There was a knock on my door in May. Looking at the box - that I was being asked to sign for - reminded me that I’d volunteered my home to be part of an indoor air quality study.
The National Clean Air Day campaign has been running for decades. When thinking about air pollution today, we may tend to consider what’s outside: fumes coming out of millions of exhaust pipes. There are now approximately 41 million vehicles on UK roads, 33-35 million of these are cars! As an Environmental Health officer for most of my career, I was involved - before and after the millennium - in monitoring and developing actions on those vehicle emissions.
Looking ahead at this year’s National Clean Air Day posters, I found some mention of indoor air pollution and what we can do about it ourselves.
The small air quality monitor - in the box delivered to me- is now plugged into a socket in in my living space. It’s monitoring the environment inside my house. Firstly, temperature and humidity data - things quite familiar, that we’ve been able to monitor since the C18th.
What’s new is the unit’s ability to monitor carbon dioxide - which we breathe out - fine particles that come from vehicles and other sources, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs): chemicals often present in products used for purposes like painting and decorating, cleaning products and plug in air fresheners.
There are ways to improve our indoor air quality like
- Using ‘low VOC products’;
- Avoiding home burning; and,
- Using milder fragrance-free cleaning products.
- If you live near a busy road, ventilate your home by opening the windows that are furthest away from it.
The data from the little monitor in my living space- over two winters to come- will contribute to the INHABIT study. The project’s ambition is that “everyone in the UK lives in healthy homes that are fit for the future.” It’s exploring the effect of home improvements, like better insulation, new windows, and modern heating systems- including solar panels- are part of this approach.
Done properly, such measures can make a big difference to people’s lives. But if we seal homes without adding ventilation, there can be problems like:
- Trapped moisture - leading to damp and mould
- Build up of indoor air pollution- from cooking fumes, chemicals and cleaning products
- Worsening health - due to a more polluted indoor environment
The study - that my home is now part of - is producing new scientific evidence on the impacts of home improvement work, turning this into practical advice for government and industry professionals.
With some simple measures - some mentioned in this blog - we can start to improve our indoor air quality right now!