Birmingham research shows high levels of home pollution – bbc.com

We think about home as a safe space, a refuge from pollution – but new research at the University of Birmingham shows that they can be far from true, and pollution in our homes can have a harmful effect on our brain.

To test the evidence, scientists at the University of Birmingham have placed polluting monitors in three typical homes in urban suburb.

The aim is to measure the levels of small particles of contamination, which we more often associate with the movement of traffic on the way out.

And the teams found that home contamination levels were often higher than those outside.

“There is this awareness that we spend the greater part of our lives indoors between 80 and 90 percent,” says Prof. Francis Pope, a professor of atmospheric science at the University of Birmingham.

“We did a lot of measurement of air pollution outdoors, but suddenly we realized, perhaps obviously that we should look inside the houses as well as beyond them.”

The air inside a house exceeds the safety instructions of the World Health Organization for nine days.

Detectors cannot tell us exactly what the sources of contamination are in a particular home, but the reasons include plain dust, cooking and even candles.

“Outdoor air enters … Then there are other sources – things like resuspension of dust … If you cook things, if you have a boiler, candles, incense, all these things not only do nice odors, but also kick contamination,” said Prof. .

It is noticeable that one of the three homes that have registered a lower levels of pollution in general is one where people who live there usually have used a fan for a cooking extractor, and this is also more likely to open Window in the bedroom during the day.

The university also publishes new studies, considering the impact of this type of pollution on how our brains work.

They found that exposure to this type of pollution affects our ability to concentrate and perform tasks.

At a time when cities like Birmingham apply charging to try to get more polluting vehicles off the road, this study shows that thinking about air quality in our homes can be just as important.

Meanwhile, especially if someone in your home has problems around breathing, it can help use the extractor fans when cooking, to stay on top of dust, and also open Windows … and definitely think twice about igniting your favorite smelly candle.

“You can also buy purifiers, they are quite effective,” added Prof. Pope.

“There are many ways to do this, but I think one of the good things is actually to know how much air pollution there is so that we hope this study is lighting light and shows that there is this potential problem inside the houses as well as out. ”