Indoor Air Quality: Little Known Sources of Indoor Air Pollution

To improve the indoor air quality inside of your home you'll need to find the sources of indoor air pollution. Here are a few of the lesser known ones to make sure you are well on your way to creating a healthier environment in your home.

Ozone: Some household appliances emit ozone, which is a molecule that is unsafe at high levels. Sometimes the amount of ozone emitted from photocopiers, laser printers, ultraviolet sources and electrostatic or ionic air cleaners is a "safe" amount. The problem is that different regulatory agencies disagree on what level of ozone is safe. To make sure you aren't being exposed you can test the level of ozone present in your home with inexpensive ozone test strips.

Carpet: Carpet can be a source of chemical emission because it emits volatile organic compounds. The products used to install carpeting like the adhesives and padding also emit VOCs. Carpet may also absorb biological pollutants such as pesticides, dust mites and fungi.

Paint: After the application of paint, it may off-gas for months. To prevent this, purchase paint with low VOCs and follow all of the recommendations regarding application, removal and ventilation. Also keep in mind that the health consequences can be even greater for children and those suffering from respiratory issues or compromised immune systems.

Cleaning Products: Household cleaning products can be the sources of hundreds of potentially harmful chemicals. Some release their harmful chemicals right away while others release them over a period of time. Make sure you use these products in an area with adequate ventilation.

Furniture: Furniture is most often put together with glue that contains formaldehyde, which will off-gas over time. Formaldehyde is a contributor of allergies, asthma and cancer over long periods of exposure. To prevent this from happening in your home avoid pressed wood products unless you are sure that they are free from formaldehyde.

Cooking: When you cook with a gas stove, nitrogen dioxide is produced at levels that the EPA considers unsafe to breathe. Nitrogen dioxide can worsen asthma and increase the risk of respiratory infection. To prevent these effects, ventilate the stove to the outside or keep a window open while cooking.

Plants: Some common house plants can actually remove harmful indoor air pollution, but others produce VOCs. These plants include peace lilies, areca palms, weeping figs and snake plants. Choose plants that are grown without pesticides and pot them in non-plastic pots (such as ceramic ones).

Ozone: The Important Facts

What is Ozone?

Oxygen, a molecule that is essential to life, is composed of two oxygen atoms. Ozone is a molecule that is composed of three atoms of oxygen. The third oxygen atom has the ability to detach from the ozone molecule and re-attach to molecules of other substances which alters the chemical compositions of those substances.

Is Ozone Harmful?

Ozone can be harmful. The chemical properties described above give ozone the ability to react with similar organic material that makes up the body. This can potentially cause harmful health consequences. Ozone may damage lungs when inhaled and exposure to low amounts may cause chest pain, coughing, shortness of breath and throat irritation. Exposure to ozone may also worsen chronic respiratory diseases such as asthma and hamper the body's ability to fight respiratory infections.

The thing about ozone exposure is that people have different reactions. Sometimes a healthy person will be affected or a person already suffering from respiratory difficulty will have breathing problems. After short term exposure to low levels of ozone recovery is expected but exposures at higher levels for longer amounts of time can be harder to recover from.

What About Using Ozone When Nobody is Around?

Ozone is sometimes used to decontaminate unoccupied spaces from certain chemical or biological contaminants or odors. Even though the space is unoccupied, it is unknown what kind of chemical byproducts may be left behind by ozone decontamination. To make sure there are no potentially harmful health consequences, precautions should be taken to ensure that people and pets are not exposed to ozone during this process. Ozone does not only affect people and pets. Indoor plants, rubber, electrical wire coatings and fabrics and art work containing susceptible dyes and pigments can also be adversely affected. Always keep in mind as well that no agency of the federal government has ever approved ozone generators for use in occupied spaces.

Allergies: All About Multiple Chemical Sensitivity

What is Multiple Chemical Sensitivity?

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) is an usually severe sensitivity or allergy-like reaction to many different kinds of pollutants including solvents, VOCs, perfumes, petrol, diesel, smoke and chemicals in general. MCS can also refer to problems involving common household allergens such as pollen, house dust mites, pet fur and dander.

What Are the Symptoms?

Common symptoms include burning, stinging eyes, wheezing, breathlessness, nausea, extreme fatigue/lethargy, headache/migraine/vertigo/dizziness, poor memory and concentration, runny nose (rhinitis), sore throat, cough, sinus problems, skin rashes/itchy skin, sensitivity to light and noise, sleeping problems, digestive upset and muscle/joint pain.

What Causes MCS?

MCS is commonly regarded as an idiopathic disorder. This means it has no known mechanism of causation and its processes are not completely understood. The unknown factors of MCS along with the fact that its sufferers experience varied symptoms and severities make it very hard to treat.

What Can Be Done for MCS Sufferers?

There are four basic treatments for multiple chemical sensitivity. They include:

Chemical Avoidance: Eliminating exposure to the chemicals that cause negative reactions is scientifically proven to be the most effective treatment for MCS. Sufferers can tell their employers about the situation, ask others to avoid smoke and wearing perfume in their presence, avoid working near common sources of pollution including photocopiers, faxes and printers and open windows when at all possible to ensure fresh air.

Chemical Free Housing: Household cleaners, fragrances, petrochemicals, solvents and VOCs found in building materials and furnishing make indoor environments more polluted than outdoor environments. Making sure your home is chemical-free is an important part of symptom reduction/

Nutrient Therapy: Many MCS sufferers have noticed that increasing the levels of certain nutrients, such as antioxidants, reduces their symptom severity.

Sauna Therapy and Detoxification: The environmental chemicals stored in fat cells are eliminated when the body is heated by a sauna. The chemicals are mobilized from the fat stores by the heat and released via sweat.

Indoor Air Quality: Death By Candlelight?

Candles are commonly used in homes to add warmth and ambiance to the atmosphere. Scented candles are also often used to rid homes of unpleasant odors. A little known fact about candles is that they emit particulate matter (candle soot) into the air, contributing to indoor air pollution. This candle soot can discolor walls, ceilings and the contents of a home. It can also contaminate the ventilation system's ductwork in your home, especially if it is constructed of fiberglass.

The worst offenders when it comes to types of candles are petroleum based (paraffin) candles and scented and/or aromatic candles. When paraffin candles are burned they release carcinogenic toxins like benzene, toluene, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, acrolein and soot into the air. These are the same toxins that are released by burning diesel fuel. Scented and/or aromatic candles can trigger allergic reactions, causing symptoms such as itchy and watery eyes, sore throat, blocked nasal passages, headaches, hives, skin irritations and asthma-like conditioners. Those with asthma and respiratory allergies may experience more severe reactions.

4 Signs That Candle Soot is Affecting Your Indoor Air Quality

1. Fabrics that are light in color begin looking dingy and gray.
2. A dark film begins accumulating on the plastic items in the house.
3. There is discoloration around the vents on electronic equipment.
4. A thin, dark residue (darker than regular household dust) covers television and computer monitor screens but can be wiped of with a clean cloth.

How to Prevent Candle Soot and Allergic Reactions

Soy Candles: These candles last 50 percent longer than paraffin candles and burn slower and cooler. They are non-toxic and less likely to trigger allergies. They can be cleaned with soap and water and produce minimal soot. As well as preventing candle soot and allergic reactions, these candles are more animal and child-friendly.

Beeswax Candles: These candles are less likely to trigger allergies and do not produce toxins or soot. They are more expensive than paraffin candles but burn for a longer amount of time as well.

Extra Precautions: Keep the candle wick short (about one-fourth of an inch) because if the wick is too long, the flame will be too large and create more soot. Also, keep candles away from drafty areas because the wind will blow soot and toxins into the air. Finally, clean your home thoroughly with a vacuum and a furnace filter system that can catch micro-particles. These measures minimize the amount of pollutants circulating through your home.

February is National Care About Your Indoor Air Month

This February marks the second annual "National Care About Your Indoor Air" month. The National Parent Teacher Organization and the Healthy House Institute have partnered together to bring about a better understanding of the importance of indoor air quality. The purpose is to help educate consumers about common misconceptions and the importance of having clean and pure air within schools, offices and homes.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency states that indoor air pollution can be between two and five times higher in levels of pollution then outside. In fact, some cases have shown that pollution is almost 100 times higher than outside air. This is such a concern that the EPA ranks poor indoor air quality among the top five risks to public health, especially sine one half of the nations schools have problems linked to indoor air quality.

This month is important because it hopes to clear up some prevalent wrong ideas about indoor air quality. Most consumers believe that a clean home creates clean air, but this is simply not true as airborne particulates like dust, smoke and pet dander have a tendency to fester even in the cleanest of homes. This is because these allergens and impurities are invisible to the naked eye, and by sealing the home to conserve energy they destroy any chance of natural circulation making these pollutants a bigger problem.

Other types of purification (water, hand sanitizer) is big among most households, yet many are not doing anything about the air. Purified water and hand sanitizers do nothing to help the air quality that you are breathing. Air purifiers with HEPA technology are the best way to help eliminate up to 99.97% of these impurities. Some air purifiers even eliminate bacteria and viruses from the air itself. Air purifiers also help circulate the air, thereby reducing airborne allergens and stale air.

Consumers should purchase an air purifier for rooms where they spend the most time, to get the best results. While poor air quality tends to effect children, the elderly, the chronically ill and those affected by asthma and allergies get affected the worse, even healthy adults are not immune to the effects of polluted air. Anyone can quickly succumb to irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat or develop headaches, dizziness and fatigue from breathing poor or contaminated air.

The Healthy House Institute has plenty of online resources to help you create a better, safer indoor environment that is defiantly worth checking out. Trusted online stores also have plenty of options and information to help you make an informed decision as to what air purifier you should purchase. Celebrate "National Care About Your Indoor Air" month by looking into air purifiers for you and your family.

Exercise Fire Safety

On November 25th of last year, Anum Kauser Dalvi, a seven year old girl from Manchester, England, was watching television with her older brother Mauzam when her skirt was suddenly set alight by a portable gas heater. Shortly after, as Mauzam went upstairs to get ready for work, he heard his sister's screams and found her covered in flames. Although he tried to smother the flames, Anum suffered 40 percent burns, with the worst injuries occurring to her lower limbs, torso, and arms.

Because of her significant burns, she became susceptible to infection and developed sepsis, which is a serious medical condition characterized by a whole-body inflammatory state. Sadly, Anum succumbed to her injuries and died on January 24 due to multiple organ failure.

Unfortunately, heating accidents like this are not uncommon, and with the recent onslaught of fires ravaging areas in Southern California, fire safety should be of the utmost concern. Dry winds and vestiges of a dry winter can also help spark fires outdoors, and caution should be taken when heating indoor areas as well.

To safely heat your home or office, be aware that portable gas heaters are not recommended for indoor use, as they release dangerous gases such as carbon monoxide. These are usually only suitable for outdoor use and in areas with ample ventilation such as in patios, and in fact, these types of heaters are even illegal in some countries.

For safe space heating, look for other types of heaters such as those using electricity. For small, personal areas, oil-filled heaters are a safe and economical choice. These heaters operate by warming a special heating-conserving oil and radiate the heat into the personal space or home. For larger areas, infrared heaters are a good choice, as they use silent, infrared technology to heat areas.

If you insist on using a liquid-filled space heater, do so with caution. Use only the fuel recommended by the manufacturer, and never use substitute fuel, as the wrong type of fuel could burn hotter than the equipment's design limits and cause a fire. Be sure to check with your local fire department to find out if portable fuel heaters are legal in your community, and store the kerosene away from heat or open flame in a container approved by the local fire department.