Indoor air pollution is a serious problem globally. In developing nations, indoor burning of biomass for cooking and heating leads to high particulate levels indoors. Indoor air is often more polluted than outdoor air even in developed nations due to sources like building materials, cleaning products, and activities like smoking. Long term exposure to indoor pollutants like particulate matter, radon, asbestos, and formaldehyde can cause respiratory illness and cancer. Reducing indoor pollution requires addressing sources like improving cooking technologies, increasing ventilation, reducing tobacco and mold exposure, and using low-emitting building materials and consumer products.

1. Indoor Air
Pollution
Ch. 18, part 2

2. Air Pollution in
developing nations
 Indoor burning of wood,
coal, dung, other fuels for
heating and cooking
 Particulate air pollution
 Few know laws regarding
worker safety…many
workers are children
Boys working to
make plastics Girls
cooking
Indoor air pollution is THE MOST
SERIOUS air pollution problem for
people in developing nations

3. Indoor Air Pollution in
Developed Nations
 Indoor air
often dirtier
than outdoor
air
 Usually more
health
problems
caused by
indoor air
pollution

4. According to the EPA…
 11 of the most common
pollutants are higher inside
than out
 Pollution levels inside cars in
traffic are high
 Risk higher because we spend
more time indoors and in
vehicles

5. According to the EPA…
 Indoor Air Pollution has
been at the top of the list for
cancer risk since 1990
 Greatest risk:
 Smokers
 Kids under 5
 Elderly
 Ill
 Pregnant
 People with respiratory or
heart problems
 Factory workers

6. Sources of Indoor Air
Pollution
 Pesticide and lead
residues on shoes -->
carpet
 Paints/sprays that contain
VOCs
 Dust mites/cockroach
droppings --> asthma
 Molds/mildew-->
allergies

7. Sick Building
Syndrome
 Symptoms:
 Dizziness
 Headaches
 Itchy throat/sneezing
 Shortness of breath
 Burning eyes/sore throat
 Flu-like symptoms
 1 in 5 commercial buildings in
US a “sick” building
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=

8. Top Indoor Air Pollutants
1. Tobacco smoke
2. Formaldehyde - in lots of building
materials and household products
3. Radioactive radon 222 gas - seeps
into houses from underground
rocks
4. Very small particulates
1. molds, pesticides, spores, droppings,
5. Asbestos

9. Formaldehyde
 Breathing
problems
 Diziness
 Headache
 Sinus/eye
irritation
 Nausea
 All due to low
level exposure
 With chronic
exposure - 34%
more likely to get
ALS (Lou
Gehrig’s Disease
- kills nerve cells
that control
movement)

10. Sources of Formaldehyde
 Plywood
 Particleboard
 Paneling
 High gloss wood in floors and cabinets
 Furniture
 Drapes
 Upholstery
 Adhesives in carpeting and wallpaper
 Urethane-formaldehyde foam insulation
 Fingernail hardener
 Wrinkle-free coating on permanent press
clothing
Chronic exposure causes cancer
in 1/5000 people

11. Asbestos
 Source: pipe insulation, vinyl
ceiling and floor tiles
 Threats: lung disease and cancer

12. Radon-222
 Sources: the natural
decay of uranium-238
in rocks and soil that
builds up in cracks in
walls and home
foundations
 Threats: cancer (mostly
in smokers)

13. You’re turn
 Choose 2 indoor air pollutants:
 What is it’s name?
 Source?
 Harms?
 Solutions?

14. Air Pollution – Indoor and
Outdoor

15. Health Effects of Air
Pollution
 Your respiratory system: your
natural defense
 Nose hair/mucus
trap small particles
 Sneezing/coughing
helps expel things
 Cilia in upper
respiratory tract
push pollutants into
your throat

16.  Prolonged exposure to
pollutants can overwhelm your
system
 Fine/ultrafine particles get deep
into lungs
In US, 17 million people have
asthma
 ~14 people die from asthma attacks
every day

17. Clean Air Acts of 1970,
1977, 1990
 Established federal air
pollution regulations
that are enforced by
states and large cities
 Congress directed EPA
to establish national
ambient air quality
standards (NAAQS)
for 6 pollutants
CO SPM
NOx SO2
O3 Pb

19. Clean Air Act Basics
 Stationary sources (power plants, etc)
 MUST have pollution prevention technology in place
 Mobile sources (cars, trucks, ships, etc)
 Engines meet standards, some types banned, fuels meet
standards
 Don’t meet standards/pollute too much
 EPA works with person/company to get them to clean
it up
 EPA cleans it up and fines person/company
 EPA can sue if needed to get compliance

20. Toxic Release Inventory
(TRI)
 Public info
 Requires refineries,
power plants, mines,
chemical companies,
factories to report their
releases for 667
chemicals
 Holds companies
accountable
http://www.epa.gov/cgi-bin/broker?
ZIPCODE=95304&VIEW=ZPCH&trilib=TRIQ1&TAB_RPT=1&_LINESPP=&sort=RELLBY&INDUSTRY=ALL&FLD=RELLBY&FLD=TSFDSP&FLD=RE_TOLBY&sort_fmt=2&T
opN=&STATE=&COUNTY=&CHEMICAL=ALL+CHEMICALS&YEAR=2009&BGCOLOR=
%23D0E0FF&FOREGCOLOR=black&FONT_FACE=arial&FONT_SIZE=10+pt&FONT_WIDTH=normal&FONT_STYLE=roman&FONT_WEIGHT=bold&_SERVICE=oiaa&_P

21. US Air Pollution Laws a
model for the regulatory
approach
 US air quality has increased greatly
1. US Citizens insisted on laws for cleaner air
2. We had the money and technology to make
it happen

22. But…
 We continue to rely primarily on air
pollution clean up rather than
prevention
 Prevention WORKS! (banned lead in
gas - lead levels drop 97%)

23.  Fuel efficiency standards for vehicle
still embarrassingly low (far behind
EU, China, Japan)
 (less CO2, less smog, less NOx)

25.  Little to no
regulation of
ships - burn
dirtiest grades
of fuels
 Airports often
exempt from
air quality
rules

26.  No laws regulating CO2
 Ultrafine particles not regulated
http://www.worldwatch.org/node/4499

29. Emission trading or cap-
and-trade program
Companies buy pollution credits - if
it emits less than its credits, it can
save them or sell them
 Mixed reactions to program
 Let’s companies buy their way out of
improving air quality control
 Cheaters? Based on self-reporting
 SO2 emissions down significantly
 But older power plants not regulated
the same way (job-killer)
 NO2 will be tried in the future

30. “The atmosphere is the
key symbol of global
interdependence. If we
can’t solve some of our
problems in the face of
threats to this global
commons, then I can’t
be very optimistic
about the future of the
world.”
-Margaret Mead