What You Need to Know About Indoor Air Pollution

Indoor air pollution, like the name suggests, is air pollution that is inside a building like a home, an office building, or even a department store. Indoor air pollution is a major health risk because the toxins and pollutants in the indoor air pollution is confined within a small space. Because of this it has less of a chance to disperse in larger volumes of open air which would reduce the harmful impacts on humans and other indoor organisms. The EPA confirms the hazards of indoor air pollution, citing that it is in the top five health concerns in the United States. (Kaufman and Franz, 193, 265). In fact, indoor air pollution is the primary catalyst for 80% of new cases of asthma since the 1980s. (1993). Some examples of air pollution include: formaldehyde, radon222, tobacco smoke, asbestos, nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, spores, and bacteria.

The seriousness of the indoor air pollution situation has steadily increased over the last decade because of the increased amount of time Americans spend inside. Because of the advancements in home entertainment products like DVDs, computers, internet, home audio systems, and video games Americans now spend 90% of their time inside. This means that they are exposed to the concentrated air pollutants contained within their homes. The second factor that has increased the seriousness of indoor air pollution is that at the present time there are no laws or regulations to help reduce indoor air pollutants in homes. (Kaufman and Franz, 1993, 266).

While there are indoor air pollutants in every building to some degree, urban and suburban areas are more effected because of their reliance on chemical cleaners, and because they have more exposure to auto exhaust and industrial exhaust that filters into their homes. Rural areas are less affected by these contributing factors and have a smaller concentration of indoor air pollutants than urban area homes.