.jpg)
Person with respiratory disorder
The quality of the air we breathe indoors at home impacts our health. Indoor air polluted with disease agents causes disease and degrades health. Healthy air protects and may actually improve health.
The importance of healthy indoor air quality at home is so compelling that it is included as a key goal in The Surgeon General’s Call To Action To Promote Healthy Homes.
It is time for all of us to get informed.
On the negative side, humans get sick or sicker with prolonged inhalation of air polluted with disease agents. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that approximately 50% of human disease is either caused or aggravated by indoor airborne disease agents. The principal site of exposure to these disease agents is in the home.
Examples of diseases triggered or worsened by polluted indoor air include allergic asthma, respiratory allergies, emphysema, flu, colds, heart disease, sinus infections, ear infections, inflammation, lung diseases including cancers and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases. Disease agents include airborne allergens, bioerosols (virus, bacteria, mold, etc.), particulates, particulates, ultra fine particles, dust, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, environmental tobacco smoke, radon and other compounds.
These diseases lead to significant loss of life, billions of dollars in health care costs and lost productivity, steep declines in the quality of life, and constraints on home valuations.
On the positive side, human health may improve with sustained inhalation of indoor air at home that contains minimal levels of disease agent pollution. A recent medical study demonstrated that outside air with reduced particulate counts in urban cities across the US extended life span. The same remarkable benefits may be achievable with sustained healthy indoor air quality at home.
For more info: The Surgeon General's Call To Action To Promote Healthy Homes
Comments