Sixty-five percent of that is spent at home. Children breathe in 50 percent more air per pound of body weight than adults do. EPA studies have found that pollutant levels inside can be two to five times higher than outdoors. After some activities, indoor air pollution levels can be 100 times higher than outdoors. There are many sources of pollutants in the home.
Obvious ones are chemicals, cleaning products, and pesticides.
Less obvious are pollutants caused by such simple tasks as cooking, bathing, or heating the home. Fortunately, there are easy steps that everyone can take to reduce the potential for indoor air pollution and to improve the quality of the air they breathe. Often, it is difficult to determine which pollutant or pollutants are the sources of a person s ill health, or even if indoor air pollution is the problem. Some symptoms may not show up until years later, making it even harder to discover the cause. More serious effects are asthma and other breathing disorders and cancer.