This article may help you decide what actions to take to help reduce the level of indoor air pollution in your home. There could be some risks you want to avoid but you aren't even aware of them yet. Since most of us spend 90% of our time indoors, air-quality is more important now than ever.
Scientists now know that whether you live in the country or the city, in an apartment or in a house, the air in your home is much more polluted than outdoors. The air exchange rate is determined by how much outdoor air enters the home. Modern construction weatherproofs our homes to a much higher degree than ever before. Therefore, we are spending less money on energy for heating and cooling but also decreasing the fresh air entering our homes to naturally improve air quality.
Adding ventilation can be an expensive way to lower the level of pollutants in your home. If you have mold and mildew growth or condensation on cold surfaces, it's a very necessary step. If that's not the case, then limiting or eliminating a few things can make a major difference.
Identifying potential sources of indoor air pollution is the first step. Environmental tobacco smoke is immediately the most obvious and the easiest to control. Simply don't allow it in your home, especially if you have children. It is a mixture of over 4000 compounds, more than 40 of which are known to cause cancer in humans or animals and many of which are strong irritants.
Secondhand smoke causes an increased risk of lower respiratory tract infections in children and the elderly. The 1986 Surgeon General's report concluded that physical separation of smokers and non-smokers in a common airspace, such as different rooms within the same house may reduce but will not eliminate non-smokers exposure to environmental tobacco smoke.
Household chemicals are a huge source of contamination. Hobby products, degreasers, disinfectants, wax, varnishes, and paints all contain organic chemicals and release these organic compounds while being used and during storage. Some are highly toxic, while others are merely irritating.
Potentially hazardous products often have warnings intended to reduce exposure of the user. If the label says to use the product in a well-ventilated area, go outdoors or open windows and use an exhaust fan to provide the maximum amount of fresh air.
Methylene chloride, benzene, and perchloroethylene all sound like things you would never have in your home. Products that contain methylene chloride include paint strippers, adhesive removers, and aerosol spray paints.
Paint supplies, tobacco smoke, car exhaust, and stored fuels like kerosene, all contain benzene. If you have an attached garage and warm your car up in the morning, you're contaminating your home with carbon monoxide, benzene and burnt fossil fuel particulates.
Perchloroethylene is the chemical most widely used in dry-cleaning and has also been shown to cause cancer in animals. Studies indicate that people breathe low-levels of this chemical both in homes where dry-cleaning is stored and while they have on dry cleaned clothing.
Some dry cleaners do not remove as much perchloroethylene as possible all of the time. Minimizing your contact to this chemical is wise. If dry-cleaned goods have a strong chemical odor when you pick them up, do not accept them until they have been correctly cleaned. If goods with a chemical odor are returned to you on following visits, find a different dry cleaner.
Another known cancer-causing agent, formaldehyde, is more prevalent in today's home than most people realize. Pressed wood products** emit formaldehyde when they are new. Maintaining moderate temperatures and humidity levels while providing adequate ventilation will reduce formaldehyde emissions.
If you want to reduce your exposure and still purchase new cabinets, ask for exterior grade products, which emit less formaldehyde. Or, you can use solid wooden boards with no formaldehyde.
Pesticide residues are regularly found in homes in amounts greater than can be explained by recent use in those households. Stored pesticide containers and household surfaces that collect and then release the pesticides may be to blame.
If you feel that a pesticide is necessary, use only pesticides approved for use by the general public, and then only in recommended amounts; increasing the amount is not offering protection against pests and can be harmful to you and your plants and pets.
Mix or dilute the pesticides outdoors or in a well ventilated area and only in the amounts that will be immediately needed. If possible, take plants and pets outside when applying pesticides to them. Use non-chemical methods of pest control when ever possible.
Moth repellents are a very common household pesticide. They contain paradichlorobenzene and it is known to cause cancer in animals. The EPA requires the products containing this chemical to have warnings such as “avoid breathing vapors” to notify users of potential short-term toxic effects.
It is always a good idea when purchasing pesticides, household chemicals, cleaners, paint strippers, paint thinners, paints, kerosene and gasoline to only buy as much as you need to use at the time. Dispose of unused portions in a safe and ethical manner. Because gases can leak from closed containers, disposing of these materials properly will help lower concentrations of organic chemicals* in your home considerably.
If you do not have household hazardous waste collection days in your community, work with others to organize them. Until then, contact your local recycling company and find what they have available for your needs. Keeping these items in your home exposes you and your family unnecessarily.
*Organic Chemicals -- chemicals that contain carbon. Volatile organic compounds vaporize at room temperature and pressure. They are found in many indoor sources, including many common household products and building materials.
**Pressed Wood Products -- a group of materials used in building and furniture construction that are made from wood veneer's, particles, or fibers bonded together with an adhesive under heat and pressure.
This article is too short to list all the common household contaminants and how to minimize their effect. Visit www.BreatheEzFilters.com for more on how to improve indoor air quality.
Kitty is half owner of http://www.BreatheEzFilters.com. Clean air for ourselves and our families is too important to be left to others. Be informed by the causes and effects of indoor air pollution and how you can make a difference.
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