I’ve always thought that we don’t pay enough attention to indoors pollution. Here’s apparent confirmation.
For some reason I was expecting to see an endorsement for that ionic air cleaner thing they sell at Sharper Image mentioned in the article
I dont see how taking a shower creates a hazardous air condition 
Ummm, did you read the article? It clearly spells out why showers and shower curtains are a possible risk.
That’s right. Why prevent the beauty and joy that only bacterially laden water can bring to one’s life?
Yes I did read the article.
But this would have to come from water that is over chlorinated so much so that it would smell like swimming pool water coming out of your tap. I have never lived or been anywhere that the water was that bad.
The problem with somewhat inflamitory articles like this is that something can be found wrong or harmful with just about everything and anything. Everything we use, whether natural or manmade, releases some sort of gas/smell/chemical/fume/by-product etc. The article even mentions fruit as a source of indoor air contamination.
I do agree that the air inside can get a bit stale, but it is cured by opening a window every now and then and good regular vacuuming/cleaning of the house.
But I do not see it as some impending crisis that this article makes it out to be.
But then again, that is just my opinion, and you are entitled to yours. 
On what basis are you making this statement? Have you read something somewhere on the subject of chlorine/chloroform evaporation that you can quote or are you simply expressing your own opinion?
And I’m not defending everything that is in the article. But information is power. As always, it is up to you, the individual, to make your own choices.
I work for a home inspection company. We have a sister company, that I also work for. It’s an air testing company.
This is crap. Yes there is indoor toxins, but these articles are written solely for the purpose of scaring people. Same with toxic mold. Yes, it is dangerous…in about 2% of the cases. EVERYONE has mold and indoor air toxins. We always have. And we seem to be doing okay. Yes, some people can have reactions to it. Again, only in about 2% of the population, though.
I get the strangest people calling my company asking for air testing…because it smells like mold, because it smells like soil, because they have a baby, etc. (On a side note: I live at the Jersey Shore - there is **NO SUCH THING ** as a house without mold)
Take it with a grain of salt and forget about it. The only time you should worry is if you start to feel dizzy, cough up blood, have severe constant headaches, etc. Otherwise, don’t even let yourself get caught up in this new hysteria. :rolleyes:
If these things are so bad, why are we still alive?
Don’t we have enough real hazards to worry over?
Like what for instance? Please back up your posting with some real data.
I know this isn’t Great Debates but I didn’t think the standards were so low over here. You people spew BS with no backup for anything that has yet been posted. Just because you or people you know don’t have any problems (that you know about), doesn’t mean that no one has any problems. You could do a Google search on indoor pollution. You might even learn something!
60 million is 1/5 of the population of the USA. Not a small number at all. Some have theorized that the huge increases in recent years of victims of asthma and allergies is at least partially due to indoor pollution.
And here’s an excerpt from an EPA article on the subject of the effects of indoor pollution.
Wow, free doctor’s advice! Yes sir, when you start coughing up blood, you should begin to worry then. :smack: And you got your doctor’s training where? <roflol>
Excuse me, I seem to be having a comprehension problem…
You posted a question in the OPINION forum, and now you’r complaining people are posting OPINIONS? If you wanted cite-supported FACTS you should have put this in GQ or GD.
Anyone, my two cents:
Speaking as an allergic/asthmatic, I can state that during high pollen and pollution seasons my symptoms are significantly less indoors. There ARE some skanky indoor environments, but they’re rare.
Part of the problem is that people aren’t aware on a day-to-day basis of all the dust, dander, pollen, mold spores, bacteria, and other junk floating around in the air. You just can’t see it with the naked eye. Truth is, though, we’ve been living in the soup all along. Anyone with a healthy immune system can handle the load, and even some of us who don’t have the best immune system nonetheless manage to exist.
Where indoor pollution gets really problematic is with things like radon gas… but again, that’s not particularly common in most areas.
Oh come one now.
Damned if I stay indoors: indoor pollution+ couch potato lifestyle.
Damned if I go outside: outdoor pollution+ muggings etc.
Damned if I allow fruit to cross my threshold: possibly more indoor pollution.
Damned if I don’t eat fruit: not eating enough fruit is bad for your health.
Well, seems one might as well live a little and do as one feels like…
P.s. If any one these cause YOU problems because of medical conditions that’s different. Obviously.
I could but since I already know that not chlorinating drinking water can lead to a situation like Walkerton Ontario where
This failure to chlorinate the water supply lead to the following results, financially speaking.
2000 people were directly affected at a cost of $64 million. Why not expand that to cover the 280 million in the US? The cost would reach $8.9 trillion. Which does seem remarkably high doesn’t it. Cut it by two orders of magnitude then. $89 billion in costs due to the economy not counting the deaths that would inevitably follow. Your own financial impact to allergens and asthma (both lacking an exclusive direct link to indoor pollutants) only comes in around $20 billion.
In My Humble Opinion that statement is remarkably judgemental and stupid.
What?
65% of time at home = 15.6 hours, leaving 8.4 hours outside the house. Subtracting the 5-7% of the day spent in transit (alleged in the article), we’re left with only 6.96 hours.
6.96 hours a day for work, shopping, visiting, sport, walking outdoors, running errands, outside entertainment…
Sounds like a rigorously researched article to me. :dubious:
Beware of Stachybotrys, its the most dangerous thing since asbestos. That’s why I don’t fix air conditioners any more.
Looks down at feet, pokes left hand, pinches cheek
Yup… I’m still alive. When I get diagnosed with brain cancer due to the chemical makeup of my carpet I’ll post my concerns on indoor air polution.
Well, if anyone wants to, I can start a thread entitled, “Ask the guy whose had to deal with this environmentally friendly bullshit as a contractor.”
I won’t post a lengthy rant on VOCs and etc. unless someone asks though.
Basically, through programs such as LEED, there’s some scare mongering going on.
As one of those goofy alternative medicine types, I’ve done some research (coming from the tinfoil hat aisle), so I can discuss from that perspective too.
Basically: yes, your paint/carpet/mattress/everything else is off-gassing shit that’s theoretically bad for you. Yes, you’re inhaling the equivalent of 20 drunken gallons of chlorine every time you take a shower (that didn’t come out right…), yes, most of the items that you have in your house are carcinogenic and tetragenic (if they’re even tested), but the research done to determine the effects of these on the human body (ones I’ve read, sorry no links) are inconclusive.
Yes, it’s much nicer working in a building with lots of plants, low-VOC paints, natural lighting, but the justification is really largley “fuzzy.”
Remember everyone, mold is the new asbestos.
At Common Sense University would be my guess.
I’d have to believe that what kittenlm is saying is “don’t get in a tizzy over something that is thinly disguised advertising literature unless you have actual symptoms”.
As for me, I’ve always live by one firm rule: Every single thing in the world can kill you. If you spend all your time worrying about that fact, you may as well let it finish the job already.
I’ve been wondering if this is going to be the next thing people are going to start suing their building contractors (or someone else…I’m sure they’ll think of somebody to sue for it) for.
I was talking to our reserving manager today and she says that mold claims in Minnesota are way out of line compared to the rest of the region because Minnesota building code is so strict (because of energy efficiency) that it makes the conditions ripe for mold. I can see the same thing happening with this “indoor pollution” BS once the media really gets ahold of it.
Unfortunately, that is exactly what’s going to happen. Mold problems have been blown completely out of porportion for several reasons:
- There is no standards. There is no: this many spores is okay and this many spores is not okay. So people hear the word mold and go crazy…due to reason #2.
- The media. They have hyped mold as such a terrible thing that now everyone and their mother wants their houses tested. NEWSFLASH: You will have mold! And guess what, you always have. It floats around in the air outside…open your door to go in or out, you let mold spores in the house. Open a window…you let mold spores in the house.
And as you said, AllShookDown, indoor air pollution is the next hyped up media craze. Unfortunately, unless you plan to spend the rest of your life in a bubble, you are just going to have to deal with it.
Thank you, Hal! Maybe I didn’t put it the right way, but that is exactly what I was trying to say. People are spending thousands and thousands of dollars to remediate mold when there isn’t really even a problem. And unless you have mold growing somewhere, an air test coming up with allergenic mold is normal. But, people are still writing checks for $15,000 to a company to flush their house with fresh air. So, unless your air test comes up as Stachybotris, relax. Pennicillium is allergenic…it’s everywhere…including outside. You can’t get away from it. And it’s the same thing with indoor air pollutions…you can’t get away from them. They are there. That’s it.
We’ve all seen the news talk about people having to burn their houses down b/c of mold. Yeah…but what they don’t tell you is that the house had a leaky roof and flooded. Mold doesn’t grow for no reason…there has to be moisture. I guess I am just tired of the media hyping things that make the public so crazy…without any real reason.
Oh, and some of this fact (from my job) and some of it is my opinion, is that okay with you, iamme99?