Indoor Pollution

The majority of the population in the North spend most of their time indoors during the winter. Your homes are sealed and the air stagnant.

Indoor air quality receives only a fraction of the attention paid to outdoor air quality. The indoor air quality we are breathing is very polluant to our health.

Besides smoking or secondhand smoke, there´s biological pollutants (animal dander, fungi, pollen, dust mite and cockroach parts, infectious agents),
radon and organic compounds (found in many products that we use at home such as cleaners, paints and lacquers, and furnishings).

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) studies that compare risks of environmental threats to public health consistently rank indoor air pollution (including all of the above) among the top five.

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What kind of suggestions do you have for us to breathe ‘cleaner’? I realize there are air purifiers, but what would work best?

Besides the obvious smoking; vapors from building materials, paints, furniture cleaners can be imbedded in the air. Radon is a natural radioactive gas released from the earth, and it can be found concentrated in basements in some parts of the United States. Moisture will cause mold even a little condensation from the shower.

The first step is to assess

To elevate poor indoor air quality, do the following:

1) Send smokers outside, including yourself if you smoke.

2) Have your basement checked for radon. If purchasing one, do it before you close. It Is A Must!!!!

3) Products such as paints and glues often contain harmful chemicals. Open and use them outdoors or with plenty of ventilation indoors.

4) Use safer products, such as baking soda instead of harsher chemical cleaners. There are many postings about this on the site.

5) Don’t heat your home with a gas cooking stove, which can not only cause breathing problems but a fire also.

6) Have your appliances and heater regularly inspected and maintained.

7) Clean frequently to remove dust.
Proper home ventilation also prevents damage to your home by reducing moisture. So open those windows and ventilate.

Debra Jean, check out the EPA site. Also Prevent Cancer Coalition, surprisingly has excellent suggestions of safe alternatives for cleaning products, which I hope answers your question.

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We have an air purifier, but I want to invest in a bigger one. Does anyone have any recommendations?

Besides the obvious smoking; vapors from building materials, paints, furniture cleaners can be imbedded in the air. Radon is a natural radioactive gas released from the earth, and it can be found concentrated in basements in some parts of the United States. Moisture will cause mold even a little condensation from the shower.

The first step is to assess

To elevate poor indoor air quality, do the following:

1) Send smokers outside, including yourself if you smoke.

2) Have your basement checked for radon. If purchasing one, do it before you close. It Is A Must!!!!

3) Products such as paints and glues often contain harmful chemicals. Open and use them outdoors or with plenty of ventilation indoors.

4) Use safer products, such as baking soda instead of harsher chemical cleaners. There are many postings about this on the site.

5) Don’t heat your home with a gas cooking stove, which can not only cause breathing problems but a fire also.

6) Have your appliances and heater regularly inspected and maintained.

7) Clean frequently to remove dust.
Proper home ventilation also prevents damage to your home by reducing moisture. So open those windows and ventilate.

Debra Jean, check out the EPA site. Also Prevent Cancer Coalition, surprisingly has excellent suggestions of safe alternatives for cleaning products, which I hope answers your question.

link>link

All of the suggestions you’ve mentioned are good and fortunately I’ve implemented most of them. I’ll check out the website you provided, thanks!

Smoking indoors is almost non-existant now in Australia. It is illegal in all public and work places in Australia, including sports venues, hotels, restaurants etc.

My girlfriend is a smoker but won’t smoke in cars or indoors at all, regardless of how bad the weather is. We have ashtrays outside the front and back doors at home, as do most houses where people smoke.

I would like to add, that opening your windows for a couple of hours each day-to air out your home is beneficial.
Also, ficus and spider plants are very helpful in removing toxins from indoor air.

Also, the quality of an air filter in your air conditioning unit can greatly help remove indoor air pollution. I learned not to skimp out on an air filter. So you pay an extra 10 bucks, you get a lot more in return.

So you recommend opening your windows a couple hours each day, even in the winter months??

That is all very interesting. I know that we do open one window for an hour a day even in the winter. We only crack it but I have to have fresh air. Also another thing is to vacuum your carpets with the new vacuums that have the filters in them and are bagless.

We do open windows, not all of them in winter. And just for a little bit. To let some fresh air in. Leaving them open a long time in winter may be difficult for those that live in colder climates.

That is all very interesting. I know that we do open one window for an hour a day even in the winter. We only crack it but I have to have fresh air. Also another thing is to vacuum your carpets with the new vacuums that have the filters in them and are bagless.

We have a bagless vacuum and personally it felt cleaner with the bag. Cleaning the bagless out when it’s full of dog fur is one nasty job.

The only thing that I follow even during winter is that I tend to open the door or window just for 5-10 minutes in order to allow fresh air into the house, if it isn’t that cold I generally keep the window open for a while in the day. Apart from this I always use exhaust fan which I fix to th window during cooking which removes all the unwanted air and pumps in fresh air.

We just open our windows in the winter time for about five or ten minutes just to air the house out. I really seems to make a difference with the so called stale air inside.