After your commute from Chicago to your home in the suburbs, what do you do? You probably stay indoors, eat dinner, watch some TV, spend some time with family and go to sleep to start all over again the next day. This means we spend a lot of time breathing whatever is inside our homes. Does that indoor atmosphere have a quality that is the same, better, or worse than that outside?
What Does The EPA Say?
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) does often get misquoted and/or taken out of context for someone to make or break a point but, they have been behind 8 separate legislative acts relating to air pollution, quality and cleanliness between 1955 and 1990. Believe it or not, but I have heard that the EPA has stated that what we breathe in our homes can sometimes be up to 70 times more polluted that the outside atmosphere. Pollutants can include those from tobacco smoke (including carbon monoxide); carbon dioxide (from our outgoing breath); bacteria and/or viruses; fungus and molds; pet fur, hair, feathers, etc and pollens.
Cutting Out Indoor Pollution
We all know that contaminants can collect in rugs, carpets and even drapes and blankets/comforters if we do not keep them properly clean. Additionally, many of us spend big bucks on efficient heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems (HVAC) to control our indoor environment with respect to temperature, humidity and quality of what we will be breathing.
These systems usually have a central plant that distributes the “correct” air throughout the home through ducts in the walls, ceilings or under floors. Probably the plant has some air filtration but this is not always totally efficient and build up of contaminants can occur within the ducts.
This not only causes the plant to run less efficiently, it also means that dust and potentially harmful contaminants will be blown out through the vents in our rooms.
