Air Quality
Creating a Safer Home
Creating a Safer Workplace
Indoor air quality is often on the order of ten times as toxic as outdoor air. The fastest pathway into the bloodstream is through the breath (yes, that's why some people sniff cocaine). The body's only airway filtration is for particulate matter like dust, which may or may not get caught in the mucous lining the air passages. This means that soluble substances which are breathed in are almost immediately dissolved into the bloodstream, and carried throughout the body. If a person's blood filtration system (the liver) is working well, that person may experience no symptoms. However, if the liver is overworked or exhausted, substances are carried, delivered, and accumulate wherever the blood goes -- into muscles, into joints, and across the blood-brain barrier, for example.
While natural scents are seldom a problem, many of the chemical scents used in soaps, detergents, dry cleaning, fabric softeners, skin creams, air fresheners, hair sprays, after-shave lotions, deodorants, household cleaners, and other products, can mimic neurotransmitters and hormones in their effects on the body. This means that the capacity to learn, think, remember, concentrate, balance, and even walk, can be seriously disrupted -- among other normal body functions (button to Personal Care). Gas from new carpets, particle-board furniture, upholstery, paint, markers, inks, finishes, and window coverings can also affect the mind, the body, and the emotions. Where substances accumulate, they may cause pain, swelling, malnourishment, disrupted cell communication, and other problems (button to Detoxing).
The best air cleaners available are green plants; the larger and older they are, the more effective they are at pulling contaminants out of the air to be used for plant food. In an era of ever-more-rapid deforestation and urbanization, this is disturbing. What is more disturbing is that one of our underlying cultural assumptions, "cheap is best", is what is creating air pollution in the first place. If we stopped buying toxic compounds, we'd also stop producing them as the market dried up. In the meantime, fill your indoor areas with live greenery, and empty them of toxic products.
The older a home is, the more likely it is to be made of inert, non-toxic materials which were locally acquired (apart from a few exceptions such as asbestos insulation and heavy metals in paint), and the more likely it is to have significant air exchange with the outdoors. On the other hand, the newer a home is, the more likely it is to have vinyl flooring, wall-to-wall synthetic carpets over foam under-pads over unfinished press-board, laminate flooring, vinyl blinds, particle board furniture, foam-stuffed upholstery, synthetic decorating fabrics coated with flame retardants and finishes, formica countertops, and other like products, and the less likely it is that the house will have significant air exchange with the outdoors.
What all of these new building and decorating materials have in common is the toxic gases which they release into the air -- and the closer a person gets, the denser the fumes are. Some evidence has accumulated in Europe that SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) can be prevented when babies sleep on non-toxic bedding. Infants, toddlers, and children spend almost all their time very close to the floor, or cuddled into drapes and furniture. In addition to this, teething infants in the last two generations have been given plastic toys to chew on (plastics emit hormone disruptors and other substances of concern). Electromagnetic fields caused by electrically-powered equipment can also disturb health; all the body's cells and systems use tiny electromagnetic signals to communicate, and these can be disrupted.
Regardless of what materials your home is built from, there are further complications from the choices inhabitants make. Most cleaning products are toxic (sometimes only on a low level) on contact, and also release toxic fumes into the air. Most personal care products -- such as toothpaste -- include toxic ingredients, which are absorbed through the airways, the skin, and sometimes the digestive system. Most office and art supplies are made from toxic compounds that scent the area around the workspace. And most air fresheners are made from toxic industrial byproducts which have never been tested for inhalation-safety. Replace toxic products with non-toxic ones, coat the open surfaces of particle board, press-board, and laminate with a sealer, improve your home's air exchange, grow a large indoor garden, unplug any electronics when not in use, and lobby the building industry for non-toxic standards.
With every passing year, more of the population is working in new buildings. Most workplaces built since the energy-efficient seventies cause mild to disabling immune-challenges in their inhabitants. Known as Sick Building Syndrome, a high proportion of their workers have health improvements upon short periods away, only to regain symptoms when they return to work. Molds build up in the poorly or unfiltered air circulation systems, and toxic office by-products pervade the sealed buildings. Toxic office by-products range from photocopier ozone and electronic equipment's electromagnetic fields, through to promotional material paper and inks, and furnishings which off-gas toxins into the air. Humans are also a source of toxins in the air, mainly through the action of breathing, something which airlines have been forced to seriously address. Humans can release as many as 150 volatile organic compounds, including carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide (responsible for car-exhaust deaths), ammonia, and methane. Studies of the rate at which humans emit toxins place them in the top three sources of indoor air pollution, alongside sealed buildings and synthetic furnishings. There is also evidence that climate control, when the temperature is set sufficiently different from ambient temperature, is also an immune stressor. The Chinese medical system actually has a remedy for this: a cluster of immune-boosting herbs called "change of season soup".
Replace toxic synthetic floors and furnishings with non-toxic ones made of natural and inert substances. Seal the open surfaces of laminate, particle board, and press-board. Replace toxic office products and promotions with non-toxic ones. Replace sealed windows so that openable windows can quickly and easily improve local air quality. Add two or more tropical plants (check NASA research for the best toxin-eaters for your particular air problems) and a grow-light to your immediate workspace. Ask lobby the building owners to set up large sub-irrigated tropical plantings on each floor.
