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In an effort to protect the environment and save on
energy costs, we are in the midst of a “green” home
boom in this country. Between remodeling older
houses and building new ones, it’s estimated that
millions of American homes will get a lot greener in
the next decade. While that may bode well from an
energy-efficiency standpoint, the trend certainly
doesn’t have everyone breathing easier.
For a better understanding please read the following
pages:
Indoor Pollution and
Pollution and toxic substances in indoor ambients
written by Fabio Bertrand Elsa, Professor at the
Facoltà di Architettura Ambientale, Dipartimento
B.E.S.T. (Building Environment Science Technology),
del Politecnico di Milano.
“For every solution, there’s a problem,” said Nathan
Rabinovitch, MD, an asthma specialist at National
Jewish Health in Denver. “Energy efficiency is
really, really important, but at the same time, with
the homes that we are building today, allergens
getting into the house, are staying in the house.”
That includes things like smoke, mold, bacteria and
pet dander. And for the nearly 26 million Americans
who suffer from asthma, that’s causing a wide range
of problems.
[_private/vid/ambiente/green-home-sick.htm]
“It used to be when homes were built, a lot of air
would come out through the roof and through the
windows,” said Dr. Rabinovitch, “but now we’ve
become so efficient at sealing off those areas that
everything is getting trapped inside the house, and
that’s making a lot of people sick.”
Rabinovitch says the movement to build more
energy-efficient homes began in the 1970s, after the
nation’s first energy crisis. Since then, concerns
about the environment and a downturn in the economy
have all converged to make energy efficiency much
more of a priority in the housing industry.
But something else happened during that same
timeframe: asthma rates started going up. In fact,
since 1970, the number of Americans who have asthma
has nearly tripled.
That’s not a coincidence, says Dr. Rabinovitch. “The
problem is, a lot of the air pollution in our home
is actually in the carpet or on the soft furniture.
If someone walks on the carpet or sits on the couch,
they end up getting this kind of personal exposure,”
he said, “and with little ventilation in homes today,
that pollution has nowhere to go, so it settles into
our lungs.”
To see just how much air pollution we may be exposed
to in our homes, Rabinovitch conducted a study in
which he asked school children to carry air monitors
with them for several weeks. Twenty-four hours a
day, seven days a week, those monitors collected air
samples in the children’s homes and as they walked
to and from school. Samples were also collected as
the children played outside, and as they studied in
the classroom.
After analyzing the data, Dr. Rabinovitch found that
air quality was worst where you might expect it
least.
“For many of these kids, the amount of air pollution
that they were being exposed to was often higher
inside the home than outside the home,” he said.
That doesn’t surprise Hope Duncan. Her 13-year-old
son, Jack, suffered a near-fatal asthma attack in
2008, and since then, Duncan says she has learned a
lot about triggers that are hidden around her home.
“They can be anywhere,” said Duncan. “You never know
what’s underneath the carpet that has accumulated
from pets or from water damage. There may be things
in the couch or behind the walls that you simply
don’t know about,” she said.
Because of that, Duncan and her family take strict
precautions to protect her son. “We change our air
filter often, and vacuum and dust constantly,” she
said. The Duncans have also installed an air
purifier in Jack’s room and insist that he shower
each night before he goes to bed, instead of in the
morning, like many people do.
“He spends most of his time in his room, and at
least nine hours a night sleeping in there,” said
Duncan. “After spending the day outside, collecting
all these allergens in his hair and on his body, we
just want to make sure he gets all that off of him
before he goes to sleep.“
But it’s not just natural allergens like mold and
pollen that can trigger asthma attacks. Some of the
biggest problems are caused by choices we make.
“Pet dander and cigarette smoke are probably two of
the most dangerous triggers there are,” said Dr.
Rabinovitch. “I always tell my patients that if
there are smokers in the house or pets that are
causing problems, those have to be addressed before
anything else.”
Rabinovitch also offers some simple advice to anyone
who will listen. “The best way to control indoor air
pollution is to look outdoors,” he said. “Simply
opening your windows more often will ventilate your
house and will help dry out and clear out many of
the things that could be making you sick.”
It’s a concept that raises a lot of eyebrows in this
era of super energy-efficient homes.
“Homes were built 50 years ago in a way where there
was ventilation, so I don’t think it’s difficult to
go back to that,” said Dr. Rabinovitch. “But the
question is: How do we do that and at the same time
keep our energy efficiency? We don’t want to solve
one problem and then end up with another.”
National Jewish Health is known worldwide for
treatment of patients with respiratory, cardiac,
immune and related disorders, and for groundbreaking
medical research. Founded in 1899 as a nonprofit
hospital, National Jewish Health remains the only
facility in the world dedicated exclusively to these
disorders. Since 1998, U.S. News & World Report has
ranked National Jewish Health the number one
respiratory hospital in the nation.
For more information
http://www.nationaljewish.org/
(MDN)
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