Lung Health News, Fall 2005 / Winter 2006
A recent report by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) confirms the American Lung Association of California’s long-held concerns about indoor air quality, finding the cancer risk from indoor air pollution approaches the risk from diesel exhaust. The study concludes that indoor air pollution sources like tobacco smoke, formaldehyde from building materials, improperly vented gas-burning appliances, fireplaces, woodstoves, mold and even some devices sold as air purifiers risk our health and cost the state at least $45 billion a year. The American Lung Association of California supported legislation that required the report and testified at a June 9 hearing urging policymakers to take steps to reduce indoor air pollution, including new measures to improve indoor air in schools and banning indoor air purifiers that actually generate ozone, a dangerous pollutant linked to asthma.The association is advocating for a statewide comprehensive program on indoor air quality with clear regulatory authority that would control key sources of indoor air pollution and provide education and outreach as well as incentives, similar to the statewide effort to reduce outdoor air pollution.
