Indoor air quality (IAQ) plays a critical role in public health, particularly in environments where individuals spend prolonged periods of time indoors, and this become a key consideration to researchers and health practitioners. This comprehensive review investigates and highlights recent studies, conducted in diverse geographic regions, and published between 2019 and 2024 in peer-reviewed journals on indoor air quality (IAQ) in critical indoor environments such as healthcare facilities, schools, and residential buildings. The purpose of this review is to draw out recent key findings and highlights the gaps associated in air quality studies through a methodological analysis of a series of research articles. Major pollutants identified in such review study include particulate matter, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, formaldehyde, and biological contaminants. This study highlights how poor ventilation, seasonal variations, building design, and daily indoor activities contribute to elevated pollutant levels. Evidence shows that these exposures are linked to a range of health outcomes, including respiratory illnesses, cognitive decline, and increased risks for vulnerable populations such as children and patients. The review highlights factors affecting IAQ resulting in exacerbated health risks, in addition to different air quality management strategies providing control programs and special requirements especially for critical indoor settings, where maintaining specific environmental conditions is essential to ensure safety, health, comfort, or proper functioning of sensitive processes or equipment. Considering future developments in IAQ, this review paper provides a forward-looking perspective and a comprehensive air quality management framework to serves as a valuable resource for researchers, engineers, practitioners, and policymakers.

In recent years, there has been a clear increase in bottled water consumption globally, which has led to significant health and environmental concerns. This cross-sectional study aims to understand the attitude and preferences of university students in Qatar towards the use of bottled and tap drinking water using an online survey questionnaire (September and October 2022). The number of students who responded to the online survey was 14% (n = 688) of the student population, with a mean age of 22.23 ± 5.15 years from the different colleges. Overall, a higher fraction of students preferred plastic bottled water as the main drinking source on campus (n = 468; 68.02%), with a majority of them being females (72.08%). Out of the 468 students who preferred plastic bottled water, safety was the most important factor (43.80%), followed by convenience (16.88%) and taste (15.60%). Cost (15.17%), personal/family habits (5.13%), environmental concerns (2.14%), and mineral content (1.28%) were found to be the least important factors. Among the 45 students (6.54%) who preferred tap water over plastic bottled water, cost (46.67%) was the dominant factor, followed by convenience (20.00%), environmental concerns and safety (13.33% each), taste (4.44%), and personal/family habits (2.22%). Around 72% believed that plastic water bottles were more harmful to the environment, yet the greater majority still resorted to this source. The research study underscores safety as the major factor favoring bottled water over tap water. Further, it suggests that knowledge alone does not fully explain student behavior, implying other influential factors. This study recommends campaigns focus on attitude and behavior change and not solely emphasize knowledge. There is an immediate need to further educate students through environmental and health literacy programs on water consumption and quality. Enabling the population to understand the positive and negative aspects of their choices may be an effective remedy for ensuring a healthy population and healthy environment.