Citation

Chirico F, Magnavita N. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019; 16(8): e16081444.

Affiliation

Department of Woman/Child and Public Health, Fondazione Policlinico "A. Gemelli" IRCCS, 00168 Rome, Italy. nicola.magnavita@unicatt.it.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, MDPI: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute)

DOI

10.3390/ijerph16081444

PMID

31018622

Abstract

In their review, Kownacki et al. showed some practical and easy to use workplace heat indices that are useful for indoor environments, namely the "Wet Bulb Globe Temperature" (WBGT), the "Predicted Heat Strain" (PHS) model, the "Thermal Work Limit" (TWL), the "Equivalent Temperature" (ET) and the thermal comfort index "PMV/PPD". In this letter, the authors explain why the modified PMV/PPD method together with the indices combining temperature with humidity, such as the "Humidex Index" and the "Heat Index", could be a more feasible and useful tool for evaluating potential thermal stress in indoor environments for both the occupational and general population.

Language: en

Keywords

heat stress; indoor environment; occupational health; outdoor; public health; thermal risk assessment