{
  "abstract": "Kuwait’s hot-arid climate, intense solar exposure, dust conditions, and prolonged reliance on air-conditioning create distinctive demands on building-envelope materials and may influence their long-term interaction with indoor environments. This narrative review examines building-envelope and insulation materials investigated in Kuwait or under Kuwait climatic conditions and evaluates their potential indoor environmental and public-health relevance through measurable exposure pathways. Kuwait-focused evidence was identified primarily through Scopus and complemented by international literature where direct Kuwait-specific exposure or health evidence was unavailable. The current review is a source-pathway-measurement synthesis that relates envelope assemblies and transport mechanisms with measurable indoor environmental indicators without drawing Kuwait-specific health conclusions. Environmental and operational factors, including high surface temperatures, solar exposure, dust deposition, thermal cycling, prolonged air-conditioning, moisture gradients, installation, maintenance, and aging, may modify material behavior and the conditions under which exposure pathways become relevant. Accordingly, public-health relevance should be assessed through measurable indicators source-release-transport pathways rather than inferred from material type alone. Additionally, simulation or portable-cabin findings should not be considered functionally similar to occupied-building exposure evidence. Therefore, this review proposes an integrated assembly-transport-IEQ-occupant framework combining thermal performance, material condition and aging, ventilation and moisture assessment, targeted chemical or particulate measurements where relevant pathway exists, and occupant-reported Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ). This structured approach underlines the measurements needed to assess the public-health relevance of building-envelope materials under Kuwait’s hot-arid and highly air-conditioned conditions.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "College of Engineering and Technology, American University of the Middle East"
  ],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 5,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Mohamad Al Hallak"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Mohamad Ali-Ahmad"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Christina El-Sawda"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Hassan Flity"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Farjallah Alassaad"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/5mpkvqevnnzfw.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.3389/fpubh.2026.1982898",
  "fulltext_url": "https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2026.1982898/full",
  "id": "5mpkvqevnnzfw",
  "issns": [
    "2296-2565"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2026.1982898/full",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "lcc",
      "RA1-1270"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2307|Indoor Air Quality and Microbial Exposure"
    ]
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  "openalex": "W7223696326",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2026.1982898/pdf",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-26",
  "publisher": "Frontiers Media SA",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/5mpkvqevnnzfw.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:20:24Z",
      "native_id": "10.3389/fpubh.2026.1982898",
      "source": "crossref",
      "url": "https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2026.1982898/full"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-31T14:21:15Z",
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      "url": "https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2026.1982898"
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  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:2307|Indoor Air Quality and Microbial Exposure",
      "subfield": "pharmacology-toxicology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Building envelope materials, indoor environmental quality and public-health relevance in Kuwait: a narrative review of exposure pathways in a hot-arid climate",
  "title_text": "Building envelope materials, indoor environmental quality and public-health relevance in Kuwait: a narrative review of exposure pathways in a hot-arid climate",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-31T14:21:15Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/5mpkvqevnnzfw",
  "venue": "Frontiers in Public Health",
  "versions": []
}