White Paper

2. Our need to breathe
clean air
Clean air, both outdoors and inside a home or office, is essential
to good health and wellbeing. However, studies reveal that most
people are in the dark about the negative effects bad indoor air qual-
ity can have on their health. The lack of public awareness is worrying
in the light of reports from such prestigious organizations as the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency stating unequivocally that air pollu-
tion is a significant cause of health problems.
In Europe, the European Commission has stated indoor or outdoor
air pollution is a major environmental health concern as it can lead to
serious health effects, such as respiratory disease, including asthma
and lung cancer. The Commission noted that indoor air ‘may contain
over 900 chemicals’, yet has admitted air quality inside a home or
office has not received the same attention as outdoor air quality.
2
In Sweden, where Blueair was launched in 1996, the Swedish
Ministry of Environment has also warned that excessive levels of air
pollution pose problems to health and wellbeing, including respira-
tory problems and allergies as well as cancer or even premature
death. This conclusion has been reciprocated by the World Health
Organization (WHO), which has also studied the impact on human
health caused by indoor air pollution.
The health effects from indoor health pollutants experienced soon
after exposure, or even many years later, have been detailed by the
U.S. EPA.
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Immediate effects
Immediate effects may show up after a single exposure or repeated
exposures. These include irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat,
headaches, dizziness, and fatigue. Such immediate effects are
usually short-term and treatable. Sometimes the treatment is simply
eliminating the person’s exposure to the source of the pollution, if it
can be identified. Symptoms of some diseases, including asthma,
hypersensitivity pneumonitis, and humidifier fever, may also show up
soon after exposure to some indoor air pollutants.
Long-term effects
Other health effects may show up either years after exposure has
occurred or only after long or repeated periods of exposure. These
effects, which include some respiratory diseases, heart disease,
and cancer, can be severely debilitating or fatal. It is prudent to try to
improve the indoor air quality in your home even if symptoms are not
noticeable.
We humans generally spend about 90% of our time indoors at home or work breathing air
that is up to 100 times more polluted than the air outside in the street.
2
http://ec.europa.eu/health/opinions/en/indoor-air-pollution/index.htm#1
3
http://www.epa.gov/iaq/ia-intro.html#Indoor%20Air%20Pollution%20and%20Health