Indoor Air Quality

The Facts

• According to the World Health Report 2002, indoor air pollution is responsible for 2.7% of the global burden of disease.
  Source: World Health Organisation

• 50% of all illness is caused by indoor air pollution.
  Source: Environmental Protection Agency

• In the UK alone, 32,000 people a year die prematurely due to poor IAQ.
  Source: The International Scientific Forum on Home Hygiene.

• You are more likely to get sick from pollution in your home or office than from pollution outside.
  Source: The British Lung Foundation

• Typically indoor air is between 2 and 10 times more harmful than outdoor air.
  Source: Environmental Protection Agency

• On average you spend 90% of your life indoors.
  Source: Environmental Protection Agency

• 30% of new and remodelled buildings worldwide are linked to Sick Building Syndrome (SBS).
  Source: World Health Organisation

• There is a person with asthma in one in five households in the UK.
  Source: Asthma UK

• Norovirus - Doctors estimate that more than 100,000 people a week are currently catching the illness, and 1.1 million people reporting symptoms rang the NHS Direct helpline over the 11-day Christmas and New Year period 2007.
  Source: NHS Direct

• The number of death certificates in England and Wales that mentioned Staphlococcus aureus infection increased each year from 2001 to 2005, from 1,211 to 2,083.
  Source: The Office of National Statistics

• The percentage of these deaths where Staphylococcus aureus was specified as Methicillin Resistant (MRSA), rose from 61% in 2001 to 78% in 2005.
  Source: The Office of National Statistics