Table of Common Indoor Air Hazards, Sources, Effects, Remedies InspectAPedia® -
Table of common indoor air hazards and contaminants
Asbestos - source, health effects, exposure levels, steps to reduce
Biologicals: bacteria, mold, viruses, allergens, animal dander, dust mites, pollen - sources, health effects, exposure levels, steps to reduce
Formaldehyde - source, health effects, exposure levels, steps to reduce
Lead
- source, health effects, exposure levels, steps to reduce
Pesticides
- source, health effects, exposure levels, steps to reduce
Radon - source, health effects, exposure levels, steps to reduce
VOCs - volatile organic compounds
- source, health effects, exposure levels, steps to reduce
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Here we provide a table listing common indoor air quality contaminants, their sources, effects, typical levels, and steps to reduce exposure. This article series includes excerpts from Best Practices Guide to Residential Construction, by Steven Bliss, courtesy of Wiley & Sons.
Public health officials have focused their efforts on outside
air pollution for decades, establishing laws and guidelines
for what is acceptable air to breath. As it turns out,
however, people spend a lot more time indoors than out
and, on average, the air is far dirtier indoors. Pollutants
range from the merely unpleasant to the potentially deadly.
The health effects of low exposures to many of these substances
over long time periods is not well understood.
Yet,
it seems prudent to have a working knowledge of what’s
in the air you’re breathing and to take commonsense steps
to eliminate or minimize materials that, in larger doses,
make most people sick.
A summary of common indoor pollutants
is shown in
Table 7-5, Table of Common Indoor Air Hazards is at INDOOR AIR HAZARDS TABLE provided just below in this document
Table of Common Indoor Air Hazards, Contaminants, Pollutants
The following table, issued in three sections, lists common indoor air hazards and contaminants, providing for each contaminant the name, description, primary household sources, health effects, typical exposure levels, and steps to reduce exposure.
Steven Bliss served as editorial director and co-publisher of The Journal of Light Construction for 16 years and previously as building technology editor for Progressive Builder and Solar Age magazines. He worked in the building trades as a carpenter and design/build contractor for more than ten years and holds a masters degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Excerpts from his recent book, Best Practices Guide to Residential Construction, Wiley (November 18, 2005) ISBN-10: 0471648361, ISBN-13: 978-0471648369, appear throughout this website, with permission and courtesy of Wiley & Sons. Best Practices Guide is available from the publisher, J. Wiley & Sons, and also at Amazon.com.
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Best Practices Guide to Residential Construction, by Steven Bliss. John Wiley & Sons, 2006. ISBN-10: 0471648361, ISBN-13: 978-0471648369, Hardcover: 320 pages, available from Wiley.com and also at Amazon.com. See our book review of this publication.
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