The healthiness of the air: Historical analysis of the studies on the relationship between health and air pollution in living and working places [La "salubrità" dell'aria: Analisi storica degli studi della correlazione tra salute ed inquinamento dell'aria negli ambienti di vita e di lavoro]

The relationship between air pollution and health had already been postulated by ancient authors. In the Eighteenth century, Bernardino Ramazzini, the founder of the Occupational Medicine, reported in its works relevant considerations against air pollution and its damages. During the Enlightenment, the studies on the eudiometry conducted by the physic Marsilio Landriani can be considered a first attempt to connect the measurement of air quality to medical issues. In the following centuries, Industrial Revolution and the diffusion of domestic heating were a determining factor in worsening the air quality. Despite specific legislations on smoke abatement, some air pollution "disasters" occurred during the last century. In conclusion, this historical analysis showed the complex evolution of the knowledge on the relationship between health and air pollution. Nowadays, an important contribution to the current scientific and political debate on this issue has been provided also by the Occupational and Environmental Medicine.