Air Pollution: A Serious Problem!

WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE YOU BREATHING? Air pollution can be invisible and odorless. Toxic air pollution can infiltrate your lungs, eyes, skin, and nostrils without your knowledge. These pollutants are in your home and in the atmosphere.

About 4 percent of deaths in the United States can be attributed to poor air quality, according to the Environmental Science Engineering Program at the Harvard School of Public Health.

According to the EPA, "An air pollutant is any substance in the air that can cause harm to humans or the environment. Pollutants may be natural or man-made and may take the form of solid particles, liquid droplets or gases. The 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments lists 188 toxic air pollutants that EPA is required to control. These pollutants are divided into various groups, including particulate matter, volatile organic comp ounds (VOCs) and halogen compounds. Also included are more commonly-known pollutants such as lead, mercury and asbestos. " Air Pollution: EPA

Indoor Air Quaility (IAQ)

Is your home a safe place to breath. I grew up with two smokers blowing smoking all through the house. I did not realize at the time cigarette smoke coats the air with harmful chemicals. Home is supposed to be a safe place to live yet many still smoke cigarettes in the home.

When you smoke you do not smell the stink. The other day I detailed the inside of a smokers car. It actually smelled like a family of skunks sprayed the seats. I hope the lady doesn't read this page. When you smoke, and I did smoke, you don't realize how much it stinks.

In addition to second hand smoke additional chemicals can be present in your home.

1. Radon - Radon is an invisible, radioactive atomic gas that results from the radioactive decay of radium, which may be found in rock formations beneath buildings or in certain building materials themselves.

2. Mold - Mold results from various forms of moisture. After hurricane Katrina black mold caused many health risk and problems. In addition mold can grow in the walls totally invisible to those affected.

3. Carbon Monoxide - ne of the most acutely toxic indoor air contaminants is carbon monoxide (CO), a colorless, odorless gas that is a byproduct of incomplete combustion of fossil fuels. Common sources of carbon monoxide are tobacco smoke, space heaters using fossil fuels, defective central heating furnaces and automobile exhaust. No doubt I was exposed to tons of carbon monoxide growing up in house full of smokers.

4. Volatile Organic Compounds VOC's Paints and lacquers, paint strippers, cleaning supplies, pesticides, building materials and furnishings, office equipment such as copiers and printers, correction fluids and carbon-less copy paper, graphics and craft materials including glues and adhesives, permanent markers, and photographic solutions.

There are few more toxic chemicals present in homes. For a complete lists go to Indoor Air Quality

The Solution to Indoor Air Pollution

No doubt, we have a serious air quality problem in the USA and the world. Poor air quality is killing people and we need solutions in order to reduce deaths and serious illnesses.

Improve indoor air quality with plants. Plants actually have been proven to absorb Co2 and other toxic chemicals. Indoor plants can be an inexpensive method of combating indoor air pollutants.

Air filters are another way to fight indoor pollutants. In the future we will be offering quality air filters for the home.

Adequate ventilation helps as long as the outdoor air pollution is in acceptable ranges.

According to the EPA: EPA-GOV Source Control

Usually the most effective way to improve indoor air quality is to eliminate individual sources of pollution or to reduce their emissions. Some sources, like those that contain asbestos, can be sealed or enclosed; others, like gas stoves, can be adjusted to decrease the amount of emissions. In many cases, source control is also a more cost-efficient approach to protecting indoor air quality than increasing ventilation because increasing ventilation can increase energy costs.

Ventilation Improvements

For most indoor air pollution problems in the home, source control is the most effective solution.

Another approach to lowering the concentrations of indoor air pollutants in your home is to increase the amount of outdoor air coming indoors. Most home heating and cooling systems, including forced air heating systems, do not mechanically bring fresh air into the house. Opening windows and doors, operating window or attic fans, when the weather permits, or running a window air conditioner with the vent control open increases the outdoor ventilation rate. Local bathroom or kitchen fans that exhaust outdoors remove contaminants directly from the room where the fan is located and also increase the outdoor air ventilation rate.

It is particularly important to take as many of these steps as possible while you are involved in short-term activities that can generate high levels of pollutants - for example, painting, paint stripping, heating with kerosene heaters, cooking, or engaging in maintenance and hobby activities such as welding, soldering, or sanding. You might also choose to do some of these activities outdoors, if you can and if weather permits.

Advanced designs of new homes are starting to feature mechanical systems that bring outdoor air into the home. Some of these designs include energy-efficient heat recovery ventilators (also known as air-to-air heat exchangers). For more information about air-to-air heat exchangers, contact the Conservation and Renewable Energy Inquiry and Referral Service (CAREIRS), P.0. Box 8900, Silver Spring, MD 20907 800-523-2929, 800-233-3071 (In Alaska & Hawaii)

Air Cleaners

There are many types and sizes of air cleaners on the market, ranging from relatively inexpensive table-top models to sophisticated and expensive whole-house systems. Some air cleaners are highly effective at particle removal, while others, including most table-top models, are much less so. Air cleaners are generally not designed to remove gaseous pollutants.

The effectiveness of an air cleaner depends on how well it collects pollutants from indoor air (expressed as a percentage efficiency rate) and how much air it draws through the cleaning or filtering element (expressed in cubic feet per minute). A very efficient collector with a low air-circulation rate will not be effective, nor will a cleaner with a high air-circulation rate but a less efficient collector. The long-term performance of any air cleaner depends on maintaining it according to the manufacturer's directions.

Another important factor in determining the effectiveness of an air cleaner is the strength of the pollutant source. Table-top air cleaners, in particular, may not remove satisfactory amounts of pollutants from strong nearby sources. People with a sensitivity to particular sources may find that air cleaners are helpful only in conjunction with concerted efforts to remove the source.

Over the past few years, there has been some publicity suggesting that houseplants have been shown to reduce levels of some chemicals in laboratory experiments. There is currently no evidence, however, that a reasonable number of houseplants remove significant quantities of pollutants in homes and offices. Indoor houseplants should not be over-watered because overly damp soil may promote the growth of microorganisms which can affect allergic individuals.

At present, EPA does not recommend using air cleaners to reduce levels of radon and its decay products. The effectiveness of these devices is uncertain because they only partially remove the radon decay products and do not diminish the amount of radon entering the home. EPA plans to do additional research on whether air cleaners are, or could become, a reliable means of reducing the health risk from radon.

Solution for Outdoor Air Pollution

EPA is working hard to solve the problem of air pollution in the USA. The fact remains we will all have to work together to bring a resolution to air pollution.

According to the EPA: EPA - Air Quality

The EPA plays a very important role in the pollution solution through its involvement and partnerships with other government agencies, industry and community.

EPA’s involvement in the air pollution solution includes:

* Enforcing pollution emission limits on cars, trucks and factories; * Developing State Environmental Protection Policies (SEPP): these set rules that cars, trucks, factories and businesses must follow to minimize pollution; * Managing Air Monitoring Stations, which helps EPA monitor the health of the air; * Talking with community, industry and government; * Supporting education campaigns;

EPA also forecasts smog days for Melbourne. Smog alerts are issued to the media a day before they are expected. These alerts are often shown on the TV news and in local papers.

On Smog Alert days people are asked to:

* Reduce car usage; * Limit use of wood fires; and * Not burn off or light incinerators.

The smog alert days also act as warnings for people with respiratory and cardiovascular disease.

Products for the Home

We have developed several green cleaning products for the home which can cut down on air pollutants in the home. We are going to launch these products very soon. Keep coming back for more information.

Stay tuned for additional methods and products which can reduce air pollution in our homes and lives.

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More Pages on Air Pollution!

RADON - Radon Danger

STOP SMOKING - Stop Smoking and Polluting the Air

IN DOOR AIR QUALITY - Indoor Air Quality