Indoor air is TWICE as polluted as outdoor air...

In collaboration with the U.S. EPA, the ARB’s Indoor and Personal Exposure Assessment Program determined that Californians spend most of their time indoors and are, therefore, at risk from exposure to residential indoor levels of certain particles and air toxics that are much greater than outdoor levels.

These increased levels are due, primarily, to emissions from indoor building materials, carpets, domestic gas-fired kitchen stoves and consumer products. The world’s first comprehensive study of exposures to respirable particles showed that daytime personal exposures exceeded indoor and outdoor levels by up to 50 percent. Recent research indicates that this is likely due to people’s close proximity to sources and activities that generate airborne particles – such as tobacco smoking, cooking, wood-burning, and house cleaning – as they go about their normal activities.

A major research priority for the ARB is to fund research on the health effects of air pollution in order to establish clean air targets that are protective of the health of all Californians, including sensitive individuals, and those living in disadvantaged communities. The knowledge gained from our health effects research supports many programs, including the establishment of ambient air quality standards, the assessment of community health, the development of effective public health intervention programs, and the assessment of long-term exposure to air pollution. The ARB will consider all research concepts on these general topics, specific categories with interests in order of priority are noted below.