How can indoor air pollution be prevented

Skip Fires Flames dancing in a fireplace look delightful, but they release soot and smoke into the air. Vacuum Often Do this especially if you have a pet. Brooms can just stir up more dust. Minimize Carpeting It can trap pollutants such as dust mites, pet dander, mold spores, and other dirt and dust.

Choose hard-surface flooring instead. Try to Stay Dry To reduce mold, keep moisture down by using a dehumidifier and cleaning the filter regularly. Store Chemicals Safely Store solvents, glues, and pesticides away from living areas. And when possible, use homemade cleaning products, such as a mixture of white vinegar and water.

Try an Air Purifier An air purifier alone won't remove all the impurities in your indoor air. Allergies got you down? On the " Consumer " TV show, Consumer Reports experts explain how to reduce dust mites and other triggers in your home.

Knowing that I wanted to be a journalist from a young age, I decided to spiff up my byline by adding the middle initials "H. But the real thing is so much better. The health effects that you are experiencing may be useful indicators of an indoor air quality problem, especially if these symptoms occur in a new environment or when in the presence of a change in your environment such as new furniture, new cleaning products, or new flooring in your home.

Becoming more familiar with the potential sources of indoor air pollution can also be an important component to ensuring prevention and control of poor air quality in your home. Your indoor space can have many kinds of indoor pollutants such as formaldehyde, benzene, asbestos, biological pollutants, carbon monoxide, lead, nitrogen dioxide pesticides, radon, indoor particulate matter, and VOCs.

In some cases, certain indoor air pollutants may even be times higher than outdoor air pollutants. Determining the sources of these pollutants in your indoor environment will help to combat and control indoor air pollution. Taking into account the increasing indoor air quality concerns and dangers, here are some steps to implement to properly prevent and control indoor air pollution. Hundreds of potentially harmful chemicals are emitted and released into your personal environment every day.

Household cleaning agents, personal care products , paint , and solvents used on a regular basis can severely impact your indoor air and your health. To reduce chemical pollutants in your home, eliminate the use of air fresheners and candles in your home, as well as perfumes that you spray into the air.

Since the millennium interest has moved towards developing countries where around 3 billion people cook and heat their homes using open fires and simple stoves burning wood and coal.

The subsequent indoor air pollution results in 4. The World Health Organisation estimates around 99, deaths a year in Europe from indoor pollution. Assuming these deaths are equally distributed across Europe one would expect around 9, deaths in the UK.

While there is legislation to reduce exposure to pollutants in the workplace, as well as tobacco smoking legislation that now prohibit smoking in public spaces, it is extremely unlikely that any government would try and impose air quality standards in private homes. A typical home has lots of different sources of pollution: heating, cooking, cleaning, smoking, perfumes and furnishings. Even the simple act of moving about stirs up particles.

They can do it for you, or they can offer advice on how to safely remove pests without causing damage to you and the quality of your air. If you decide to manage home pest control yourself, please always read the entire label on the pesticide before starting your project.

Proper storage is another quick and easy way to make sure your air stays cleaner. The everyday, day-to-day cleaners in a household can be very harmful to the lungs, causing invisible air pollution in your home, if not handled properly. Chemical cleaners emit gases from both solid and liquid states and these are known as volatile organic compounds VOCs. A study from the EPA Environmental Protection Agency found that over a dozen chemical pollutants reside 2 to 5 times higher inside homes than outside.

But proper storage of these chemical compounds will help eliminate, and prevent indoor air pollution. Make sure that a lid, if one is provided for the household cleaner, is proper and securely on the container. Preventative measures are great. They keep things lasting long-term and running efficiently.

Maintaining clean, healthy air is far easier than trying to clean air that has already been grossly contaminated.