| Why are businesses allowed to dump their | | | | substances, including radon, which has been linked |
| pollutants into waterways? Yes, it gets cleaned up | | | | to lung cancer and other ailments. Congress has |
| at the water recycling plant, but what happens | | | | responded to public concern about indoor air |
| when something goes wrong. Have you ever | | | | quality by requiring the EPA to establish a |
| been told not to drink the water because of | | | | program to study the problem and make |
| power outage or some other reason? Well those | | | | appropriate recommendations. |
| chemicals are in our pipes and even after you say | | | | Rural Areas Face Greatest Threat from Indoor |
| we can drink the water some goes through. You | | | | Pollution |
| say well, the pollution in the water is within safe | | | | In the developing countries, it is the rural areas |
| limits. That may be true, but why allow any at all? | | | | that face the greatest threat from indoor |
| Why can't your safe limits be 0.00% mercury, | | | | pollution, where some 3.5 billion people continue to |
| 0.00% for all other pollutants? This may sound like | | | | rely on traditional fuels such as firewood and |
| a dream, but it is possible if you made it | | | | charcoal for cooking and heating. Burning such |
| impossible for businesses to dump their pollutants. | | | | fuels produces large amount of smoke and other |
| Clean up our water! | | | | air pollutants in the confined space of the home, |
| Indoor Air More Polluted than Outdoor Air | | | | resulting in high exposure. Women and children are |
| The battle to control air pollution moved indoors | | | | the groups most vulnerable as they spend more |
| such as homes and businesses. Studies have | | | | time indoors and are exposed to the smoke. In |
| shown that people are exposed to higher | | | | 1992, the World Bank designated indoor air |
| concentrations of air pollution for longer periods of | | | | pollution in the developing countries as one of the |
| time inside buildings than out-of-doors. | | | | four most critical global environmental problems. |
| Furthermore, evidence indicates that this | | | | Although many hundreds of separate chemical |
| exposure is contributing to a rapidly increasing | | | | agents have been identified in the smoke from |
| incidence of illness, thus costing businesses, | | | | bio fuels, the four most serious pollutants are |
| taxpayers, and the government billions of dollars in | | | | particulates, carbon monoxide, polycyclic organic |
| health care costs and lost work time. The typical | | | | matter, and formaldehyde. |
| U.S. home contains many hazardous chemicals and | | | | |