Indoor Air Pollution
by Annie Berthold Bond

Often the best indicator of an underlying indoor air quality problem in a house is identifying the first thing you smell after having been away for a few days. You may not notice an odor daily because your olfactory sense tends to adapt to smells, but once you’re out of the house for a few days and have “cleared” the smells of your home out of your system, you’re bound to notice an unpleasant, stale, or odd smell when you arrive back home. Visitors are often more perceptive than you are, and they may inquire about a certain odor. Take the time to investigate smells; they may be benign, but they may also be a source of indoor air pollution.

One thing you’ll be glad to know is that some dirt is good for you, at least some experts believe. They think that the precipitous rise in allergies and asthma may be because modern-day children have grown up in such overly pristine environments and have received so many vaccinations that they haven’t developed a normal immune response to bacteria and viruses.

While it’s reassuring that we don’t need to clean too obsessively or our immune systems will suffer, we do need to clean to ensure that the air and our surroundings are as free of pollutants as possible.

The most important rule of thumb for cleaning is to use common sense. To begin with , it makes no sense to clean with chemicals that by their very nature cause dirty air! The great irony of most modern cleaning products is that while they may remove surface dirt and sometimes germs, they soil the air and surfaces with volatile organic chemicals, hydrocarbons, chlorine, and more! The most important thing you can do to establish clean air in your home is to switch to nontoxic cleaning methods and clean up existing residue from commercial cleaning products. The second thing is to stop using synthetic air fresheners, perfumes and scents. Synthetic air fresheners only numb the nose and bring more chemicals into the home. Some air fresheners are labeled as carcinogens. Synthetic fragrances can contain dozens and dozens of synthetic chemicals that are usually derived from petroleum products and contribute to indoor air-quality problems and to sensitivity in a large number of people. One-third of the substances used in the fragrance industry are toxic, according to the National Institute of Occupational Safety.

If you still have a problem with indoor air pollution after switching to nontoxic cleaners and fragrances, the most likely source of the problem is the kitchen.

Potential Kitchen Pollutants
Gas Stoves: While gas stoves save energy, they can cause a significant amount of indoor air pollution with high concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2). Technology Review (August/September 1982) tracked the amount of pollution breathed by one person during a normal day (commuting to work, living in the suburbs, cooking dinner, and relaxing), and they found that they breathed the most pollution in their kitchen when cooking with a gas stove. If you must cook with gas, make sure that your stove has an automatic pilot and that your kitchen is well ventilated to the outside.

Smoke Points of Cooking Oils: Heating cooking oils to their smoke point can cause serious indoor air pollution. One way to reduce the problem is to choose your oils carefully, and cook with oils that can handle high heat without smoking. For example, refined avocado oil can be heated to 510ºF before smoking, while coconut oil will smoke when heated to just under 280ºF. For more about the smoke point of cooking oils, visit the Spectrum Organics Web site at www.spectrumorganics.com and type “Kitchen Guide” into the search engine.

Exhaust Fans: Exhaust fans help remove hydrocarbons produced while cooking and may help improve indoor air quality if they’re fully vented to the outside. (And it’s always a good idea to circulate fresh air into a kitchen space if you’ve been cooking food all day.)

Refrigerators: Most refrigerators use chlorine products as coolants, and some environmental organizations, including Greenpeace, have been calling for a ban of chlorine products in all countries. Chlorine can contaminate groundwater and cause other environmental damage; its full effect on humans isn’t known, but it has been linked to cancer. Some newer coolants are being introduced for refrigerators and air conditioners, so look for these improvements when purchasing a new appliance.

Refrigerators can also be a safe harbor for mold in the home. Besides the hairy green surprises growing on leftovers on the bottom shelf, be sure to check and clean the drip pan under the refrigerator and water access areas and drains in the back of the refrigerator. I almost took the kitchen apart on a hot August day trying to find the source of a horrible mold smell, and I found it in the refrigerator drip tray. You can grow some very ugly-looking mold in there. Keep up with cleaning your refrigerator inside and out. Put yourself on the same schedule for cleaning the fridge as you do for changing your smoke alarm batteries—set four times a year as your goal.

Automatic Dishwashers: As mentioned above, chlorine is hazardous to human health, and it’s disheartening to know that many automatic dishwasher detergents contain chlorine bleach. Chlorine escapes into the air whenever you open a dishwasher, especially in the middle of a cycle, and it can irritate lungs. By all means, choose a chlorine-free dishwasher detergent.

Compost: Empty your countertop compost bin at least three times a week, or you could harbor large amounts of mold. Mold can be toxic, and you’d be surprised at how many people let their compost bucket languish in their kitchen before emptying it of molding food! Daily removal of food scraps is best, but if that’s not convenient, empty your indoor bin every two days.

Garbage Disposal: Run your disposal every day. Mold and bacteria can fester in rotting food that’s trapped in the disposal. Deodorize it at least once a week by pouring two cups of straight distilled vinegar down the drain. If odors persist, pour one cup of borax down the drain, and flush it with very hot water. Repeat as necessary.

Rotting Food: Rotting food can bring mold into the kitchen. Clean out the refrigerator regularly, and check any bins where you store food at room temperature. Rotten potatoes smell about as bad as anything I know of. Potatoes and onions are often a problem because they are stored in bins, usually in dark pantries, and aren’t checked often.

Cabinets Made of Pressed Wood: Are the kitchen cabinets made of particleboard or other pressed wood materials? Particleboard and pressed wood can be a source of a lot of formaldehyde outgassing, especially when the “wood” is heated because it’s next to a stove, heater, or refrigerator. Formaldehyde is a strong sensitizer (meaning that you can become very sensitive to other agents in the environment if you are overexposed to formaldehyde). It’s also considered a carcinogen.

Products Stored under the Kitchen Sink: Most people keep a large number of chemicals and cleaning products, even pesticides like ant traps or bug killers, under the kitchen sink or in kitchen broom closets. Opened bottles of cleaning products and cans containing pesticides can leach toxic chemicals into the air in your kitchen and throughout your home, and it’s especially dangerous when food is stored nearby.

Perfumed Dishwashing Detergent: Very strong fragrances are added to most automatic dishwashing detergents. That advertised “fresh” smell is a blend of synthetic chemicals that will add to the overall polluted indoor air quality. Good alternatives are now available from green brands, found in health food stores and in some progressive grocery stores.