Indoor Air Pollution: What’s in the Air at Home and Work

We tend to think of air pollution as something outdoors. But the air inside your home or office can be polluted too.

Where indoor pollution comes from

"Sick building syndrome"

Sometimes a group of people develop symptoms that seem tied to time spent in a particular building. There may be a specific cause — Legionnaires' disease, for example. But sometimes no cause can be found. That is known as sick building syndrome.

How serious is it?

• Usually, discomfort. Most indoor air quality problems make people uncomfortable, and most people feel better as soon as the source of the pollution is removed.
• Sometimes, disease later. Some pollutants can cause illnesses that appear much later, such as respiratory diseases or cancer.

What helps

Two steps improve indoor air:

1. Ventilate — make sure the building is well ventilated.
2. Remove the source — get rid of the pollutants.

Sources

Based on the MedlinePlus health topic "Indoor Air Pollution," National Library of Medicine, with summary text from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; works of the United States government in the public domain. See also MedlinePlus: Indoor Air Pollution.