Indoor Airpollution - Sick Building Syndrome (SBS)
What's inside your house?
Is your house, unit or office making you sick?
Indoor air pollution is an underestimated problem and can cause numerous illnesses.
This article gives you an overview and shows you possibilities to improve your house or office.
There is not only outdoor pollution,there is also indoor pollution, which can be even worse because of restricted ventilation inside houses.
According to the American Medical Association, 50% of all illnesses are caused or aggravated by polluted indoor air.
Indoor pollution is caused by sources such as building materials, furnishings and household products like air fresheners, all of which may release pollutants especially solvents, sometime over decades.
Other sources related to some activities like painting carried out at home, release pollutants intermittently.
These include smoking, the use of non vented or malfunctioning stoves, space heaters, the use of solvents in cleaning and hobby activities, paint strippers in redecorating activities, and most of all the use of cleaning products and pesticides in house-keeping.
High pollutant concentrations can remain in the air for long periods after some of these activities were performed.
Immediate health effects may show up after a single exposure or after repeated exposures.
These include; irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat, headaches, dizziness, and fatigue.
Such immediate effects are usually short-term and treatable. Sometimes the treatment is simply eliminating the person's exposure to the source of the pollution, if it can be identified.
Symptoms of some diseases, including asthma, hypersensitivity,
pneumonitis, and humidifier fever may also show up soon after exposure to some indoor air pollutants.
Long term exposure can lead to Sick Building Syndrome (SBS).
SBS consists of a group of non-specific symptoms, which according to a World Health Organisation (WHO) definition can include any of the following:
Eye, nose or throat irritation; a sensation of dry mucous membranes; dry skin, rash; mental fatigue; headaches; nausea; dizziness; coughing; hoarseness; wheezing; itching and unspecific hypersensitivity reactions. ( allergy related)
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