Week in Review : MAJOR EVENTS, IMAGES AND PEOPLE IN ORANGE COUNTY NEWS : COUNTY : Pollution Worse Inside, New EPA Study Claims
There are more toxics indoors than outdoors, according to a scientific study.
The study was presented to the American Chemical Society’s national meeting in Anaheim on Wednesday.
According to the report, the greatest toxic dangers come not from “living close to a chemical plant . . . but rather the building materials, consumer products and personal activities of the people living inside the house.”
Little difference in average chemical levels in homes was found in different parts of the country, from industrial centers such as Los Angeles, to the small, agricultural town of Devils Lake, N.D.
The report said that the most prevalent toxic dangers come from inside a house. The worst household dangers identified so far, said the report, include cigarette smoking, living with a smoker, using air fresheners and aerosol sprays, and storing paints and solvents.
“Common activities such as driving, showering, wearing dry-cleaned clothes and passive smoking are also important sources of exposure,” said the five-year study made by the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
