A Breath of 'Fresh' Air?

That 'new-home' scent of your house may actually be masking toxic elements. According to experts, the smog of big Canadian cities, like Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver, may be the least of your air pollution worries.

In fact the problem is more likely to be in your urban home than outside it. According to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), indoor air quality can be up to five times more polluted than outdoor air.

"The level of some contaminants can be up to 100 times greater inside buildings and 1,000 times more potent in a new or recently renovated workplace," reports a senior CMHC researcher. With 25% percent of Canadians having asthma or other respiratory conditions, this is a growing concern.

Top that off with the fact that Canadians spend an average of 90% of their time in doors, and you've got a real problem on your hands. Sometimes the toxic agent is built in, sometimes it grows and sometimes it occurs by accident. People, and animals, can be troubled by anything from furniture to wallpaper and from caulking to combustion gases.

As well, new and remodeled homes may use building materials that give off toxic chemicals. Other causes for concern are older or damp homes, often festering with mould and fungi.

So what can you do to keep the air in your home safe? Some suggestions are to use air-friendly paint, furniture and cleansers, which have no or low volatile organic compounds; install carbon monoxide detectors to alert you of the odourless deadly gas; and install a balanced ventilation system with a heat recovery ventilator that eliminates stale air and replaces it with fresh air.

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