Indoor Air Pollution Alert

In America today, outdoor air pollution gets all the headlines. Air pollution is reported in the daily news, like the weather. Although outdoor air pollution is a serious problem, government agencies are equally concerned about indoor air pollution. In fact, both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) call indoor pollution the number one environmental health problem in America!

For the first time in history, it may be safer to be in the wilderness than it is to be in our own home. Why? Because Americans spend 90% of their time indoors, breathing potential contaminants. Let's look at a typical home or office. Dust and dirt enter out home and are trapped in the pad of our carpet. Doctors advise us that dust is the last great medium of human infection. Germs have no means of locomotion except to attach themselves to particles of dust.

Experts warn that fumes of various cleaning products can cause learning disabilities. There are actual cases of people who have been poisoned by the air in their homes. Dust mite excrement is highly prone to cause allergic reactions. These microscopic creatures live close to their food source -- dead skin. Literally our bedding can become a cafeteria and breeding ground.

The ceiling, styrene, fiberglass, wood -- all are porous materials that are convenient places for the accumulation of disease-causing pollutants. If we had to pay for the air we breathe, we would insist that it was pure and clean. And don't forget about the areas you can't see! Think of your duct work, full of mold, mildew, dust and bacteria. Why does this situation exist? Because modern homes and offices are becoming more energy efficient, allowing for almost no fresh air to be circulated into a room.

We are advised that only 10% of colds are caught outdoors. 90% are caught indoors! Nature destroys germs and dust outdoors, but our energy-efficient homes keep nature out and germs in! Let's look through a ray of sunshine. 80% of what you see floating is dead skin from people who have been in this room. Is this what you want to be breathing? Then think of all the odor-generating products in your home. The efficiency of modern climate control means that all of these contaminants are being breathed by you and your family over and over again.

What Is the Solution?

Physicians are now discovering that the solution to the problems of many of these people is not in medicine but in reducing the pollutants in the air they breathe. There are three ways to improve indoor air quality: Dilution, Removal and Neutralization

• Dilution. Bringing in outside air is the conventional solution. It is, however, often inefficient, can be costly, and not usually appropriate for odor control. If the outside air is polluted, it can make your indoor air quality worse.

• Removal. Airborne particulates filters (for instance, HEPA and activated carbon filters) physically remove contaminants from the air.

• Neutralization. The most effective way to neutralize air pollution is using a combination of technologies that include the ultraviolet (UV) lights, hydroxyl radicals, Negative Ions and Ozone, the combination of which promotes the destruction of bacteria, viruses, bacteria, fungi and other pollutants, including mold spores, as well as sanitizing surfaces and the air, controlling odors and reducing static electricity.