Indoor pollution (continued)

Another environmental concern, which is more severe indoors than out, is the danger from fine particles. Exposures to these particles during the day are very high. Partly it can be explained by the fact that people cannot simply float through the air. They usually stir up personal clouds of dust from their surroundings as they move about.

Indoor air contains ten or more times higher concentrations of pesticides than outside air. Such poisons can be tracked on people’s shoes. Pesticides that break down within days outdoors may last for years in carpets, where they are protected from the degradation caused by sunlight and bacteria. For example, the pesticide DDT, banned from using in 1972, was found in the carpets of the Americans twenty years later.

House dust is the major source of exposure to cadmium, lead and other heavy metals. Carpets are the most troublesome, because they act as deep reservoirs for these toxic compounds (as well as for dangerous bacteria and asthma- inducing allergens) even if the rugs are vacuumed regularly. Plush carpets are more of a problem than flat ones; floors covered with wood, tile or linoleum are better for health, because they can be easily cleaned. People should wipe their feet on a doormat. It reduces the amount of lead in a carpet by a factor of six. Removing shoes before entering is even more effective than just wiping the shoes. These preventive acts are very simple but they help to reduce the level of contaminants considerably.

Sadly, most people and officials as well are rather ignorant about indoor pollution. The Environmental Laws are focused mainly on outdoor pollution ignoring the fact that people spend 95 percent of their time inside. Few people know that pesticides and volatile organic compounds found indoors cause perhaps 3,000 cases of cancer a year. So these substances are just as threatening to people’s health as radon and tobacco smoke for nonsmokers. Toxic house dust is a particular menace to small children, who play on floors, crawl on carpets and regularly place their hands in their mouths. Infants are particularly susceptible: their rapidly developing organs ingest five times more dust - 100 milligrams a day on average. Each day an average urban child ingests 110 nanograms of benzopyrene - it is equivalent to smoking three cigarettes.

People can’t wait for their government to make changes in the environmental regulations. Reducing exposure will demand only modest alterations in one’s daily routine. Giving up smoking, taking out carpets, improving ventilation, using water and air filters, avoiding household products, containing toxic compounds, will make our houses and offices healthier places to live and work.

Comprehension

1. What do the numbers from the article refer to? 10; 1972; 20; 6; 95; 3,000; 5; 100; 110; 3

2. Name the diseases which can be caused by indoor pollution.

3. Why is house dust a great menace especially to infants?

4. Name the preventive acts mentioned by the author in the article, add some more ones which you think can be very effective to reduce indoor pollution.

Grammar work

Find 5 examples of modal verbs and constructions in the text (Reading 3) and translate them.

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