Another Reason to Go Outside

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http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13666

Another Reason to Go Outside

Geesaman, Catalyst

July 24, 2002

It's confusing, isn't it? On certain days when the air pollution is bad,

people with respiratory problems are encouraged to stay indoors. But

according to studies conducted since the 1980s, most U.S. citizens are

likely to have the greatest contact with potentially harmful toxic

pollutants in their own homes, offices, and automobiles.

According to Wayne Ott and , leading researchers on exposure to

pollutants (Ott served in the EPA for 30 years), the chief sources are

apparently ordinary consumer products such as cleaning compounds, air

fresheners and various building materials including:

-- Dry-cleaned clothes which contain tetrachloroethylene, a known

carcinogenic agent

-- Moth repellant, toilet disinfectants and deodorizers which contain

paradichlorobenzene, which is also carcinogenic in animals

-- Chloroform, which causes cancer in animals in high concentrations;

chloroform is a gas that comes from showers, boiling water and clothes

washers as a result of the chlorine in our water supplies

-- Fine particles in the air that most of us stir up in our " personal

clouds " as we move about; most of the particles form through combustion such

as smoking, cooking, and burning candles, incense or firewood.

A disturbing statistic came from the results of two studies of indoor air

contaminants, in which pesticides were found to be more concentrated (at

least five times but typically 10 times or more) inside than outside. And

pesticides that break down quickly outdoors may last for years once they get

inside your carpet. For example, researchers found DDT, outlawed in the U.S.

in 1972 due to its toxicity, in the carpets of 90 of the 362 Midwestern

homes they examined in the early 1990s.

Toxic house dust can be particularly problematic for small children who are

often on the ground and place their hands in their mouths. Their growing

systems are even more vulnerable to toxic pollutants. The average urban

infant ingests an estimated 110 nanograms of the highly toxic aromatic

hydrocarbonbenzo(a)pyrene a day -- equivalent to what the child would get

from smoking three cigarettes a day.

House dust is a major source of exposure to cadmium, lead and other heavy

metals. Carpets are most troublesome; they act as deep reservoirs for these

toxic compounds, even if the rugs are vacuumed regularly in the normal

manner.

Wiping your feet on a good doormat reduces the amount of lead in a typical

carpet by a factor of six, according to the researchers. Removing one's

shoes before entering is even more effective in lowering indoor levels of

the toxic pollutants that contaminate most homes.

" Of the hundreds of air pollutants covered under existing U.S. laws, only

ozone and sulfur dioxide remain more prevalent outdoors, " Ott and

write. " If truckloads of dust with the same concentration of toxic chemicals

as is found in most carpets were deposited outside, these locations would be

considered hazardous waste-dumps. " But the Clean Air Act focuses primarily

on outdoor pollution, while most Americans spend 95 percent of their time

inside.

Is too clean dangerous?

If reading this inspires you to do a deep spring cleaning, remember that

cleaning compounds themselves can be a major source of toxicity in the home.

Go natural whenever possible.

Not only does the attempt to sterilize our homes give rise to toxins from

cleansers, but the cleanliness itself may throw a wrench in the delicate

works of our immune systems. This hygiene hypothesis arose from researchers'

inability to explain the rising incidence of asthma and allergies in many

developed nations. In fact, the hay fever many suffer in the U.S. does not

exist in many other countries. The prevalence of asthma is 1.75 times

greater today than it was as recently as 1980, and for young children, the

incidence is 2.6 times as great, according to Science News Online.

Some researchers hypothesize that these diseases, as well as autoimmune

diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, may arise when the immune

system lacks practice fighting bacteria and viruses. Others greet this

theory with skepticism; more research is certainly needed.

Ironically, the cleanest environments may be the best breeding grounds for

allergies and asthma. One study reported that children who enter daycare

younger are less likely to suffer from allergies than their counterparts who

begin at a later age.

Additionally, researchers reported that children who had received oral

antibiotics by age 2 were more susceptible to allergies than children who

had no antibiotics. And at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot,

Israel, researchers found that rats raised in a sterile environment are more

susceptible to arthritis and diabetes than rats raised with normal exposure

to germs.

What can you do?

To start with, recognize your own power. Don't feel helpless. You have a

great degree of control over the toxic pollutants in your own home. Consider

the following:

-- Become a shoe-free home. Remove your shoes upon entering to keep floors

cleaner and to avoid tracking dangerous substances such as lead and

pesticides indoors.

If you don't want to go completely shoe-free, at least get a high quality

door mat and get into the habit of wiping your feet well.

-- Consider getting rid of your carpet. Jules Verne hypothesized at the turn

of the last century that carpet would be made illegal by 1900 due to its

hygiene risks. Vacuums were subsequently invented -- but carpet is still a

breeding ground for mold and mites, and a storehouse for toxic dust,

pesticides, and other toxic materials. Yuck.

-- Consider investing in an air purifier, keeping in mind that they are

rarely silent and do require upkeep.

Or opt for the natural version -- plants. Spider plants, philodendrons,

scheffleras, chrysanthemums, ferns and dracaena are excellent air filters.

-- Use natural household cleaners. You can buy them at local health foods

stores. Or better yet, make your own. " The Natural Home " by mond

, and " Nontoxic, Natural and Earthwise " by Debra Lynn Dadd have

recipes. Also check out the Seventh Generation catalog.

-- Buy natural materials rather than synthetics whenever possible. Find

nontoxic alternatives to common toxins like paint, solvents and pesticides.

Avoid particleboard furniture.

-- Avoid plastics. " All soft plastics leach harmful molecules into food, and

when heated, release plastic molecules into the air, " writes Laurel Vukovic

in " 14-Day Herbal Cleansing. " Consider glass food storage containers. Drink

filtered water or spring water. Install a carbon filter showerhead to cut

down on the toxic chlorine gas.

-- Open your windows. Allow fresh air to circulate. Many health

professionals recommend sleeping with the window open an inch or two even in

cold weather.

-- Get outside and enjoy the seasons. Hang out on your porch. Picnic at a

local park. Hike in a nearby canyon. Walk instead of drive. Most of all,

enjoy being alive.

Geesaman is a writer for Catalyst in Salt Lake City.