New Scientist magazine noted that our exposure to most toxic pollutants is between 10 and 50 times higher in indoor
environments than it is outdoors.
Samples of carpet dust from typical homes can contain alarmingly high levels of pollutants.
These include lead, cadmium, mercury, pesticides and carcinogenic polychlorinated biphenyls.
These pollutants are said to persist for years.
Young children play on the floor so they are especially vulnerable to these pollutants contributing to the upsurge in
asthma and other allergies.
A house with bare floors and a few scatter carpets will have about one-tenth of the dust found in the house with wall to wall carpets.