BENGALURU: In a bid to raise awareness on the reasons behind indoor air pollution, the director of Honeywell addressed the media on Wednesday in the city. “Indoor air pollution is more dangerous by five to ten times as compared to outdoor air pollution. When we mop the floor at home with a chemical cleaning agent, we are inhaling volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released by it.
The sources behind indoor air pollution are different and as they are invisible, people are unaware about it. We are working with the central government, who are at present more focused on combating outdoor pollution in Indian cities,” said Sudhir Pillai, director, Honeywell, adding that growing urbanisation does not allow for ventilation of homes.
“The particulate matter (PM) 2.5 standard for indoor air quality is 25 micrograms per cubic metre as per the World Health Organisation.In Bengaluru, it touches 50 to 70 micrograms per cubic metre inside homes, offices, colleges, malls, movie theatres, conference halls, hotels, etc,” he added.
Tobacco smoke, formaldehyde present in deodorants and body sprays, incense sticks, furniture, dust from carpets, cooking gas emissions, heaters and fireplaces, bacterial growth such as fungus and mold, air fresheners, danders found on the fur of pets, cleaning agents, disinfectants, paints, varnish, etc, also cause the particulate matter (PM) to increase indoors, he said.
According to them, indoor air pollution can alter the way children’s brains develop and make older adults more likely to succumb to cognitive decline, especially since we spend 80 to 90 per cent of our time inside closed spaces. Chemicals such as sulphur, carbon monoxide, are present inside which are harmful to our health. When asked about their work with the government, Sudhir said, “We are working with the Central Pollution Control Board, IIT Delhi, and The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research - National Environmental Engineering Research Institute. We want the government to come up with standards to measure indoor pollution in India, which is something that is unavailable at present.”
The MNC that deals with aerospace, home, building technologies, air purifiers among other products is batting for air quality monitoring devices to be made mandatory indoors. Air purifiers within closed spaces was discussed as a solution to combat pollutants indoors, though he admitted that affordability is still an issue for middle class and lower-middle-class homes. Alternatively, use of organic cleaning products such as baking soda, vinegar was suggested for domestic use.