A BREATH OF FRESH AIR, INDOORS

Indoor air is an under-recognised avenue for exposure to potentially harmful pollutants. Fortunately, there are many actions you can take to minimise the health risks they pose.

- Words by Martin Oliver

With Australia and New Zealand having lost much industrial activity to countries overseas and as the proportion of internal combustion vehicles on the roads continues to fall as they are substituted with electric cars, it is easy to mistakenly conclude that the challenge of pollution has largely been solved. Against this background, the issue of indoor air quality often receives less attention than it deserves. In both countries, the average person spends about 90 per cent of their time indoors, underscoring the importance of this issue.

In addition to chemicals, other indoor pollutants include dust, mould, mites, pollen, microplastics and bacteria. Studies have found that levels of indoor pollution can be two to five times higher than outdoors. As the average home today is more airtight than a decade or two ago, reduced airflow can lead to an increased concentration of these pollutants.

Globally, around 30 per cent of people use fuelwood for cooking, heating or lighting, creating harmful particulates. Short-term symptoms include eye, nose and throat irritation, while long-term effects can include reduced lung function and the development of heart and respiratory disease. The World Health Organization (WHO) backs the use of LPG instead, which has been found to roughly halve indoor particulate levels. Neither fuel is ideal from a climate change perspective and, especially in arid areas, deforestation caused by sourcing wood for domestic consumption is a serious problem. Another direction involves the spread of ultra-efficient cookstoves that reduce pressure on wood sources and are designed to minimise particulate emissions.

The role of chemical sensitivity