Everybody is talking about the contaminants found in our outdoor environment but as I said before, Indoor Air Pollution is where we should be focusing most of our attention.
"Data released in the AirAdvice - State of Our Indoor Air Report 2007 .....
people in 9 out of 10 American homes are breathing unhealthy indoor air. .....
96.7% of all homes tested had at least one of six indoor air quality (IAQ) problems .....
You may think your home is clean and fresh but to quote Dr Allan C, Somersall, author of “Fresh Air for Life”:
”It’s not just what you can see that threatens you, it’s also what you can’t see”
Here are some indoor contaminants that we can’t avoid. You probably don't realize it, but you may have most of them in your indoor environment right now.
Tobacco Smoke
Everybody is free to make his or her own lifestyle choices and that includes the right to smoke in your own home. I sincerely hope that you have made the choice not to partake in this very unhealthy habit, especially if you have children in the house. Unfortunately, even if you don’t smoke yourself, you will come in contact with people that do. The estimate of adult deaths in the U.S. attributed to second hand smoke exposure is about 46,000 per year.
More on Smoke
Pesticides
Studies have shown that approximately 90% of all U.S. households use pesticides. It doesn’t matter if you only use them outdoors because some inevitably move indoors transported by air currents or the clothing of members of your family. It doesn’t matter how they get in, once they gain entrance they may never leave and the chronic effects on your health after long-term exposure can be devastating.
More on Pesticides
Pollen My favorite. Once a year whether you need it or not, right? If you are like me and you have allergies, you know where I’m coming from. This is mainly an outdoor problem however, as you and I both know; it’s difficult to restrict it to outdoors, especially on hot days when you need to open windows.
Dust Mites
You have probably heard of these little critters. They say that an ounce of dust can hold 10 to 20,000 of them. The dust mites themselves are not the problem. The problem is the 20 droppings a day each of them have. These droppings contain allergens which can aggravate allergy sufferers.
Radon
This is an inert gas which was identified as a component of indoor air pollution about 50 years ago. It enters as soil gas through cracks in the structure of your home. Radon gas is considered a significant cause of lung cancer in the United States.
More on Radon
This list, of course, is not all-inclusive but I think you get the idea. Here are links to a few more that you might be interested in looking at:
Some of the technologies you have looked at will address some of these contaminants but you are going to need multiple strategies to do a complete job on your indoor air pollution.
You may think your home is clean and fresh but to quote Dr Allan C, Somersall, author of “Fresh Air for Life”:
