Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Air Pollution in Homes and Offi ces
Those concerned with public health have long understood the role of
indoor environments in causing or exacerbating human diseases. Hip-
pocrates was aware of the adverse effects of polluted indoor air in
crowded cities and mines, and the biblical Israelites, a desert people,
understood the dangers of living in damp housing (Leviticus 14:34-57).
Studies reveal that people in industrially developed countries such as
the United States spend most of their time indoors, either at work or at
home. The average American spends less than 1 hour per day outdoors.
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Clearly Americans should be concerned about the possibility of pollution
in their workplaces and homes, although most media attention is focused
on outdoor air. Indoor air pollution is a quiet and neglected killer.
Because newer, energy-effi cient offi ce buildings tend to be tightly
sealed, little outside air can enter, and indoor pollutants can reach high
levels inside. Poor ventilation in offi ce buildings causes about half of the
indoor air pollution problems. The rest come from specifi c sources in
offi ces, such as copying machines, electrical and telephone cables, mold
and microbe-harboring air-conditioning systems and air ducts (which
can lead to Legionnaire's disease), cleaning fl uids, cigarette smoke, latex
caulk and paint, pesticides, vinyl molding, linoleum tile, and building
materials and furniture that emit air pollutants such as formaldehyde.
For many people in the United States, the least healthy air they breathe
all day is indoor air. The health problems in sealed buildings are called
“sick building syndrome.” An estimated one-fi fth to one-third of all
buildings in the United States are now considered “sick.”
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A sick building not only can make workers ill but affects productivity
as well. Researchers from the International Centre for Indoor Environ-
ment and Energy in Denmark have discovered that poor air quality inside
offi ce buildings reduces typing and reading speeds by up to 9 percent,
the equivalent of losing 4.5 hours in a 48-hour working week.
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And it is not only offi ce buildings that are sealed. Sealed homes are
becoming more common because most homes now have air conditioning,
and hence home owners keep their windows closed, at least during
summer months. The air inside a typical home is on average two to fi ve
times more polluted than the air outside. In extreme cases, the air inside
is 100 times more contaminated, largely because of household cleaners
and pesticides.
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In 1985 the EPA reported that toxic chemicals found in
the air of almost every American home are three times more likely to
cause some type of cancer than outdoor air pollutants are.
