What are airborne contaminates?
There are three very broad categories of airborne contaminates: (a) microorganisms (mold, viruses, bacteria, protozoa, etc); (b) toxic gases, commonly called volatile organic compounds VOC’s); (c) particles, commonly called house dust. Q2. Have indoor airborne contaminates increased? Yes! We now use more organic chemicals in our homes that decay into gases, VOC’s. Indoor VOC’s have increased by a factor of up to eight times in the last forty years. Next we have changed our homes in such a way to accelerate growth of microorganisms. Self defrost refrigerators, air conditioning and energy tight homes, are a few examples, that now provide nesting grounds for accelerated growth of mold and bacteria that mix with the air we breathe. Airborne house dust is a by-product of our living indoors, from dead skin, to hair, to paint flakes, to dust mite feces. Since we now live indoors up to 95% of the time, more house dust is produced.
