated using satellite data. RESULTS: More agricultural green was associated with less time spent on bicycling (ß1km=-0.15, 95%CL -0.13; -0.04) and sports (ß1km=-0.04, 95%CL -0.07; -0.01) and more time spent on gardening (ß1km=0.16, 95%CL 0.12; 0.19) and odd jobs (ß1km=0.10, 95%CL 0.05; 0.15), and this was in the other direction for urban green. For only a few of the many health indicators a positive association with green was found, and mainly for total green within 1km radius. Longstanding green or a transition to more green did not show more pronounced associations with health. CONCLUSIONS: For the green space range of the Doetinchem area the findings do not strongly support the hypothesis that the percentage of green in the living environment affects health positively. The distinction by type of green may, however, be relevant for physical activity.

Local availability of green and blue space and prevalence of common mental disorders in the Netherlands.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies revealed a relationship between residential green space availability and health, especially mental health. Studies on blue space are scarcer and results less conclusive. AIMS: To investigate the hypotheses that green and blue space availability are negatively associated with anxiety and mood disorders, and positively associated with self-reported mental and general health. METHOD: Health data were derived from a nationally representative survey (NEMESIS-2, n=6621), using a diagnostic interview to assess disorders. Green and blue space availability were expressed as percentages of the area within 1 km from one's home. RESULTS: The hypotheses were confirmed, except for green space and mood disorders. Associations were generally stronger for blue space than for green space, with ORs up to 0.74 for a 10%-point increase. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the different survey design and health measures, the results largely replicate those of previous studies on green space. Blue space availability deserves more systematic attention. DECLARATION OF INTEREST: None. COPYRIGHT AND USAGE: © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 2016. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Non-Commercial, No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) license.

Land-applied goat manure as a source of human Q-fever in the Netherlands, 2006-2010.

Studies have shown a link between Q-fever positive farms (QFPFs) and community cases of human Q-fever. Our study is the first to investigate the potential role of contaminated land-applied manure in human Q-fever, based on a large set of nationwide notification and farm management data. Time between manure application and disease onset in geographically linked notified human cases coincided with the incubation period of Q-fever. Proximity of contaminated land parcels predicted human cases better than proximity of QFPFs (80% vs. 58%, 0-5 km in 2009). Incidence around QFPFs and contaminated land parcels decreased with distance, but not around non-contaminated land parcels. Incidence was higher around contaminated land parcels than non-contaminated land parcels (RR = [10],95%CI = [7], [1]-[14,2]). Our findings deliver evidence that, apart from QFPFs, land-applied contaminated manure may be another source of human Q-fever.

Spatial relationships in the Q fever outbreaks 2007-2010 in the Netherlands.

We analyzed the Q fever epidemic in the Netherlands on a national scale from a spatial point of view. Data on dairy goat farms and Dutch population, whether or not infected, were geo-referenced. Human cases were counted in GIS at different distance classes for all dairy goat farms, farms with Q fever based on BTM analysis, and farms with clinical symptoms. In all selections, human incidence decreased with increasing distances from dairy goat farms. Incidence was highest around farms with clinical symptoms. Depending on the acceptable incidence value, a dairy goat-free zone around residential areas could be defined. Cluster analyses were performed to identify local clusters of both infected farms and human cases and to identify focused clusters of human cases. Focused clusters were detected for only 14 out of 29 farms with clinical symptoms, giving rise to a new hypothesis on the transmission of Q fever.