There is something a little paradoxical with the air inside our houses and apartments: we close doors and windows to protect ourselves from the cold, but we find ourselves breathing a cocktail of pollutants of which we are often unaware of the existence. In winter, when the candles pile up on the coffee table, the gas hums under the pan or the fireplace crackles, this is often when the air in our living rooms becomes the most charged, summarizes an article from National Geographic.
Air quality specialists repeat: pollution is not limited to exhaust pipes or factory chimneys. Inside too, there are multiple sources: cooking at high temperatures, fireplaces, cigarettes, gas burners, scented candles, incense sticks, household products, cosmetics. All of this releases gases, volatile organic compounds and fine particles capable of penetrating deep into the lungs and even the bloodstream.
For Jonathan Levy, environmental health specialist at Boston University, one class of pollutants is particularly attracting attention: fine particles resulting from combustion. They form as soon as something is burned – wood, gas, tobacco, wax – and are associated with a whole series of respiratory and cardiovascular problems. Added to this is nitrogen dioxide, produced in particular by gas stoves, which can reach significant levels in poorly ventilated kitchens.
Faced with this observation, Jonathan Levy revised some of his domestic habits. He says he now pays much more attention to the way he cooks: opening the windows as soon as a dish smokes a little too much, even if the air outside is freezing, or equipping himself with portable air purifiers and efficient filters on the house’s ventilation system. He emphasizes three simple parameters to assess the impact of a flame on indoor air: how long something is burned, what level of ventilation we have and what is the size of the home. The smaller the space, the more concentrated the pollution.
He has no illusions: it is impossible to reduce indoor pollution to zero. On the other hand, you can significantly reduce your exposure by being a little more strategic. This requires actions that are as much a matter of common sense as discipline: limiting very fatty and very hot cooking without an effective hood, avoiding smoking indoors, not leaving a candle burning for hours in a poorly ventilated studio, remembering to ventilate even in cold weather.
Simple everyday actions
For his part, engineer Gabriel Bekö, a specialist in indoor environments at the Technical University of Denmark, is particularly vigilant on another front: chemical substances that disrupt the hormonal system. These endocrine disruptors are hidden in many everyday products, from cosmetics to detergents. When his children were little, he systematically favored fragrance-free products, whether shower gels, creams or detergents, and today continues to choose “fragrance-free”, “phthalate-free” or “BPA-free” options whenever possible.
Contrary to what one might believe, Gabriel Bekö is less worried about particles generated by the kitchen when ventilation is correct. He uses the hood as soon as he turns on the stove and makes sure to open the bathroom window after each shower to avoid stagnant humidity and mold. On the other hand, he greatly reduced the use of candles, very popular in Denmark. A study he conducted in winter showed that concentrations of fine particles remained high hours after blowing out the flame. Hence his advice: if you want candles for ambiance, you might as well use them sparingly, ventilate afterwards and keep in mind that combustion particles can contain carcinogenic compounds.
On the question of products or habits to ban, Gabriel Bekö adopts a pragmatic approach: look, whenever possible, for products clearly labeled as free from certain plasticizers or disruptors, limit added perfumes, reduce the time spent surrounded by decorative flames. Jonathan Levy, for his part, insists on the compromise between needs and pleasures: do we really need to burn incense every day? If it is an important gesture culturally or for well-being, it can be kept, but for shorter periods of time, with good ventilation and, ideally, air filtration at the same time.
For readers who would like to act without transforming their apartment into a laboratory, the two experts converge on a few simple actions. First, ventilation: open the windows several times a day, even in winter, for five to ten minutes, to renew the air. This can be unpleasant for a few moments, but it is a reasonable compromise between thermal comfort and health. Then, maintain ventilation systems and filters, whether VMC, hoods or purifiers, to prevent them from becoming sources of pollution themselves. Finally, do not neglect cleaning: by regularly dusting floors and surfaces, we also eliminate some of the chemical substances that attach to the dust.
Jonathan Levy reminds us that the most radical method remains to simply delete certain sources, even if this will never be possible for all. In these cases, ventilation and filtration become basic reflexes: hood venting to the outside, windows ajar, purifier on. Above all, it invites everyone to ask themselves how many hours they spend each day indoors – the answer often revolves around almost the entire day. The good news, he concludes, is that at home, we have room for maneuver: we can really influence the level of pollution to which we expose our family, without living in a sterile bubble.
