Americans spend 90 percent of their time indoors. That's over 21 hours a day.

By Tom Kessler

We know that air quality has a huge impact on allergy and asthma sufferers, and that endocrine disruptors, contaminants often found in dust, can harm reproductive health during fetal and infant exposures. But did you know that some of the worst air quality we encounter is in our homes, on airplanes and in offices?

“In the U.S., we spend most of our time thinking about outdoor air pollution but Americans spend 90 percent of their time indoors, that’s over 21 hours a day,” said Richard Corsi, a professor in civil, architectural and environmental engineering and director of the University of Texas at Austin’s Indoor Environmental Science and Engineering Program. “So if we really want to impact the quality of the air we breathe, we must pay far more attention to pollutants in homes, offices and schools.”

UT says the easy place to start is with the pollutants we unwittingly invite into our own homes, such as scented candles and house cleaners. Candles give off particulate matter that can affect your heart and lungs, among other things. And many common household cleaners emit toxic pollutants that can cause health risks depending on the frequency and duration of exposure.

“We’ve been taught that clean air smells like lemons or pine cleaner, when in fact clean air doesn’t have a smell,” said Matt Earnest, a graduate student in UT’s Environmental and Water Resources Engineering program. “When I’m assessing whether air is clean, I base it on if I can smell it. If I can, I don’t think it’s clean.”

Researchers also are finding that indoor air quality doesn’t just affect physical health. Other preliminary study results indicate that performance on standardized tests improves when a school’s air quality is higher.

Their eyes opened to these dangers, many UT students and faculty have changed their personal practices based on what they’ve learned while researching indoor air pollutants. Earnest says he doesn’t use air fresheners and now only cleans with water and baking soda. Corsi won’t use scented candles or incense. Instead he recommends unscented beeswax or soy candles, if a person is compelled to burn candles at all.

Things You Can Do

• Avoid exposure to formaldehyde. Do not purchase furniture or shelving and cabinetry constructed of pressed-wood products that contain urea-formaldehyde resins. Also, wash permanent press clothing, sheets and other fabrics before using them.
• Make sure that you switch on a bathroom fan or open a window in the bathroom while showering/bathing or using any chemicals to clean in the bathroom.
• Some laundry bleaches and dishwasher detergents contain chlorine that chemically reacts with soiled clothing or food on dishes and leads to large amounts of chloroform that is released to indoor air. Consider opening a window or vent fan in your laundry room if you use chlorine bleach while doing your laundry. Consider switching on a stove vent in your kitchen while you do your dishwashing. Each will help to direct the chloroform outdoors and reduce its accumulation in the air of your home. Also, there are many non-chlorine bleach alternatives — switch to them!
• Use floor mats at all entries to clean shoes, or better yet have family members and guests take their shoes off before entering your home. Shoes are a primary means of tracking harmful chemicals such as pesticides, other heavy organic chemicals, and heavy metals into homes.
• Avoid nursery or other extensive home renovations (new carpet, paint, furniture) during pregnancy or for several years after a child is born, unless you use only low/no-VOC materials.
• Read the EPA’s introduction to indoor air quality
Tags: allergy triggers, asthma triggers, bathroom cleaners, dishwasher detergents, laundry detergents, University of Texas at Austin