Indoor air quality

• Smoking indoors, smoke drifting in from outdoors, or smoke being carried indoors on clothing
• Other things that burn, like oil, gas, kerosene, charcoal briquettes, wood or candles
• Central heating, cooling or humidifying systems
• New or recently installed building materials and furnishings, including carpets and certain wood pressed products
• Household cleaning and maintenance products
• Personal care products, like hair spray or soaps
• Too much moisture in the house
• Mold & mildew:
  • April 4, 2001 press release
  • www.epa.gov/mold/moldresources.html
• Tracking pesticides and pollens in on shoes and clothes
• Improper circulation of fresh, outside air

The health or quality level of the air in a home is determined by how much and how often pollution is getting into the air. For example, if you have a properly adjusted gas stove, it will emit significantly less carbon monoxide than one that is not properly adjusted. Also, good ventilation contributes to improving air quality:

• Public Health's Carbon Monoxide facts
• www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs

Managing biological and chemical pollution factors, like pesticides and mites

• Don't smoke indoors.
• Circulate fresh, outdoor air through your home every day to remove stale air and move pollutants out.
• Wipe feet off before coming inside, and take shoes off in the house in order to keep out pesticide contamination.
• Replace or clean furnace and air filters when they are dirty. Check them regularly, at least every two months. Use a "high efficiency particulate filter" (HEPA).
• Use ventilating fans over the stove and in the bathroom and be sure they are vented to the outside of the house.
• Keep ventilating fans clean.
• If you have mold, or areas that develop mold, see the section below titled, "Keeping your home healthy and free of mold during the wet seasons."
• Use safe cleaning products, those without any of the signal words ("danger", "warning" or "caution"). If you do not use safe household products, read the label and follow the directions carefully.
• Vacuum carpets well and stuffed furniture well, wash linens weekly and dust regularly to keep the allergen "dust mites" to a minimum. Dust mites are microscopic bugs that live in the dust and our sloughed off skin.

Managing combustible pollutants in your home, like natural gas

• Don't smoke indoors.
• Assure the gas flame in all appliances is blue, without much yellow. If there is a strong smell of natural gas, open the windows, leave the house, and call the gas company.
• Be sure to have good ventilation in rooms with working fireplaces and gas or wood stoves.
• Do not burn charcoal or kerosene heaters indoors:
  • Public Health's Carbon Monoxide facts
  • www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/combust.html

Mold is a form of fungi. Mold is found in every moist indoor and outdoor environment year round. It grows naturally indoors, and can also enter your home on shoes, clothing, bags, animals, windows and ventilation systems. There is always a little mold in the air and on many surfaces. The mere presence of molds does not necessarily lead to symptoms. Mold may become a problem where there is excessive moisture, such as leakage in roofs, pipes, walls, plant pots, or where there has been flooding.

In King County, the wet seasons of fall, winter, and spring can mean more moisture in your home. Too much moisture can lead to mold and mildew. Although mold exposure does not always cause health problems, daily exposure has been known to cause respiratory problems, headaches, watery eyes, dizziness, lethargy, rashes and other reactions. Mold and other biological contaminants can trigger asthma, too.

Here are some suggestions to keep your home clear of molds:

Get excess moisture out of your home

• Flush the air two or three times a day (for three to four minutes, open all the doors and windows and let fresh air circulate through the home).
• Ventilate the bathroom and the kitchen with an exhaust fan.
• Keep shower curtain or bathtub sliding door open after bathing to increase air circulation.
• Assure that the dryer vents freely to the outside.
• Heat all the rooms in your home to keep moisture from forming on the walls and other surfaces of unheated areas.

Stop moisture from coming in

• Stop any leaks from the roof, poorly-drained gutters and plumbing.
• Stop water from entering basements and crawlspaces.
• Properly insulate walls and ceilings.
• Grade ground so that it drains surface water away from home.

Other preventive measures

• Use easy to clean paint and wallpaper, especially in bathrooms.
• Install a timer switch on your bathroom fan, and leave the fan on for 15 minutes after showering.
• When cooking, try to minimize simmering of liquids and foods.
• Keep furniture away from outside walls where mold might grow.
• Replacing carpet with wood or vinyl floor tiles will prevent some of the problems with carpeting.

Steps to eliminate existing mold in the home

1. Clean up mold growing on surfaces by scrubbing it with regular soap and water.
2. Next, apply a bleach solution on the effected area (one part chlorine bleach to four parts water).

• Landlords are required to notify tenants about mold
• Landlord notification requirements from the Washington State Dept. of Health (PDF)

• EPA Indoor Air Quality
  Several publications and guidelines that can be downloaded or ordered.
  
  
• Environmental Health Watch (EHW)
  EHW helps people to protect themselves from serious environmental threats, influence corporate, government and personal actions, and avoid both imprudent complacency and unnecessary alarm.
  
  
• American Lung Association
  Covers a wide variety of lung-related diseases from asthma to tuberculosis and more. Find detailed information on their "State of the Air" webpage at www.lungusa.org/air2001/sota_map.html
  
  
• Bioaerosols: Assessment and Control.
  A comprehensive 1999 publication on biologically derived airborne contaminants from the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists. To order a copy, call (513) 742-6163 or e-mail: comm@acgih.org

Related Public Health webpages:

• Asbestos fact sheet
• King County Asthma Resources
• Hazardous Household Chemicals