Importance of Indoor Air Quality

“Indoor air quality” refers to the quality of the air in a home, school, office, or other building environment. The potential impact of indoor air quality on human health nationally can be noteworthy for several reasons:

• Americans, on average, spend approximately 90 percent of their time indoors,¹ where the concentrations of some pollutants are often 2 to 5 times higher than typical outdoor concentrations.²
• People who are often most susceptible to the adverse effects of pollution (e.g., the very young, older adults, people with cardiovascular or respiratory disease) tend to spend even more time indoors.³
• Indoor concentrations of some pollutants have increased in recent decades due to such factors as energy-efficient building construction (when it lacks sufficient mechanical ventilation to ensure adequate air exchange) and increased use of synthetic building materials, furnishings, personal care products, pesticides, and household cleaners.

Learn more here on types of pollutants and other factors affecting indoor air quality.