It’s the IKEA factor:
Teenagers in Los Angeles and New York City face a substantial — and strikingly similar — cancer risk from breathing the air, largely because of toxic chemicals inside their homes and schools, a new scientific study shows.
For the research, 87 high school students, including 41 from Jefferson High School in South Los Angeles, wore backpacks equipped with air monitors that measured what each was exposed to throughout the day.
Although outdoor air in both cities is heavily polluted, indoor air was responsible for 40% to 50% of the teenagers’ cancer risk from the compounds measured. [...]
“Given that we spend most of our time indoors, we’re really affected by indoor sources. We use a lot of cleaners and we’re exposed to off-gassing from furnishings,” said Sonja Sax, the study’s lead researcher and an associate at Gradient Corp., which specializes in risk science.
“There were two contaminants driving the risk,” she said, “and they were mostly coming from indoors.”
Formaldehyde — a colorless gas that wafts mostly from particleboard cabinets and shelving, plywood paneling and other pressed-wood furnishings — was the biggest culprit by far, responsible for half of the Los Angeles teenagers’ cancer risk.
