Healthy Homes For You Blog

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Why "Healthy Indoor Air" Everyday, May Keep the Doctor Away - Part 1 of a 4 Part Series

Part 1 - Why is clean indoor air important?
Part 2 - Sources of Indoor Air Pollution
Part 3 - How poor indoor air quality affects your health
Part 4 - Solutions...Creating Healthy Indoor Air inside our homes

Part 1 - Why is clean indoor air important?

Healthy homes kitchenAmericans spend an average of 90% of our lives indoors according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.  This leaves only 10% of our time spent outdoors.

Much is written about outdoor sources of pollution and how human lives can be affected by polluted air, water and soil.  However, given the percentage split above, do you think the indoor environment or the outdoor environment has the greatest potential to affect our health? 


I live in Sacramento, California, and in the summer months, there are frequent notices that warn residences of unhealthy polluted air.  Below is a copy of a common alert that I received in my email many times last summer:

___________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Today, July 10, and tomorrow, July 11, are Spare The Air days in the Sacramento region.

Today, ground-level ozone air pollution is forecast to reach 174 on the Air Quality Index (AQI) - Unhealthy.  Tomorrow, ground-level ozone air pollution is forecast to reach 154 AQI - Unhealthy. 
Spare The Air trigger is 150 AQI & above.

Today and Tomorrow:
Thursday, Jul 10: 174 AQI - Unhealthy (Ozone)
Friday, Jul 11: 154 AQI - Unhealthy (Ozone)

Yesterday's regional maximum:
Wednesday, Jul 9: 189 AQI - Unhealthy (PM2.5)

Extended Forecast:
Saturday, Jul 12: Unhealthy (PM2.5)
Sunday, Jul 13: Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups (Ozone)
Monday, Jul 14: Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups (PM2.5)
Tuesday, Jul 15: Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups (PM2.5)
____________________________________________________________________________________________

Now get ready for a shocker...We all should be getting daily warnings about the air pollution levels inside our homes....because the air in our homes can be much worse than outdoor air!

EPA LogoThe U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) says that the air inside our homes can be 2 to 100 times more polluted than the outdoor air in even the largest and most industrialized cities. "Thus, for many people, the risks to health may be greater due to exposure to air pollution indoors than outdoors".  Why is this?  Where does the pollution come from?

Even the cleanliest of households have pollution sources that can emit harmful levels of irritants, allergens, biological aerosols, and chemical compounds that can affect our health.  Indoor air contains a vast amount of visible and invisible contaminants that are either particulates or they are gases, vapors and odors.  Polltants levels build up and become trapped inside our homes because of three major factors:  1) Homes are built airtight for energy efficiency.  2)  Even the draftiest homes lack adequate ventilation, 3) Home design and occupant lifestyles allow build-up of pollutants.

For more information see USEPA's Website and article "The Inside Story:  A Guide to Indoor Air Quality.

See Part 2 Next - Part 2 - Sources of Indoor Air Pollution

Environmentally Yours,

Nancy Lancaster is a Realtor and Ecobroker practicing in the greater Sacramento region for Lyon Real Estate .  Visit Nancy Lancaster website to find homes for sale in Sacramento.  Nancy Lancaster sponsors
a unique program called "Healthy Homes For You".
Think Green

Comments

Just thought I would share some of my information with you. Improving the Air Quality in Your Home Indoor Air and Your Health Health effects from indoor air pollutants may be experienced soon after exposure or, possibly, years later. Immediate effects may show up after a single exposure or repeated exposures. These include irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat, headaches, dizziness, and fatigue. Such immediate effects are usually short-term and treatable. Sometimes the treatment is simply eliminating the person's exposure to the source of the pollution, if it can be identified. Symptoms of some diseases, including asthma, hypersensitivity pneumonitis, and humidifier fever, may also show up soon after exposure to some indoor air pollutants. The likelihood of immediate reactions to indoor air pollutants depends on several factors. Age and preexisting medical conditions are two important influences. In other cases, whether a person reacts to a pollutant depends on individual sensitivity, which varies tremendously from person to person. Some people can become sensitized to biological pollutants after repeated exposures, and it appears that some people can become sensitized to chemical pollutants as well. Certain immediate effects are similar to those from colds or other viral diseases, so it is often difficult to determine if the symptoms are a result of exposure to indoor air pollution. For this reason, it is important to pay attention to the time and place the symptoms occur. If the symptoms fade or go away when a person is away from the home and return when the person returns, an effort should be made to identify indoor air sources that may be possible causes. Some effects may be made worse by an inadequate supply of outdoor air or from the heating, cooling, or humidity conditions prevalent in the home. Other health effects may show up either years after exposure has occurred or only after long or repeated periods of exposure. These effects, which include some respiratory diseases, heart disease, and cancer, can be severely debilitating or fatal. It is prudent to try to improve the indoor air quality in your home even if symptoms are not noticeable. While pollutants commonly found in indoor air are responsible for many harmful effects, there is considerable uncertainty about what concentrations or periods of exposure are necessary to produce specific health problems. People also react very differently to exposure to indoor air pollutants. Further research is needed to better understand which health effects occur after exposure to the average pollutant concentrations found in homes and which occur from the higher concentrations that occur for short periods of time.
Posted by Mark Reusch (A Major Inspection Service & Consulting) about 1 year ago

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around a month ago and removed the filter for cleaning. The amount of dirt and particles was remarkable. Thank goodness I got it.

Posted by ally about 1 year ago
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Posted by Machiko about 1 year ago
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