[indoor pollution] time to think about it

Coincidences happen. There we were thousands of kilometres from Wales, speaking of indoor pollution and airflow and Liz was posting about just this on her blog - naturally, her slant was slightly different.

Three aspects immediately spring to mind – airflow, dust and surfaces.

Airflow – I’m notorious for seating people in parts of the room where the draught won’t affect them and then, by a combination of which door is left open and how far, the source and strength of the flow can be controlled. In extreme situations, the heaters or conditioners come into it.

With the Russian penchant for not just closing up windows in winter but sealing them with sealing tape, all those lovely coughed germs stay right where they hover and then lightly settle to the preparation surfaces to fester.

Welcome to the world of constantly recycled sickness – if a family member hasn’t got it this time round, just wait a few rounds and he’s guaranteed.

As most of my time is spent with females, the question of men’s and women’s sensitivity to cold also comes up under this heading.

Don’t wish to be categorical about it but in winter most men I know first don the jacket, then a cap but only when forced to [under minus 12 or so, with wind] will we don gloves.

Girls will go for boots and gloves early, then a heavier jacket and only in extremes, a hood.

Here are some theories about this.

Naturally, this causes conflict. If I leave the room, a girl will go over in my absence and close the window and lock it! I come back in, open it again and so it goes on. I can’t stand stuffy rooms.

If you’re a girl reading this, I have an idea what you’d be thinking.

Dust – my new printer went in and though it’s covered, the plastic feed tray sticks out and in two days it was covered with a thin layer of dust. From where? It’s metres from the balcony door and the balcony windows are closed. From the ceiling? I’d like to know.

Vacuum it up, change bed linen, my two girls regularly wash the area – things definitely changed for the better, even overnight.

Surfaces – some time ago a friend made me lunch at his place. He had a cold so the hankie came out and went away, the food was prepared, the benchtops were as they were, I came down with the flu within two days.

The AMA says:

Ninety four percent of all respiratory ailments are caused by polluted air and one-third of our national health bill is for causes directly attributable to indoor air pollution such as toxic mold damage and black mold problem.

It stands to reason, isn’t it?

A friend said today he hasn’t got time for this stuff and couldn’t be bothered with finicky cleaning of surfaces and so on. I said the girls he pays could do it, should do it, as part of their brief.

This same friend went on to speculate that when we use the word “dust”, what little nasties actually constitute this stuff?

No one wants to become like Felix Ungar and yet - with winter coming on – maybe it’s a topic to consider.