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A number of factors can contribute to poor indoor quality, including:
- Tobacco smoke
- High VOC levels, frequently due to materials used in cabinetry or manufactured wood products such as laminate, particleboard, hardboard siding, and treated wood
- New, wet, or damp carpet
- Odors from products used for cleaning and maintenance, personal care, or hobbies
- Combustion byproducts from burning oil, gas, kerosene, coal, wood
- Poorly operating central heating and cooling systems and humidification devices
- Outdoor sources such as radon, pesticides
- Outdoor air pollution
Complaints due to poor indoor air quality routinely include dryness of the mucous membranes and skin, nose bleeds, skin rash, mental fatigue, headache, cough, hoarseness, wheezing, nausea, dizziness, and increased incidence of asthma, and eye, nose, and throat irritation.
Inadequate ventilation can increase indoor pollutant levels by not bringing in enough outdoor air to dilute emissions from indoor sources and by not carrying indoor air pollutants out of the building. High temperature and humidity levels can also increase concentrations of some pollutants.
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