Healthy Home

We spend 90 per cent of our time indoors, says Health Canada, and that might not be a good thing. Not only is indoor-air quality bad for us, industry insiders speculate that the air outdoors is better for us.

This is because our environment can break down chemicals and gases better, while the confines of our home make it difficult for them to diffuse and be expelled. According to the Environmental Health Association of Nova Scotia’s The Guide to Less Toxic Products Web site (www.lesstoxicguide.ca), “Indoor air in the home is often 8 to 10 times more polluted than outdoor air, and has been measured at up to 100 times worse.” Poor indoor air-quality brought on by improper HVAC systems and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are major contributors to the “The Sick Building Syndrome,” which refers to a combination of ailments that affect us at home and at work. Read more