When breathing may be hazardous: not all air pollution is indoors - includes related information

Houseplants do a lot more than enhance the appearance of our homes and offices. They enrich the air with oxygen, absorb carbon dioxide, and some even remove toxic pollutants from the air we breathe.

You mean harmful pollutants can collect indoors?

Increasingly so. Many modern homes and office buildings are tightly sealed to save energy costs. But this advantage may be offset by poor ventilation and potential accumulation of indoor air pollutants.

Tobacco smoke, of course, is the most dangerous pollutant, but there are others.

Formaldehyde, for example, seeps from certain wood products, and other chemical fumes come from carpeting, copy machines, upholstery, cleaning products, and freshly dry-cleaned clothes. Carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide, two poisonous gases, may come from gas, oil and coal furnaces, gas ranges, fireplaces, and kerosene heaters.

Other problems occur from dust, air mites, molds and fungi, ozone, lead, asbestos, pesticide residues, and in some areas, radon gas.

How do these pollutants affect people?

Symptoms range from burning eyes, sore throats, coughing, and itching to headaches, sluggishness, nausea, dizziness, feelings of exhaustion, and depression. This cluster of symptoms is sometimes referred to as "sick building syndrome."

What can people do to protect themselves?

There are two basic ways to protect ourselves--not 100 percent, but significantly.

First, we call control exposure. For example

[] Ban smoking indoors. Even secondhand smoke contains hundreds of harmful chemicals.

[] Make sure all gas, oil, and kerosene- and coal-burning heaters and appliances are properly vented to the outdoors, as well as coal- and wood-burning furnaces and fireplaces. And don,t forget gas cooking ranges and clothes dryers.

[] Keep heating and air-conditioning units well maintained. Clean air ducts and filters regularly.

[] Keep chimneys open and in good repair.

[] Use air fresheners, moth crystals, etc., sparingly.

[] Avoid idling a vehicle in an attached garage or near an open window.

Second, we call improve ventilation.

The most obvious solution to indoor pollution problems is to open windows and set up good cross ventilation. Fresh air not only dilutes trapped fumes, thus decreasing their health threats, but enriches stale air as well. People often don,t realize that in closed areas the same air can be breathed and rebreathed, over and over. The oxygen content decreases, and the carbon dioxide and other wastes increase, resulting in sleepiness, sluggishness, and headaches.

Here are some suggestions:

[] Set air conditioners and heating systems to bring in 20-35 percent (or more) fresh air. Energy costs will be somewhat higher, but health benefits will more than compensate for this.

[] Air out your house at least once a day. On smoggy days, air out the house at night or in the early mornings. In most areas smog particulate matter drops considerably once the sun has set.

[] Sleep with an open window. Set up cross ventilation in your bedroom if possible. You'll wake up feeling refreshed.

What about air-cleaning machines?

These machines can be expensive, complicated, messy, and most have a limited range. However, people with allergies and certain lung ailments often find them helpful. And we recommend them for anyone exposed to air polluted with tobacco smoke at home or at work.

How does air relate to personal health?

Air is composed of about 20 percent oxygen, the rest being nitrogen along with a few other gases. Since the human body operates on oxygen, each one of its trillions of cells must receive steady, fresh supplies, or die. Oxygen is picked up in the lungs from the air we breathe, and delivered to our bodies via the red blood cells. Well-oxygenated cells are healthy and contribute to overall well-being. Anything that diminishes oxygen supplies to the lungs, or its delivery to body cells, is detrimental.

Air molecules can also be positively or negatively charged. Polluted air is usually full of positive ions. It's commonly found on freeways, at airports, and in closed, poorly-ventilated areas.

Air containing an abundance of negative ions is plentiful around lakes, in forests, near rivers and waterfalls, at the seashore, and after a rainstorm. This kind of air is refreshing and gives people a lift.

Another "feel good" technique is to stop where you are and take a few slow, deep breaths several times a day. This gives your body an extra "shot of oxygen" and helps unload carbon dioxide.

Yet another way to flush your body with oxygen is to exercise. Activity opens up blood vessels and speeds those oxygen-laden red blood cells on their rounds.

And remember the houseplants. Placing at least one plant for every 100 square feet of indoor space is recommended. Live plants not only "eat" many toxic pollutants and freshen the air with oxygen, they probably slip in some extra negative ions as well!

RELATED ARTICLE: Your Personal Air Inventory

Without changing anything about the way you are sitting or breathing, answer the following questions:

1. How are you sitting right now? Is your spine straight, or are you slouching? Are your shoulders rolled forward? 2. Observe your breathing for a few moments. Is it shallow or deep? 3. Do the clothes you are wearing, or the chair you are sitting in, restrict your breathing? 4. Is the room you are in well ventilated with fresh air, or is it closed and stuffy? 5. Is there cigarette smoke or heavy smog in the air? 6. Have you (or do you plan to) exercise today? 7. Have you eaten a high-fat meal today? (A high-fat meal reduces your blood's ability to carry oxygen.) 8. When was the last time you got up and moved around? Have you taken a break or done some deep breathing during the past couple of hours?

Aileen Ludington is the associate editor of Lifeline Health Letter, medical director of the Lifestyle Medicine Institute in Loma Linda, California, and a popular radio and seminar speaker. Hans Dichl is the founder and director of the Lifestyle Medicine Institute in Loma Linda, editor of Lifeline Health Letter, and the author of the best-seller To Your Health.

This article is taken from Dynamic Living, a hook by Aileen Ludington and Hans Dichl. You may order Dynamic Living through the Review and Herald[R] Publishing Association, 55 West Oak Ridge Drive, Hagerstown, Maryland 21740, or call (301) 791-7000.

COPYRIGHT 1996 Review and Herald Publishing Association
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group