Indoor air quality: take a deep breath

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Cindy Parker

Indoor Air Quality, or IAQ, is something that touches everyone’s life. The air you breathe affects you at home, at work, while shopping, at restaurants, even in your car. In some cases, the air inside your home or work place may be more toxic than outdoor air that appears to be in a polluted, industrial haze.

Inadequate ventilation is a primary contributor in the quality of indoor air. Poor ventilation can reduce the dilution and removal of concentrated odors and irritants. While making homes “tighter” to reduce energy bills, it is important to maintain adequate air exchange to prevent air quality problems.

Health concerns related to air quality include many immediate conditions such as headaches, irritation of the throat, eyes or nose – even dizziness and fatigue. Other longer term concerns may be diagnosed as allergies or respiratory conditions such as asthma. If a pattern can be recognized with regard to these symptoms, such as a headache every time you go to work, a stuffy nose or irritated eyes every time you work in the basement, repeatable conditions such as these can be an indicator of poor air quality.

Inadequate ventilation combined with gas ranges or improperly operating furnaces can add to that “winter” feeling of fatigue, headaches and general malaise. Low levels of oxygen and elevated carbon monoxide are classic indicators of poor IAQ and indoor winter air.

In addition to combustion systems (furnace, fireplace, oil or kerosene heaters), there can be many other sources contributing to poor air quality. Building products, furniture, carpeting and cleaning products are all made with compounds that may be irritants to some people. The concentration level of what may be emitted from any source is fundamental in determining your level of sensitivity to the compound.

So, where can we find the happy balance between having a “thermally efficient” building and choking on stale air?

Ventilation is measured by determining the air exchange rate. Basically, this is how much fresh air is brought in to replace air that is “used.” Fresh air can enter through natural ventilation, mechanical ventilation or through leaks. Air entering through leaks is known as infiltration. Insulating, caulking and other methods of air sealing are control methods to help reduce infiltration. Natural (or passive) ventilation occurs when you open windows or have an outside air source for furnace combustion air. Mechanical ventilation involves the use of fans to remove and exchange air.

Bathroom and kitchen exhaust fans are examples of mechanical ventilation. However, if you consider that these fans are removing air from specific rooms of your home – you should consider how that amount of air will be replaced. To achieve adequate ventilation and air exchange, there are “whole house” mechanical systems that remove stale air while bringing in the same amount of fresh, makeup air. This brings up the old proverb, “the solution to pollution is dilution.”

The most effective methods for handling IAQ are reviewing and eliminating the sources and increasing the ventilation or air exchange rates.

More details and information on indoor air quality can be found at http://www.epa.gov/iaq.