December 27, 2023- During the pandemic, disease prevention initiatives such as working-from-home, online school, and quarantine required long hours to be spent inside at home. Shelter-in-place mandates increased the amount of time people spent in indoor spaces, making it necessary to reconsider the quality of indoor air.
Indoor air quality is defined as the quality of the air within indoor environments such as homes, schools, and offices. According to the American Lung Association (ALA), pollutants such as cleaning products, mold, moisture, and household appliance emissions can cause indoor air pollution levels that are two to five times higher than outdoor concentrations.
On average, Americans spend 90 percent of their time indoors, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). With how much time people spend inside, the health impacts of prolonged exposure to indoor air are important to recognize. To address the health impacts of poor air quality, in 2023, the Lung Association introduced the “Healthy and Efficient Homes Campaign,” which works to make indoor spaces safer by advancing solutions that improve indoor air quality.
Read More in the latest issue of Repertoire Magazine.