Never mind city pollution - the air in your apartment can be
just as bad for you, environmental industry delegates from seven
countries heard in Shanghai on Tuesday.
Indoor air quality in the city is not good, delegate Zhu
Shengsheng told the Indoor Environmental Purification International
Forum.
A test done late last year among 100 local families showed 92
percent of families suffered from polluted air, caused by toxic
gases like formaldehyde and benzene from substandard decoration
materials and furniture in most cases.
Among 92 families, 34 percent of them had apartments in which
formaldehyde exceeded 0.24 milligrams per cubic meter, triple the
national standard.
"Statistics showed household owners spend 26 yuan per square
meter, a record high, to purify their newly decorated home on
average last year," Zhu said, "which means more and more people
realize the importance of good indoor air quality."
Delegates signed a Shanghai Proposal on Tuesday to
appeal for stricter regulations to control indoor air pollution and
more financial support from the government.
The forum heard that indoor air pollution is becoming the eighth
most-important factor for disease and could threaten the health and
safety of urban populations globally.
Delegates appealed for stricter laws to punish furniture
manufacturers who use substandard decoration materials.
They also demanded more financial support for house owners to
test air quality in their newly decorated houses.
At present, there is no means for people to complain about air
quality and ask for refunds.
Larry Weber, a delegate from the United States, pointed out that
people spend up to 90 percent of time indoor every day.
Bad air quality can lead to diseases like asthma, allergies and
even SARS, he said.
Delegates from China, the Untied States, the United Kingdom, the
Netherlands, Switzerland, South Korea and Japan attended the
forum.
(Shanghai Daily April 4, 2007)