The document discusses indoor air quality during winter and the importance of proper ventilation. It notes that people spend 90% of their time indoors in winter. Poor ventilation can lead to accumulation of pollutants like dust, mold, smoke and gases. The heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems and other indoor heat sources like fireplaces need routine maintenance to ensure proper ventilation and prevent carbon monoxide poisoning, which causes the most winter-related deaths. Adopting habits like regularly opening windows, vacuuming, and going outside can improve indoor air quality when proper ventilation is not established.

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OPINION
Indoor Air and Proper Ventilation During the Winter
If you are going to stay indoors all winter, you might want to
check the indoor air quality in your home.
By Oto-Obong Akpan
Dec 13th
, 2017.

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The temperature outside continues to drop as we approach the end of Fall. People
are beginning to throw on their scarves and jackets to insulate and protect themselves
from the cold. However, as it gets even colder out, people begin to indulge in bad habits
to stay warm that may affect their health in the long run by causing respiratory
problems. We spend a lot of time indoors and in fact, the USEPA has shown that we
spend 90% of our time indoors. I think this is a terrible habit that is common during
winter. The problem with this habit is that our homes may not be well ventilated enough
to protect us from exposure to a myriad of pollutants in the home such as dust, mold or
smoke that are trapped indoors. Therefore, it is important that people are aware of the
problems in the indoor environment and how implementing improvements to their living
conditions can better their health. Attention to indoor air quality (IAQ) is especially
important because the long run effects to human health can be detrimental.
The first step in attaining a healthy living environment is identifying the problems in
the indoor environment. “A major factor that increases poor indoor air quality is the poor
operation of the HVAC (heating, ventilating and air conditioning) system. Lack of proper
ventilation may cause accumulation of particulates or volatile organic compounds
(VOCs), and other gases such as formaldehyde, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide or
sulfur dioxide” (Gary and Chantel, 1). The majority of these gases are potentially
dangerous colorless and odorless gases that can cause fatal illness. In the day-to-day
operation and regulation of the HVAC systems in homes, often times people do not
think about how much of these gases are being accumulated. We concern ourselves
with the temperature of the room and the comfort that brings while another more
dangerous problem is yet to unravel in only a matter of time. HVAC systems especially

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those aging and suffering from corrosion can lead to life threatening problems in the
future if real action isn’t taken. “Corrosion can cause holes and cracks to occur in the
gas burner, resulting in the dangerous release of CO, and the potential for explosion”
(Daniel, 1). CO poisoning is one of the most dangerous and common illnesses during
winter. It can be identified by various physical symptoms such as chest pain, headache,
shortness of breath or nausea. However, these symptoms are common and may not be
easily linked to CO poisoning. A much faster, safer and more meticulous means of
identification would be installation of CO detectors. Most home designs have
implemented detectors now but often times the homeowner may forget to do routine
maintenance like checking if the batteries still work. Thanks to technology, one can
easily avoid forgetting to replace the batteries by setting a reminder on a smartphone.
And if you don’t have one of those, then take advantage of things like sticky notes or
easily accessible white boards. Scientific studies have shown that “during 2010–2015, a
total of 2,244 deaths resulted from unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning, with the
highest numbers of deaths each year occurring in winter months”(QuickStats, 1). This
data shows that these deaths are due to the lack of awareness of CO accumulation. If
more people were aware of the casualties that arose from poorly operating HVAC
systems, then one could take caution by making improvements on the ventilations units.
Some people may have a skeptical notion about HVAC improvements and others may
just feel comfortable with their ventilation systems for various reasons like high cost of
improvement, but the truth is that every homeowner needs to do routine maintenance
on their ventilation systems to avoid potential illness caused by poor IAQ. Another
important and common factor that worsens poor IAQ in homes is heat sources such as

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fire places, wood stoves or space heaters. Just like the HVAC systems, these all have
to be well ventilated, which means there must be provision for fresh air into the room. A
good way to ensure good ventilation would be to open the windows and doors. This will
allow the pollutants that don’t escape through the chimney to be removed from the
home. Nowadays, space heaters and stoves come with a self ventilation system but just
like every ventilating machine in the home they require routine maintenance.
There are several ways a person can improve the IAQ in their home. Routine
maintenance of ventilation systems in the home and installation of CO monitors are
excellent ways of establishing this. However, the routine maintenance is not often done
so in the meantime one can indulge in cleaning habits from vacuuming frequently to
avoid accumulation of dust, to making the home a no-smoke zone or even just regularly
going outside to get some fresh air. These habits, in my opinion, are not difficult to
adopt and overtime they just become a part of a person’s daily rituals. We shouldn’t
have to live like hermits. It only takes a little motivation to get us to go outside. There
are a lot of fun outdoor winter activities like ice skating that we can indulge in. Adopting
these kinds of habits will not only reduce exposure to the numerous pollutants in the
home but will also help connect us with society.

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Literature Cited
Ganson, Gary A., and Rayne Chantel. “September 2005.” APWA Reporter -
Identifying and Managing Indoor Air Quality Issues, APWA Reporter , Sept. 2005,
www3.apwa.net/Resources/Reporter/Articles/2005/9/Identifying-and-managing-
indoor-air-quality-issues.
USEPA, and Consumer Product Safety Commission. “The Inside Story: A Guide
to Indoor Air Quality.” CPSC.gov, 6 Sept. 2016, www.cpsc.gov/Safety-
Education/Safety-Guides/Home/The-Inside-Story-A-Guide-to-Indoor-Air-Quality/.
Molina, Daniel. “Garland Heating And Air Blog.” Heating & Air Conditioning |
Carbon Monoxide Poisoning, GARLAND HEATING AND AIR CONDITIONING,
28 Nov. 2014, www.garlandheatingandair.com/garland-heating-and-air-
blog/heating-air-conditioning-carbon-monoxide-poisoning.
QuickStats. “Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).” Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1
Aug. 2017, www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/66/wr/mm6608a9.htm