Healthy Indoors Magazine
Issue link: https://hi.healthyindoors.com/i/1123843
Healthy Indoors | 19 Short- and long-term exposures to the things in our environ- ment play essential roles in the development of many health conditions. And for most of us, where we spend the most time and are exposed to a myriad of potential contaminants known to be associated with health effects, is our home. We spend 90% of our time indoors (EPA 2005). If we think more carefully about that, it means 90% of the air we breathe originated from an indoor space. How that indoor space was built, operated, and maintained will directly im- pact what we continuously inhale. Flooring, floor coverings, furniture, decorations, wall materials and finishes, cleaning products, hobby materials, etc. directly affect what we are exposed to, and have the potential to impact our health. A "chronic" health condition is one that is persistent or episodic over a period of time, sometimes defined simply as lasting more than three months. Asthma, allergies, anxiety, attention and autoimmune disorders are just a portion of the "A" list. So nearly all of us will experience a chronic symp- tom or condition in our lifetimes. Mostly not in a hospital or clinic, but where we live and work and sleep. We also work to heal and recover from illness and injury at home. When we are at our most vulnerable, our bodies are working hard to recover or maintain our health, and it is harder still to do so when the indoor environment is poor. Table 1. Most Common Home Contaminants LeadMoisture CO & Combustion byproducts Mold & other microbial agents Asbestos Vermiculite Pests Radon Particles and dust Allergens Environmental Tobacco Smoke(ETS) Sewer Gases Below ground Contaminants Building Materials Emissions Garage Pollution Sources Ozone We also know from research in schools that a poor in- door environment is associated with poor academic perfor- mance.(EPA 2006) In our work at Children's Mercy Hos- pitals and Clinics in Kansas City, we have worked with districts that have some schools where 25%, or 1 student in 4, has asthma, a chronic respiratory disease where the immune system can react to certain airborne contaminants that "trigger" an attack. If a school building has poor air quality and poor operation and management practices, this is an additional burden for teachers and staff, students with asthma, and their classmates, who are all trying to effective- ly teach and learn. Table 1 represents many well-known indoor environ- mental contaminants. I'm guessing that everyone reading this article is familiar with the significant health hazards as- sociated with combustion byproducts like carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide, and with the impact of moisture and microbial agents on housing. What is less familiar is how commonplace many of these conditions are. Every few years the US census collects data via tele- phone interviews for the American Housing Survey (AHS). The questions are general and about a home's basic phys- ical and mechanical systems, and about the occupants (family size, income, socio-economic status, etc.). Of great- er interest to me is that they ask questions about the phys- ical conditions of the home but only a limited set of ques- tions about the environmental conditions.