"Most of us assume that when we walk into our homes, we slam the door on exhaust, secondhand smoke, and other air-pollution ugliness. In your own house, everything is safe and clean. Oh, if only. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), levels of about a dozen common chemical pollutants are two to five times higher inside homes than outside of them. Part of the problem is that houses are so much better insulated than they used to be: That's a good thing when it comes to conserving energy, but being more airtight also means that "whatever you emit indoors — whether it's your burnt microwave popcorn, cigarette smoke, or cleaning-product fumes — is going to persist in the indoor environment for longer," says Lynn Hildemann, an environmental engineer and researcher at Stanford University. In light of this, scientists are beginning to suspect that it may be these indoor nasties — not just outdoor smog — that are responsible for rising rates of asthma and other respiratory diseases. Indoor pollution can also cause headaches, flu-like symptoms, and, in serious cases, neurological problems.
We know this sounds scary, but don't panic: You can minimize your family's exposure with a few simple steps. None involve buying expensive products (the hulking air purifiers you see in SkyMall catalogs, etc.); in fact, some of the best fixes are the most basic." Read
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