Is Indoor Pollution Harming You?

Several teams of scientists from around the world have worked together to publish a new study which reveals alarming truths about the effect of indoor pollution on our health and well-being. A collaboration from universities across the UK, the United States and Europe and being led by the University of Surrey has had their findings published in the journal Science of the Total Environment.

Among other things, the study highlights how existing methods of monitoring indoor air quality (IAQ) are often reliant on gathering data over a protracted period of time, which delivers averaged results and which only yields useful information after the exposure has occurred. As such, it calls for and lists the benefits of real-time sensing of pollution levels to allow people to take affirmative action to improve their indoor environment.

IAQ a Serious Concern

Dr Prashant Kumar, the lead author on the study, pointed out how we often fixate only on exterior air quality and neglect the pollution latent inside our own homes and businesses, despite the fact that we spend the majority of our time there.

“When we think of the term ‘air pollution’ we tend to think of car exhausts or factory fumes expelling grey smoke,” he said. “However, there are actually various sources of pollution that have a negative effect on air quality, many of which are found inside our homes and offices. From cooking residue to paints, varnishes and fungal spores the air we breathe indoors is often more polluted than that outside.”

Indeed, research from 2012 found that indoor air pollution could be up to three times more noxious than that on the streets, and with many urban residents spending 90% of their time inside, we could be at far greater risk than we are aware. In that same year, it was found that indoor air pollution caused 4.3 million deaths worldwide, as opposed to the 3.7 million premature deaths caused by external air pollution.

Awareness Just as Important as Technology

In November 2012, it was estimated that the indoor air filtration market was worth $7 billion and that it was expected to grow 4% by 2014. Clearly, there is a whole host of technology available to monitoring and counteracting these harmful indoor contaminants. However, Dr Kumar insists that awareness of the problem is lagging behind the technology and must catch up if we are to reduce the number of deaths caused by this underestimated killer.

“It is essential that we are able to effectively monitor indoor air pollution so that we can better understand when and where levels are worst, and in turn offer solutions to make our air healthier. Our work looks at the use of small, low-energy monitoring sensors that would be able to gather real-time data and tell families or workers when levels of pollutants are too high,” he went on.

“Sometimes the solution to this will be as simple as opening a window, but without knowledge at the right time these simple steps are often skipped. With this research we are calling for greater importance to be placed on ensuring buildings are built with indoor pollution monitoring in mind. As we enter the age of smart cities this is one way in which technology will actively benefit health.”