Indoor Air Quality
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Health effects of chemical pollution
Much more tangible, however, are the immediate medical symptoms a person may experience,
such as eye, nose and throat irritation, headache, allergic skin reaction, dizziness,
nausea, and difficulty breathing. In the long-
Scientists have some idea about what dose of a specific chemical is needed to trigger a certain reaction in humans. The tests, however, are very complicated, because the researchers have to consider factors, such as the length of exposure, the way a chemical is taken into the body (inhalation, ingestion, contact), the speed at which an individual absorbs the substance, and how it is metabolized.
That's not all. Every person has a different level of sensitivity. One person may have to breathe in a generous squirt of insecticide before he or she shows any serious reaction. Another person may show effects after only a brief sniff of the chemical. It depends on the age of the person, the fitness level, the health standard in general, and whether the person abuses other substances, such as alcohol or nicotine. In general, a healthy person's body is more tolerant to chemicals than the weakened body of a person with an underlying illness. Bulk also matters in this case. A child or a petite woman, for example, receives a comparatively higher dose of the same chemical than a hulk of a man. In addition, fatty tissue can store chemicals for a long time.
A recent study claims that indoor chemical pollution could also be a factor in Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Infants may become sensitized either before birth to the same chemicals the mother is exposed to, or after birth to airborne chemicals in the home environment.
What do you think of when you read the title of this chapter: a sky darkened with
billowing clouds from hundreds of smoke stacks, trucks overturn on highways and spill
drums containing toxic materials, or chemical slime that seeps from holding dams
into a town's water supply? This would be my first reaction. But have you thought
of the 'low-
The effects that chemicals have on human psychology and emotion aren't easily proven scientifically and any form of proof can come only from years of observation and experience.