Indoor air quality

Indoor air quality is the condition of the air inside homes, workplaces and other buildings as it affects the health and comfort of the people and animals breathing it.

Indoor air can carry mold spores and mycotoxins from damp materials, dust mites, pet dander, volatile organic compounds from paints and furnishings, combustion by-products from stoves and heaters, radon from the ground, and smoke or vapor from tobacco and cannabis. Poor ventilation concentrates these pollutants, and modern tightly sealed buildings can trap them. Symptoms associated with poor indoor air include headaches, eye and throat irritation, cough, worsened asthma, fatigue and difficulty concentrating, and in water-damaged buildings a broader inflammatory illness is described.

Assessment involves inspecting for moisture and visible mold, measuring humidity, carbon dioxide and radon, and sometimes air sampling, though sampling results are hard to interpret and inspection usually matters more. Improving ventilation, controlling moisture, filtration and removing sources are the main remedies. Indoor air appears in this glossary because of mold-related illness and because secondhand cannabis smoke contributes to indoor pollution, including exposure of children and pets. Cannabinoids have no established role in addressing air-related symptoms.