Natural and Sustainable

More than half of all Americans live in a place where the air is so unhealthy that it’s been linked to heart disease, ashtma, and even cancer. The good news is that a few simple steps can reduce pollution and help you breathe easier.

More than 52 persent of Americans live in countries that have unhealthy levels of some kind of air pullution, typically concentrated in large metropolitan areas or in regions downwind from major industrial pollution belts. EPA estimates, as many as 50,000 Americans die prematurely every year from conditions that dirty air causes or makes worse.

THE AIR OUT THERE:

Air pollution is actually two distinct eveils. One is soot, or particulate matter (PM). The other is ground-level ozone, a gaseous pollutant that’s prevalent today, thanks largely to gases from dirty electric power plants and cars. (Amoung some experts, smog has come to mean ozone as well.)

Ozone doesn’t spew directly from tailpipes and smoke stacks but is more like a weather condition. It forms when you get different elements in the right positions. The recipe for the perfect ozone calls for nitrogen oxides (combinations of oxygen and nitrogen produced when gasoline and other fuels burn) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are vaporous chemicals or fumes from sources such as gasoline, paint, dry-cleaning chemcials, and industrial emissions. factories are one of the biggest sources of VOCs (providing 45 percent of the total), but they contribute about five percent of nitrogen oxides (NOx). The rest of the NOx comes mostly from burning fuel in electric power plants, homes, and offices (nearly 40 percent), and from vehicle exhaust (about 55 percent).

TROUBLE IN THE HOUSE (AND THE OFFICE ) AND HOW TO SOLVE IT:

As dirty as outdoor air is, you may face an even bigger threat from the air in yoru home and office. Despite all the problems, outdoor air is far better today than it was during the past three decades. collectively, we have cut air pollutants by more than half since 1970. The dirty truth is the levels of air pollution in your house may be two to five times greater than those outside.

Air pollution in your home is higher as I have stated, but sometimes it can be 100 times higher than those outside. Yet many Americans don’t know that the EPA ranks indoor air quaility among its top four environmental health concerns. Why is indoor air so bad? Partly because homes and office buildings get little ventilation. As a result, it takes only a low indoor pollutant emisson rate to significantly degrade indoor air quiality. The risks can be sustantial. Here are some of the most serious indoor air pollutants and how to stay in the clear from them.

AT HOME:

1. Radon: An odorless, colorless, radioactive gas that comes naturally from uranium in the soil, radon is suspected by the EPA of causing as many as 30,000 deaths a year from lung cancer. If you suspect that you may have a radon problem in your home, click here.

2. Carbon Monoxide: This odorless gas is emitted by kerosene or gas space heaters, wood-buring stoves, fireplaces, furnaces, water heaters, and gas cooktops; it can cause headaches, dizziness, nausea, and at high levels even death. To help prevent carbon monoxide from accumulating in you home or office, make sure you heating equipment, stoves, and fireplaces are vented to the outside and inspected every year. Install carbon monoxide detectors in your basement or wherever your heating system is located, and in yoru home’s living area.

3. PBDEs: Polybrominated Diphenylethers are chemicals used as flame retardants in such diverse items as children’s sleepwear, upholstered furniture, mattresses, computers, and office equipment. They can be released into the air as fine particles of dust that settle in your home or workplace.

4. Household Cleaners And Disinfectants: A less obvious source of indoor air pollution, maybe because they often smell as fresh, these products cantain organic chemicals-compounds that can irritate the eyes, nose and throat; trigger headaches, and cause nausea. Whenever possible, use nontoxic cleaners and or natural solutions: viegar for disinfecting, lemon juice for wiping down fixtures, and baking soda for scrubbing. If you must use conventional cleaners, make sure rooms are ventilated with fresh air.

5. Paint: More hazordous sources of organic chemicals than household cleaners and disingestants, paints, paint strippers, and varnish removers may contain the possible carcinogens benzene and methylene chloride. Check labels for warnings, and use products containing these chemicals only outside or in well-ventilated areas. Better yet, use low-VOC paints, such as the Pristine Eco Spec line from Benjamin Moore.

6. Formaldehyde: Appliances that burn fuel (such as heaters and ovens), household cleaners, and some paints also contain small amounts of this chemicals. It can cause irritation, along with allergic reactions, asthma attacks, and possible cancer. The biggest sources of formaldehyde is most homes, however, is furniture and building materials, such as the adhesives that bind the pressed wood in particleboard. Usuallt these products give off the most formaldehyde when they’re new, so vent rooms with fresh air as long as you detect a chemical odor. If the air is uncomfortably warm or humid, run the air conditioner. Heat accelates the release of formaldehyde into the air.

AT WORK:

If you spend all day in an office, you face manyu of the same indoor pollutants you do at home, though some may be worse. For example, you may be exposed to more PBDEs if you sit in a closed room full of computers and office equipment. The biggest difference between an office and a home, however, is that offices are more likely to be sealed, with air quality controlled through large ventilation systems. The main problems are usually moisture and dirt collection in the system. And workspaces not getting enough ventilation.

Recent studies, including newly published research commissioned by the EPA, show that even though there’s been substantial progress in the past 35 years, the damage caused by air pollution is still sever and wide-ranging. The study also found that there was a linkage between premature deaths from such problems as respiratory and heart conditions. And they also found that an increase in ozone, although well below the current regulatory standards for clean ait, caused 3,767 deaths, a number thay say is probably an underestimate.
So the bottom line here is, get fresh air. If you are in an office all day, take a lunch break outside, get a fan that can cirrculate outside air throughout your office, get some indoor plants or trees. Open your windows at home, let the outside air set you free of harmful air quaility.

*Natural and Sustainable Living Tip: Water your lawn with a sprinkler irrigation system or put your sprinkler on a timer to conserve water usage and save energy.