By Vena Eaton

TORONTO -- Step outside and take a deep breath. The cold city air feels clean and fresh, yet you can't help but wonder if it's filling your lungs with toxins. Air pollution may not be on your mind as much during the winter as it is in the summer, yet how often do you think about the quality of air inside your home? It may not be as healthy as you think.

Filled With Air Pollutants
According to the experts, our homes are filled with air pollutants, everything from tobacco smoke to cleansers and paints. And if you've recently added new furnishings, or haven't properly maintained a gas stove, oil furnace or wood-burning fireplace, for instance, then you could have higher concentrations of certain pollutants, such as formaldehyde or carbon monoxide, inside the home rather than outside.

There are organizations - The Lung Association, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation and Service Experts - that outline the facts on indoor air pollutants and how to avoid them.
"Our website, Yourhealthyhome.ca, is a project of the Ontario Lung Association that aims to help people understand the links between the air quality in their home and respiratory health," says Brian Stocks, air quality manager with The Lung Association.

Their booklet, The Healthy Home Audit, is a comprehensive resource that identifies the major sources of air quality problems and tells you how to fix them. If you must use chemical-laden cleaners, for example, then the booklet suggests keeping them in a tightly sealed container. It also recommends installing a central vacuum system that exhausts to the outside, or to purchase one with a high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter. Otherwise dust and dirt will spew back into the air every time you vacuum.

Remember The Three Rs
Stocks also encourage people to think twice before buying anything by remembering the three Rs: reduce, reuse and recycle.

"Think about what you're going to add to the environment and to the air that you breathe before purchasing any product. There are many low-emission products available to buy. You don't want to add problems to your environment when you're redecorating or renovating," adds Stocks.

Suggestions for eco-friendly finishes include hardwood floors or ceramic tiles instead of synthetic carpets, choosing natural fibres for throw rugs and using slipcovers on pillows and furnishings for easy cleaning.

Designer Ellie Cholette agrees and says redecorating need not involve toxic ingredients.
"Painting is one of the easiest ways to make a room look gorgeous," she says. And paint manufacturers, such as Farrow & Ball, ICI, Glidden and Colour Your World, offer products that contain no volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

It's the VOCs that release low levels of toxic emissions, so opening a window while painting may not be much of a help to those with environmental sensitivities.

"Farrow & Ball paints have zero VOCs, are durable and are cost-effective because it covers more surface per gallon," says David Lockwood, of Farrow & Ball in Toronto.
Along with paints, other culprits of indoor air pollution include household cleansers and air-freshening products.

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