How big of a health risk is indoor air pollution?

It's always been believed that contaminants were more of an outside problem than an inside problem. However, it has been discovered that indoor pollutants are an equal problem. For example, there is a publication called the Congressional Quarterly, which reveals that indoor air is often 2-5 times more polluted than outdoor air. It can be, at times, one thousand times as dirty. So, with that in mind, it's a serious health concern, and it is something that does need to be addressed.

Indoor air is not very safe for your home. There are a lot of different ways to look at the pollutants in indoor air. There are two prominent categories of indoor air pollutants. They are particles and gases. Particles are really a major threat to a person's health. The reason for this is that they're very small. Oftentimes, they can get through the body's natural filtering mechanism, and they can get deep into lung tissues and the liver. These toxic substances are obviously absorbed into the body. These would include things like dust mites, pet dander, mold spores, and pollen. A lot of these things already contribute to allergies and allergic reactions. These allergic reactions can be very severe. They can produce something like asthma or subtle chronic conditions like runny nose, watery eyes, headaches, lethargy, and snoring. All of these can be controlled by air quality.

The other serious category of indoor air pollutants is gases. You don't know they are there because they are invisible. These would be things like volatile organic compounds. There are 500 of those different types of gases that are possibly in your home. Those would come from things like cleaning solutions, carpets, building materials, and press board. It is quite a broad grouping of contaminants.