Indoor air pollution refers to the presence of harmful substances or pollutants in the air of enclosed spaces, such as homes, offices, or other indoor spaces.
Especially in highly polluted urban environments, many people believe that indoor air is less polluted than air from the outdoor environment. This belief is a fallacy; the estimate is that indoor air is 2 to 5 times more polluted than indoor air; it has been shown that there are numerous sources of pollutants in indoor environments that add to air pollution, such as, for example: wall paints, furniture coverings, mold and moisture accumulation, detergents and chemicals.
Indoor air pollution has been studied for a relatively recent time, but the problem has a decidedly significant impact on the lives of many people, expecting that the World Health Organization estimates that several million deaths per year result from poor air quality breathed in domestic or otherwise enclosed environments.
Insights
The legal limits obviously vary over time and according to the regulatory authority or body, but the most authoritative indications can be taken as reference.
The following links are a starting point to delve into the phenomenon of indoor air pollution (or IAQ Indoor Air Quality), and derive data on the impact of the problem, recommended limits, and recommendations/guidelines.
- World Health Organization –
Air Pollution
- Environmental Protection Agency US –
Indoor Air Quality
- Ministry of Health –
Indoor Air Pollution.
- Indoor air pollution: what are the causes and how to prevent them?
Photocatalytic filtration for indoor air pollution abatement
Photocatalytic filtration is a photochemical reaction in which a catalyst (titanium dioxide) irradiated by light, decomposes pollutants in the composition of which carbon is present, i.e., volatile organic compounds, which make up most of the harmful substances in the air.
It is one of the best methods of air purification because it does not just filter out pollutants (in the traditional sense of “holding back”), but destroys them and, therefore, manages to be effective even against substances that are too small to be physically blocked by a filter, such as, for example, odors.
In addition, titanium dioxide possesses recognized bactericidal characteristics, and therefore, titanium dioxide photocatalytic filters are also highly effective in removing airborne viruses and bacteria (in this regard, please refer to
“the bactericidal power of titanium dioxide”
).
