DAVID FOJO

Last week our guest columnist on Cleaning up The Mess, architect DAVID FOJO, called indoor air pollution a silent killer. This week he focuses on Electro-magnetic pollution.
 

Electro-magnetic pollution is becoming a significant issue of the new millennium as the information age reaches full stride. In the last few years there have been numerous exposés on US national television, documenting the many ill effects attributed to these silent and now all-too-pervasive fields. Indoor air pollution is an even better documented health problem that is generally agreed to be a much worse problem than outdoor air pollution.

ELECTROMAGNETIC POLLUTION

Last week our guest columnist on Cleaning up The mess architect DAVID FOJO, called indoor air pollution, a silent killer and said it was rated at between 7 and 70 times worse than outdoor air pollution. This week he gives us some basic hints on how to improve the quality of our indoor environment.

It is my view that electromagnetic pollution and indoor air pollution are significant contributors to many of our modern day epidemic diseases, such as allergies, insomnia, hyperactivity and cancer. As I sit here writing this article on the dangers of electromagnetic pollution on my laptop computer, I am faced with the same dilemma we face now in the building industry—how to strike a sane and practical balance between enjoying the marvellous advancements of modem technology without compromising, or better yet, while enhancing our health. We are just now discovering that many building technologies may have a deleterious effect on our health, but until scientific research proves something absolutely one way or the other, I recommend a course of prudent avoidance.

Today’s guest columnist and in the upcoming series on Cleaning up The mess is architect DAVID FOJO, who holds a master’s degree in environmental design from Yale University. Fojo claims that indoor air pollution, a silent killer, is rated as between seven times and 70 times worse than outdoor air pollution.

Besides the very high exposure levels to EMFs that we are subjected to, we are also indecently exposed to many other toxins in our indoor environment, especially in our air and water and visually. With the “advances” of modem building technology, healthy fresh air in our homes has unfortunately become a rarity. Dozens of major studies have been done on the quality of air in modern homes by fairly reliable organisations such as the World Health Organization and the Environmental Protection Agency. Depending on which study you read, indoor air pollution is rated as between seven times and 70 times worse than outdoor air pollution, which as you know is bad enough to begin with.