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3 Shocking Facts About the Air in Your Home
by Christopher Gavigan
We breathe more than we eat. We breathe more than we drink. We are breathing all the time, but how often do you stop to think about what exactly you are breathing? Probably lot more than how often you consider what else you're putting in your body. Yet, it's no less important, especially for young children who breathe faster than adults – inhaling 50% more air per pound of body weight.
Air pollution is obvious when you're caught in a plume of fumes from a diesel truck or when the wind blows smoke in your face from a camp fire or grill, but even when you can't see the air, it can still be heavily contaminated. Even more importantly, the worst air is generally inside, where most people spend roughly 90% of their time.
Here are 3 shocking facts that will hopefully give you pause to stop and consider every breath you take.
1. The indoor air in the typical American home contains over 500 chemicals. According to a study published in April 2009:
2. The breathing zone of a baby (less than 2 feet above ground) can be more contaminated than an adults (4-6 feet) because many contaminants weigh more than air (mercury, pesticides, etc) (links to a PDF file). For example, in one study, the pesticide Chlorpyrifos was found to be nearly four times more concentrated at about 5-10 inches from the floor compared with the air 2 feet or more above the floor in a room with a window open for ventilation.
3. Even though indoor air is typically 2-5 times more polluted than outdoor and we spend about 90% of our time indoors, there have been few studies documenting the health effects of indoor air and there are no regulations as there are for outdoor air or even workplace air. According to an article in the San Francisco Gate: "The U.S. General Accounting Office has called indoor air pollution "one of the most serious environmental risks to human health," yet no agency has authority to control pollutants in indoor air." There are a variety of regulations aimed at limiting outdoor air pollution – and granted, it would be difficult to impossible to have the same types of rules in place for the average home, but at the very least, there could be regulations regarding how many VOCs a product can emit.
No two homes have exactly the same air quality issues and there's no way to eliminate them all, but you can do many things to reduce your exposure to the worst culprits. Check out the ABCs of Healthier Indoor Air to get started today.
Related Topics:
We breathe more than we eat. We breathe more than we drink. We are breathing all the time, but how often do you stop to think about what exactly you are breathing? Probably lot more than how often you consider what else you're putting in your body. Yet, it's no less important, especially for young children who breathe faster than adults – inhaling 50% more air per pound of body weight.
Air pollution is obvious when you're caught in a plume of fumes from a diesel truck or when the wind blows smoke in your face from a camp fire or grill, but even when you can't see the air, it can still be heavily contaminated. Even more importantly, the worst air is generally inside, where most people spend roughly 90% of their time.
Here are 3 shocking facts that will hopefully give you pause to stop and consider every breath you take.
1. The indoor air in the typical American home contains over 500 chemicals. According to a study published in April 2009:
- 586 individual chemicals were identified in the air of 52 homes. The pesticides diazinon and chlorpyrifos were found in the greatest amounts and both were found in all of the homes tested.
- Twenty-seven different organochlorine pesticides were detected. p,p'-DDE, a breakdown product of the now banned pesticide DDT, was detected in more than 90 percent of homes.
- Amounts of PCBs were generally low but were found in more than half the houses. They were detected in 56 percent of the 52 homes studied.
- Phthalate chemicals were found at very large concentrations in indoor air.
2. The breathing zone of a baby (less than 2 feet above ground) can be more contaminated than an adults (4-6 feet) because many contaminants weigh more than air (mercury, pesticides, etc) (links to a PDF file). For example, in one study, the pesticide Chlorpyrifos was found to be nearly four times more concentrated at about 5-10 inches from the floor compared with the air 2 feet or more above the floor in a room with a window open for ventilation.
3. Even though indoor air is typically 2-5 times more polluted than outdoor and we spend about 90% of our time indoors, there have been few studies documenting the health effects of indoor air and there are no regulations as there are for outdoor air or even workplace air. According to an article in the San Francisco Gate: "The U.S. General Accounting Office has called indoor air pollution "one of the most serious environmental risks to human health," yet no agency has authority to control pollutants in indoor air." There are a variety of regulations aimed at limiting outdoor air pollution – and granted, it would be difficult to impossible to have the same types of rules in place for the average home, but at the very least, there could be regulations regarding how many VOCs a product can emit.
No two homes have exactly the same air quality issues and there's no way to eliminate them all, but you can do many things to reduce your exposure to the worst culprits. Check out the ABCs of Healthier Indoor Air to get started today.
Related Topics:
19 Comments:
ohh man...I'm gonna start living outside! Thanks for the info!
and tobacco is only one of them=frightening
Opening the windows now and again does the world if good!
You know articles like these can frighten people. No wonder people are on so many meds.
If you have commom sense any normal person can figure that out.
From the cleaning products you use.....laundry products, chemicals in your soap and shampoo when you take a shower, your carpet, etc. Run and hide!!!!!!!
In this modern complex life we've become victims of our own foolishness. It's high time we take our blinders off and start dealing with the environment that we need to survive in. The atmosphere is very thin. How high can you go before you need oxygen? No one person is immune. We all live downstream!
after reading your AIR in your home I wanted to let you know about energy star and the whole home approch on the air quality. Energy star has one of the best ways to make sure your home is safe,check it out on the web just type in ENERGY STAR. Barry EarthsaversO2 a Energy Star verifier
The "father" of toxicology, Paracelsus, wrote: "The dose makes the poison." Even excessive water intake can overload the kidneys and cause death.
One important fact conveniently left out by this merchant of fear: what concentrations were found of the "deadly" chemicals and what demonstrable proof of harm to humans exists at those levels?
The bad news: The indoor air in my home may contain over 500 chemicals.
The good news: If you can read my post, you're still alive.
The 52 homes were in Arizona close to the Mexican border. How would that study compare with homes in Montana, Georgia, Maine or Oregon?
Who said there are two types of statsitics, lies and dam lies?
Pollutants are charged with positive electricity and our bodies(cells) are negatively charged say 70 mV and we give up our energy which inturn firstly shrivels the platelets in the bloodreleasing serotonin being conveyed to the nerve synapses.
These airborne particles can be neutralised by using a negative ioniser.
Stopsdepression and anxiety too
From Michael Cleary TN34 3HD (UK)
More about serotonin. When too much is released the brain orders up monoamine oxidase to metabolise it to another useful chemical. But if say in ten percent of the population too much MAO is produced it seeks out serotonin just not in serotonic fribulates but with the synapses. This strips the conductive ability of the nerve 300m/s so alternative sytsemsare used by the brain. Result potential chaos. More info onrequest.
Cheers.
Michael
I'd like to respond to this comment:
"The "father" of toxicology, Paracelsus, wrote: "The dose makes the poison." Even excessive water intake can overload the kidneys and cause death.
One important fact conveniently left out by this merchant of fear: what concentrations were found of the "deadly" chemicals and what demonstrable proof of harm to humans exists at those levels?"
First of all, the conventional understanding of toxicology first proposed by Paracelsus has been undergoing a revolution as we study the impacts of chemicals on development. For example, in regards to fetal development, it is not the dose, but the timing that makes the poison. An exposure to a particular contaminant can have irreversible impacts on one day of development and no impact on another. Another example is the newest findings showing that endocrine disruptors can be MORE damaging at LOWER levels.
In regards to the second point, the idea here is not to prove indoor air will kill you - it is to make you aware of the many contaminants in your air that have associated health risks. There is no claim that you will absolutely get a disease from these chemicals in these particular concentrations. There is actually a startling gap in our understanding of what exactly most of these chemicals will do. You can reduce potential health risks by eliminating sources. It is simply a "better safe than sorry" approach to well-being.
I recommend to comeback to the nature,and put away the industrial foods as possible.So we should cook in our houses.
In another hand we should fight the environmental conatmination outdoor.
Ohh my gosh, the air.....People are now fighting to get it back...
It all sounds rather hysteric. Where is the evidence for real harm? Health risks of pollutants are dose dependent. People know this since Paracelsus who lived 500 years ago ...
Duh you should use the brain God gave you! Everyone is so paranoid today..if you aren't some ding dong will make you that way..AIR..air out yur house on a daily basis..it only makes sense if you keep something shut up problems will start..if you are using something that is toxic not only open the windows, turn on your fan..geez this world is getting weirder all the time..Hey I have an idea? Lets all live in out own bubbles!
my daughter-in-law won't get her den carpet professionally cleaned because the baby is crawling in there now & she doesn't want to have those chemicals in the carpet. I understand her reasoning here...she is NOT one of those moms who is paranoid aout what her kids touch...the 2 olders ones are allowed to get down & dirty. Articles such as this one are detremental to mom who are paranoid about everything (like my nephew's wife who researches everything & then doesn't let her kids do anything..she might as well keep them in a bubble). If she were to read this article it would send her over the edge....my point is...fear is in the eye of the beholder.
People's homes would be alot cleaner if they had NO carpets in them! People do not realize how dirty and nasty carpets are. So much stuff lives in there that will not come out when cleaned/vacc. Floors in the home are much cleaner. You see all the dirt, then when it is clean you know it is is clean. If all you carpet lovers out there took a sample of the carpet under your beds that never gets cleaned you would be shocked to see what is actually living in it. Another tip. REMOVE your shoes once you enter your home and keep them in a bin by the front door. So much yuck is on the bottom of shoes from all the places we go and then we bring it in our homes. I started doing this because I had a Korean friend who did this and my home and floors I know are much cleaner.
I am not surprised. With all the different materials that are made and you bring into your home, furniture, tables, curtains, anything...you have no idea what its releasing into the air around you. You cannot see it, which is almost like a biological weapon indoors!!! I live in a very old house. God knows what lives inside the walls and floors......Yes, I think we would be healthier living outdoors. But even there air pollution is prominent.
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