Indoor Air Quality - What You Should Know

Indoor Air Quality - What You Should Know

According to the American College of Allergies, 50% of all illness is aggravated or caused by polluted indoor air.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) themselves declare that indoor air is anywhere from 2 to 10 times more hazardous than outdoor air.

The EPA also warns us that the indoor air quality is the United States' number one environmental health problem.

Today's homes and buildings are built air-tight, and contain a long list of pollution sources (see list). As a result, natural air-cleansing agents such as ozone and negative ions are kept out, while contaminants are kept in.

A recent study found that the allergen level in super-insulated homes is 200% higher than it is in ordinary homes.

According to Scientific America, a baby crawling on the floor inhales the equivalent of 4 cigarettes a day, as a result of the outgassing of carpets, molds, (About Mold, Mold Facts), mildews, fungi, dust mites, etc.

Most people spend well over 90% of their time indoors. In which case, indoor air is going to impact our health far more than outdoor air.

The EPA informs us that 6 out of 10 homes and buildings are "sick", meaning they are hazardous to your health to occupy as a result of airborne pollutants.

Other Interesting Facts Related to Indoor Air Quality

Asthma cases have increased by more than 100% since 1976.
About 1 in 9 children now have asthma.
Hospitalization rates and doctor visits are still continuing to increase dramatically.

Death rates due to asthma have tripled and quintupled in children ages 5 to 9 since 1976.
Hospitalization rates and doctor visits are still continuing to increase dramatically.

Hospitalization rates and doctor visits are still continuing to increase dramatically.

Common Sources of Indoor Air Pollution in your Home or Building

People. About 80% of what you see floating in a ray of sunlight entering your home is dead human skin flakes. Remember, we can only see about 10% of the airborne pollutants. Dead human skin is a staple of the dust mites diet. Negative ions remove dead skin from the air, which also removes a host of dust mites and bacteria from the air you breath.

Dust. About 40 pounds of dust is generated per 1,500 square feet every year. Each speck of dust carries about 40,000 dust mites and other illness-causing bacteria and viruses. Negative ions also remove dust particles from the air, which also removes the contaminants residing on them. Ozone destroys the microorganisms carried by dust.

Allergens. Pollens, ragweed, and a variety of other allergens find their way into the home from outdoors.

Carpet, Plywood, and other Construction Materials. The ?new? smell associated with new carpet, newly painted walls, new home, remodeled room, etc. is actually the out-gassing of the chemical solutions used to treat these products. Wood floors are better for the health than carpet, but carpet is much more affordable. Ozone oxidizes these chemical fumes so they are no longer toxic.

Mattresses and Furnishings. Treated with fire retardants and other chemicals, which add to the chemical vapours we breathe inside. Chemicals are oxidized by ozone.

Pillows and Blankets. Dust mites comprise over 50% of the weight of the average pillow.

HVAC Systems. Air ducts serve as a fertile breeding area for mould spores.

Household Cleaners/Aerosols, Insecticides, Pesticides. We literally poison the air we breathe with chemical fumes and toxins when we use these products.

Moist things or humid environments. Mould spores, bacteria, and mildew thrive in dampened towels, wash cloths, and moist or humid areas. Ozone destroys moulds and bacteria, while negative ions remove floating mould spores from the air. Children in homes with high mould show persistent, cold-like symptoms ? 300% more than average.

Pets. Airborne animal and/or pet dander (dried spit from the animal that breaks off the end of their hair and floats in air since they are so small) is a common trigger for allergies and asthma. Plus, the feces from your pet emits added contaminates into the air.

Insects and other Bugs. Insects and bugs feces is a powerful allergen. In a recent extensive study by the New England Journal of Medicine, more than half the homes tested had high levels of cockroaches. Children living in these homes were more than three times as likely to be hospitalized for asthma.

Smoking. Smoking in the home or vehicle leaves the air being breathed dense with over 3600 cancer-causing toxins. These toxins also cling to the clothing we wear, and release themselves when we enter other homes and buildings.

Vehicles. Recent studies show that most people face their worst exposure to polluted air while inside their vehicle. Pollen builds up in your vehicle?s a/c system. Plus, exhaust and gasoline fumes easily enter your vehicle.

Based on studies by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), billions of dollars are spent annually for medication to help Americans breathe or cure their respiratory illnesses. Eleven million Americans have asthma. Twenty-eight million have hay fever and other allergies. Physicians are now discovering that the solution to the problems of many of these people is not in medicine but in reducing the pollutants in the air they breathe.

Every year at least 6,000 new chemical compounds are developed. Many are used indoors every day, at home and at work.Add to these pollutants the mold, mildew, bacteria, viruses, tobacco smoke, grease, pollen, dirt, asbestos, lead and numerous other contaminants that can affect our breathing and our health. Then allow them to circulate in today's nearly airtight indoor environment. No wonder our indoor air is, on average, two to ten times as polluted as the worst outdoor air.

Viruses and bacteria that thrive in the ducts, coils, and recesses of building ventilation systems have been proven to cause ailments ranging from influenza to tuberculosis. Some HVAC systems have been found to contain up to 27 species of fungi.

Based on information given at the First Annual Air Quality convention sponsored by EPA, April 1992, Tampa, Florida:

? 40% of all buildings pose a serious health hazard due to indoor air pollution, according to the World Health Organization.

? EPA estimates an 18% annual production loss to American business due to poor indoor air quality.

? 20% of all employees have a major illness related to indoor air pollution such as allergies, asthma, auto-immune diseases, etc.

? EPA says high levels of formaldehyde cause cancer

? Scientists now recognize that pollutants, even at acceptable concentration, combined together in an indoor environment have a synergistic negative effect.

Negative Ions Pollutants and Health

Ionization or negative ion generation is often referred to as the "thunderstorm effect". It is well known that prior to a thunderstorm, animals and even many humans feel nervous, jittery and irritable; however, after the storm there seems to be a feeling of calm. Both animals and humans experience this phenomena. Most people can not explain this renewed sense of well-being. However, there is a logical explanation. All of this is due to the amount of negative ions in the air around us. Prior to a thunderstorm there is a very high concentration of positive ions in the air. These tend to be pollutants such as dust, bacteria, pollen, chemicals, etc. The storm releases electrical discharges consisting of high concentrations of negative ions. Negative ions destroy many of these air pollutants and, therefore, give us a sense of well being. When relatively too many positive ions are present in the air before a storm, the positive charge is transferred in the air you breathe from your lungs to the blood, causing the blood platelets to release a hormone that quite strongly affects your moods, your joints, and other physiological functions in your body.

Ions are floating in the air around us all the time and have either negative or positive charges on them. Changes in their concentration, or in the ratio of positively to negatively charged molecules can have remarkable effects on plants and animals. It is known in science that ion depletion is the source of a wide range of human health problems, both mental and physical. Air ions are important to you because if there are a high proportion of negative ions you will feel lively, uplifted, and enthusiastic. Too many positive ions will have you feeling depressed, lethargic and full of aches, pains and complaints. In general, exposure to negatively ionized air has been shown to increase oxygenation of the lungs, vital capacity, and ciliary activity. All types of beneficial responses take place as a result of these friendly ions.

Fortunately through modern technology it is possible to control the electrical state of our indoor environments by generating negative ions back in the air. These negative ions attach themselves to airborne toxins and drop them to a surface. Ions basically take out the larger pollutants in the air. For example, ozone will take the smell of smoke out of the room and neutralize the chemicals, but will not remove the smoke itself. Negative ions take the smoke out.

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