County council officials have drawn up plans for "healthier air" in Hertfordshire, with a focus on air quality inside buildings as well as outdoors.

The new Healthier Air Strategy will replace the council's Air Quality Strategy, which had previously focused on sources of outdoor pollution only.

And, as well as outdoor pollutants, it will look at the impact of toxins, allergens and pathogens that can be concentrated indoors.

According to the strategy, pollution found indoors can be caused by outdoor pollution seeping in, even through closed windows.

It can be generated by activities inside the building, with the strategy highlighting the impact of solid fuel burning domestic fires, gas cooking and mould.

Or it can be inadvertently introduced or trapped through building alterations and retrofits to improve energy efficiency.

And according to the strategy, indoor air pollution is "becoming an increasing proportion of the problem with most of our days spent indoors, whether for work, study or leisure".

Speaking at the latest meeting of the council's cabinet, where the strategy was formally adopted, the leader of the county council, Cllr Steve Jarvis (Liberal Democrat, Royston West and Rural), acknowledged the ongoing work around healthier air.

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And he said: "I think it is important to recognise that it is not just a roadside and traffic-related issue.

"There is an increasing understanding of that. And hopefully this strategy will push that further."

According to the Healthier Air Strategy, three pollutants are of particular concern – fine particulate matter (PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and ammonia (NH3), although they also highlight volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

Outdoor sources of those pollutants can, according to the strategy, include farming and construction, industrial processes, energy generation or transport.

But they can also be generated inside homes from sources such as domestic wood and coal burning, and household beauty and cleaning products.

According to the strategy, up to 20.1% of UK PM2.5 emissions are generated by domestic burning – from burning solid fuels in an open fire or wood burning stove within the home, for example.

And it estimates that domestic wood burning in Hertfordshire creates 184 tonnes of fine particle matter a year.

Gas cooking is also highlighted as a "major source" of indoor air pollution in the strategy, which says switching to electric cooking appliances can protect health by removing the highest concentrations of nitrogen dioxide.

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The strategy highlights the use of extraction to remove unhealthy air from a building – rather than those cooker hoods that recirculate air and are, it says, not effective in removing pollutants or moisture.

Smoking, candles, incense, and henna are also highlighted as producing "different pollutants in different amounts", as are cleaning products, air fresheners and personal care products.

Meanwhile, with data suggesting that 17,855 homes in Hertfordshire are affected by damp, the strategy also highlights the impact of mould on health.

This, it says, is "an important indoor pollutant which can cause both long and short-term health impacts".

And it points to additional work that's expected to be carried out by district and borough councils in this area following the introduction of Awaab's Law.

The strategy – which includes "broad action areas", rather than a "detailed action plan" – will now be used to help the council to form 'evidence-based messages'.

And officials say those messages will help residents, businesses and partners to make changes to create healthier air for themselves and their communities.

In addition, it recommends that district and borough councils in Hertfordshire keep the boundaries of existing smoke control areas under review – and look at whether it would be beneficial to declare new ones, based on local evidence.

The strategy was backed by the latest meeting of the county council's cabinet on June 17.

Among those to welcome the strategy was executive member for public health and community safety Ajanta Hilton (Liberal Democrat, St Stephen's).

At the meeting, she suggested the shift to healthier air was an approach that would help to tackle wider health inequalities.

And she told councillors she hoped the strategy would help to unlock funding opportunities, as well as positioning Hertfordshire really strongly at a national level for healthier air.

According to the strategy, air pollution can affect every organ in the body, being linked to cancer, diabetes and dementia, as well as stroke and brain development, heart disease and high blood pressure. premature birth, lung disease and blood clots, as well as skin ageing.