What is Indoor Air Quality?

What is Indoor Air Quality From EPA

"Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) refers to the air quality within and around buildings and structures, especially as it relates to the health and comfort of building occupants. Understanding and controlling common pollutants indoors can help reduce your risk of indoor health concerns.

Health effects from indoor air pollutants may be experienced soon after exposure or, possibly, years later...."

Air Pollution Causes Death

 From World Health Orgnization

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 Household air pollution is one of the leading causes of disease and premature death in the developing world.

Exposure to smoke from cooking fires causes 3.8 million premature deaths each year, mostly in low- and middle-income countries. Burning fuels such as dung, wood and coal in inefficient stoves or open hearths produces a variety of health-damaging pollutants, including particulate matter (PM), methane, carbon monoxide, polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and volatile organic compounds (VOC). Burning kerosene in simple wick lamps also produces significant emissions of fine particles and other pollutants. 

Particulate matter is a pollutant of special concern. Many studies have demonstrated a direct relationship between ...

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Types of Pollutants

impacting IAQ

From NIEHS

"Many factors contribute to poor indoor air quality. Indoor air includes pollutants that penetrate from the outdoors, as well as sources that are unique to the indoor environment. These sources involve:

• Human activities within buildings, such as smoking, burning solid fuels, cooking, and cleaning.

• Vapors from building and construction materials, equipment, and furniture.

• Biological contaminants, such as mold, viruses, or allergens..."

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How Air Quality Impacts us

From National Library of Medicine

"Scientific interest in indoor pollution has been increasing since the second half of the 1980s. Growing scientific evidence has shown that because people generally spend the majority of their time indoors, indoor pollution plays a significant role in affecting health and is thus an important health issue. Indoor environments include dwellings, workplaces, schools and day care centres, bars, discotheques and vehicles. Common indoor pollutants are environmental tobacco smoke, particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds and biological allergens..."