Indoor Pollution, the Invisible Enemy

Officials from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have affirmed that indoor pollution can have a major influence upon the air quality, damaging our health even more than the sources of outdoor pollution from the most industrialized cities all across the Globe.

Independent studies analyzed by experts led to the conclusion that people spend up to 90% of their spare time indoors, therefore their health and wellbeing is threatened more by the polluters which are sheltered by their own households.

The situation is alarming mostly because most of the individuals aren't aware of the risks implied by their own households.

If we are talking about short-term exposures to these risk factors, we might want to take into consideration a wide range of symptoms, such as dizziness, fatigue, throat and eye irritations or headaches.

The people who deal with inside pollution on a regular basis might be exposed to more alarming threats, since experts managed to correlate this phenomenon with severe illnesses such as cancer, heart disease and respiratory difficulties which can put the lives of individuals in danger.

Scientists already warned the public opinion about the fact that cleaning products and air fresheners are our false friends. They pretend to work in our favor and they disturb our interior balance when we least expect it.

If you want to make sure that the items from your household don't stab you behind your back, make sure that, when you're looking around for a new carpet you ask for a low-VOC, formaldehyde-free adhesives.

Also, take measures of precaution and air the room for a few days, after you install the rug. Broken compact fluorescent light can cut your skin, but they don't limit their influence to such unfortunate incidents. Once you break it, take into consideration the fact that CFLs can decrease air quality by emitting a small amount of mercury, a neurotoxin.

If you're planning on having a baby in the near future, make sure that your new purchases (both the items and their wrappers) aren't manufactured using polyvinyl chloride.

Those products are able to spread phthalates, a compound which has been correlated with reproductive problems and hormonal issues. If you can't stop yourself from shopping, make sure you air the room every day.

Paints and glues also put your health in danger. Not to mention the heating equipment which in most of the cases is a significant source of carbon monoxide, which leads to severe headaches, fatigue, and even death in some cases.

There is no place to hide from indoor pollution. In order to keep you and your family safe, remember that, in most of the cases, a cracked window a day keeps the doctors and the priests away.