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How Indoor Air Pollution Works? The air we breathe leaves much to be desired. Coal plants belch harmful CO2, 18-wheelers spew filthy exhaust and cows add methane to the mix. Sometimes just looking out your window at all the pollution may be enough to make you shun the outdoors.

But what’s inside may be even worse. Indoor air pollution, the degradation of indoor air quality by harmful chemicals and other materials, can be up to 10 times worse than outdoor air pollution [source: Dunn]. This is because contained areas enable potential pollutants to build up more than open spaces do. You can easily visualize this if you think about dumping a gallon of oil into the ocean versus dumping a gallon into your bathtub. The oil in the ocean will dissipate and be diluted within the massive volume of water. That same oil in your bathtub will linger because it has nowhere else to go. The same thing happens with pollutants released into a small enclosed area, like your home or office.

You may think indoor air pollution doesn’t apply to you. After all, you live nowhere near a highway, farm or industrial plant. You don’t smoke and you don’t use a wood-burning stove. But indoor air pollution comes from some places you wouldn’t normally think of, like your house, the land it’s sitting on and everyday items you can purchase at the store. In addition, if you consider that people spend approximately 90 percent of their time indoors, and around 65 percent inside their homes, in particular, you can see why indoor air pollution is an important issue [source: Dunn].

Some of the side effects caused by indoor air pollution are little worse than those of the common cold, but long-term exposure can lead to a coma, lung cancer, and death. Got your attention, yet? Learn more about some of the causes of indoor air pollution next.

Note: This article is informational only. When making purchasing decisions, conduct your own research.
For more information or support call us we are here to help you.

Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) refers to the air quality within and around buildings and structures, especially as it relates to the health and comfort of building occupants. Understanding and controlling common pollutants indoors can help reduce your risk of indoor health concerns. Health effects from indoor air pollutants may be experienced soon after exposure or, possibly, years later.

Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) can have negative consequences such as:

• • Health Effects
  • Primary Causes
  • Identifying Problems
  • Improving IAQ
  • Environmental Justice
  • Glossary
  • Indoor Air Pollution and Health
  • Immediate Effects

Some health effects may show up shortly after a single exposure or repeated exposures to a pollutant. 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. Soon after exposure to some indoor air pollutants, symptoms of some diseases such as asthma may show up, be aggravated or worsened.

The likelihood of immediate reactions to indoor air pollutants depends on several factors including age and preexisting medical conditions. In some 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 or chemical pollutants after repeated or high-level exposures.

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 symptoms occur. If the symptoms fade or go away when a person is away from the area, for example, 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 coming indoors or from the heating, cooling or humidity conditions prevalent indoors.

Identifying Problems in the Indoor Environments. Other health effects may show up either year 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 can cause 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 occurs from the higher concentrations that occur for short periods of time.

Note: This article is informational only. When making purchasing decisions, conduct your own research.
For more information or support call us we are here to help you.

1. Carefully Select the Builder: Before hiring a builder, drive past their previous jobs and speak to the homeowners. Ask if the builder had good follow-through, whether the job was completed on schedule and on budget and if they were pleased with the quality of work. Also, check the builder’s relationships with subcontractors and supply houses — essentially find out if they pay their bills. A builder who is behind on payments will most likely encounter delays in receiving materials and have a hard time keeping a quality crew.
2. Hire a Lawyer: Have a lawyer review the contract with your builder. Building a home is a major investment and it’s important to make sure all of your bases are covered. A small lawyer fee up-front could save you thousands of dollars should something go wrong during construction.
3. Investigate the Area: Before purchasing land, research the school district and crime rate. Drive around the surrounding area, checking for convenience to interstates, schools, shopping, and restaurants.
4. Don’t Overbuild: Before finalizing home plans and beginning construction, compare the home you’re planning with others on the same street. You never want to be the most expensive house on the block; you won’t get your money back when you sell.
5. Don’t Select a Builder Based Solely on Bid: When choosing a builder, don’t select the one with either the highest or lowest bid. A high bid doesn’t guarantee a superior product and the lowest bid could mean that you’ll be hit with extra costs as construction progresses. Often, the low number is to reel you in and the extras will be tacked on later.
6. Hire Locally: Word-of-mouth references are a good gauge of a builder’s reputation. So ask around, then hire the best builder in the community. A well-established local builder will have plenty of nearby subcontractors and suppliers to rely on, meaning no costly travel delays while waiting for out-of-town crews and materials.
7. Build for Your Future: When planning your home’s layout, think not only about your current lifestyle but also plan for a few years down the road. For older adults, a master bedroom on the ground floor is a smart bet. Also, including a shaft that could one day be an elevator is a good idea. Space could be used as closets now and easily converted to an elevator should the need arise.
8. Don’t Go With the Latest and Greatest: Fill your home with technology that will stand the test of time. State-of-the-art features are great but quickly become outdated. Buy products that have been on the market for a year or two. They’re less expensive, readily available and any initial kinks and design flaws have been worked out.
9. Avoid Trends: Nothing betrays a home’s age like trendy, of-the-moment fixtures. Let’s say that Brazilian cherry hardwood is all the rage, then it goes out of style making your home look dated. Select fixtures and features that are classic so your home always looks current.

Note: This article is informational only. When making purchasing decisions, conduct your own research.
For more information or support call us we are here to help you.