Air pollution affects everyone. You can’t hide from it, even inside your own home. Just consider these facts…Levels of air pollution inside the home can be two to five times higher (and occasionally 100 times higher) than outdoor levels (Source: EPA) Americans spend as much as 90 percent of their time indoors. (Source: EPA) Nearly 9 out of 10 Americans are not aware that levels of indoor air pollution may be higher than outdoor levels (Source: American Lung Association and 3M survey, 1999) Air pollution contributes to lung disease, which claims close to 361,000 lives in America every year and is the third-leading cause of death in the United States (Source: American Lung Association, 1998) Approximately 141 million Americans are breathing unhealthy air. Children and seniors are the age groups most at risk:30 million are under the age of 14 *17 million are over the age of 65 *In 1998, approximately 26 million Americans have been diagnosed with asthma in their lifetime. Of these, 10.6 million Americans (3.8 million children under the age of 18) had an asthmatic attack or episode during that same year. **The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ranks poor indoor air quality among the top five environmental risks to public health. * Source: American Lung Association’s State of the Air 2001 Report*
** Source: American Lung Association