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What Is Indoor Air Quality and How Is It Affected by Cleaning, Sanitizing, and Disinfecting?

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Green Cleaning, Sanitizing, and Disinfecting: A Toolkit for Early Care and Education Fact Sheet What is indoor air quality and how is it affected by cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting? u Pet dander u Mold, moisture, and chemicals from water damage u Asbestos, lead, and radon IAQ problems are also caused by poor ventilation. Ventilation is when ‘clean’ air (normally outdoor air) is brought indoors and pollutants in indoor air are removed or reduced. Ventilation: u occurs naturally by opening windows and doors or u occurs mechanically through properly Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) is a measure of how operating heating, cooling, and ventilation clean the air is inside the buildings where we equipment. live, work, and play. IAQ is influenced by: ♢ Mechanical ventilation may provide a mixture of outdoor air and recirculated air. u a building’s ventilation system (the equipment that moves air in a building). ♢ The best mechanical systems provide enough outside air, good air movement, u whether windows can be opened. and temperature control. u chemicals or microbes (such as mold) that For more information on ventilation, see enter the building. factsheet: How does ventilation affect u chemicals like cleaning products and art infection control for COVID-19? supplies that are used in the building. When it is hot and humid, the concentration u chemicals that are created by activities inside of some pollutants in the air is worse. Outdoor the building. ozone levels are higher in the summer. This leads u building materials and furniture that to higher ozone levels indoors as well. For ozone produce pollutants like fire retardants and forecasts in your community, visit http://airnow.gov formaldehyde. and click on “Local forecasts and conditions.” Some pollutants in indoor air can make us sick. Indoor air pollutants can cause: Children are especially vulnerable. Some air u immediate health problems such as pollutant levels in indoor air are two to five times asthma attacks, headaches, dry eyes, nasal worse than in the air outdoors. Sometimes indoor congestion, nausea, and fatigue. air can be up to 100 times worse. u long term health problems such as asthma u We spend as much as 22 hours a day indoors and cancer. Some indoor air pollutants can in our homes, schools, and workplaces. also make heart disease worse when people Common indoor sources of pollutants are exposed to them for months or years. include: Cleaning, sanitizing and disinfecting products can u Cigarette smoke increase indoor air pollution. They can produce: u Cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting u volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which products are gases that come from liquids such as u Pesticides aerosol sprays and liquid cleaners. VOCs also come from solvents, glues, and adhesives u Burning fuel in gas cook stoves and heaters, found in furniture and plywood. They are and wood burning stoves and fireplaces, common indoors. especially when exhaust fans are not used Fact Sheet What is indoor air quality and how is it affected by cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting? u Some VOCs react with ozone to make u Avoid ozone producing air cleaners. Ozone formaldehyde and ultrafine particles, is a gas that can harm human health. To both of which can harm human health. find air cleaners that are safe, consult the Formaldehyde is known to cause cancer in California Air Resources Board list of safe air people and there is no level of exposure that cleaners. is safe. u Never mix cleaning products. They can form u particulate matter (PM). PM is made up of toxic gases when combined. particles that are small enough to be carried u Read the label! If it says to use the product by the air and can be breathed in by people. in a well-ventilated area, go outdoors or to The smallest particles are the greatest threat areas with an exhaust fan to use it. If it must to human health because they can travel be used indoors, open several windows. deepest into the lungs. Some can even pass u Rinse surfaces well with water after from the lungs into your blood. cleaning and disinfecting. Dried cleaning The kinds of health effects caused by VOCs and products that stay on surfaces will continue PM will depend on many factors, including: to react with any ozone present in the air. u how much you are exposed to. They can also flake off surfaces and add to u how long you are exposed to it. particles in the air that you breathe. u Throw away partially full containers of Actions you can take to reduce the effects old or unneeded chemicals safely. Because of cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting gases can leak even from closed containers, products on indoor air quality: this single step could help reduce chemical Ventilation is an important part of improving pollutants in your facility’s air. Use indoor air quality, but the best way to maintain earth911’s website to find out where to the quality of your indoor air is to reduce sources dispose of hazardous household waste in of pollution indoors. your area. u Use only the amount of cleaning, sanitizing, u Limit the use of cleaning products or disinfecting product that is necessary to advertised as pine – or lemon-scented, or complete the job. Disinfect only when and contain pine or citrus oils. These products where required. contain terpenes which react with smog to u Avoid the use of fragranced or scented produce formaldehyde and other harmful products in your facility (see Curriculum chemicals. This is especially important in the Section 8: Clean Isn’t a Smell), especially air summer when smog is worst. fresheners which are a concentrated source of indoor air pollutants. Resources California Environmental Protection Agency | Air Resources Board, Facts About Environmental Exposures: Air pollution and contaminants at child-care and preschool facilities in California Cleaning Products and Indoor Air Quality: Actions you can take to reduce exposures For help with reducing other indoor air pollutants, visit the EPA’s Indoor Air Quality, or the California EPA’s Air Resources Board websites. Green Cleaning, Sanitizing, and Disinfecting: A Toolkit for Early Care and Education, Second Edition https://wspehsu.ucsf.edu/projects/environmental-health-in-early-care-and-education-project/ This material was supported by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and funded (in part) by the cooperative agreement award number 6 NU61TS000296-02-01 from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). ATSDR does not endorse the purchase of any commercial products or services mentioned in PEHSU publications.
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