When you think of air pollution, your first thought is probably of outdoor air pollution — smokestacks, smog and auto exhaust. But what’s often worse is indoor air pollution. In fact, in many factories where processes such as grinding, sanding, welding and fabricating operations generate large amounts of airborne contaminants, the air quality is more hazardous than outdoors in a congested city because many of the contaminants are carcinogenic and stay within the enclosed environment of a typical factory.
Health effects associated with indoor air pollution include asthma, allergies, cancer, respiratory and heart disease, and premature death, not to mention short-term irritant effects. Indoor air quality problems may also result in increased employee sick days, higher employee turnover, decreased productivity, and attitude and morale problems — in addition to legal ramifications.