How Hoarding Can Negatively Affect Indoor Air Quality

1. By: Bhie-Cie Ledesma, MPH Reno-Sparks Indian Colony Environmental Manager & Raquel Thomas, Reno-Sparks Indian Colony Summer Youth Intern How Hoarding Can Negatively Affect Indoor Air Quality

2. What is Hoarding? • “People with hoarding disorder excessively save items that others may view as worthless. They have persistent difficulty getting rid of or parting with possessions, leading to clutter that disrupts their ability to use their living or work spaces.” • https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/hoarding-disorder/what-is-hoarding-disorder

3. Hoarding vs. Collecting • Hoarding is not the same as collecting. Collectors look for specific items, such as model cars or stamps, and may organize or display them. People with hoarding disorder often save random items and store them haphazardly. In most cases, they save items that they feel they may need in the future, are valuable or have sentimental value. Some may also feel safer surrounded by the things they save. • https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/hoarding-disorder/what-is-hoarding-disorder

4. How Common is Hoarding? • Hoarding disorder occurs in an estimated 2 to 6 percent of the population and often leads to substantial distress and problems functioning. Some research show hoarding disorder is more common in males than females. • It is also more common among older adults--three times as many adults 55 to 94 years are affected by hoarding disorder compared to adults 34 to 44 years old. • https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/hoarding-disorder/what-is-hoarding-disorder

5. Consequences of Hoarding • Hoarding disorder can cause problems in relationships, social and work activities and other important areas of functioning. Potential consequences of serious hoarding include health and safety concerns, such as fire hazards, tripping hazards and health code violations. It can also lead to family strain and conflicts, isolation and loneliness, unwillingness to have anyone else enter the home and an inability to perform daily tasks such as cooking and bathing in the home. • https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/hoarding-disorder/what-is-hoarding-disorder

6. Pictures of Hoarding

7. Clutter and Indoor Air Quality • Aside from the tripping hazards, clutter can be a deathtrap. • Clutter piles can fall and block paths to get around the house or block airflow causing either low levels of oxygen or cool air on hot days. • Clutter can fall on vents or block other airways, causing a lack of oxygen and raising carbon dioxide levels. This can be very dangerous as the hoarder might not notice difficulty in breathing until it is too late. • https://www.clutterhoardingcleanup.com/resources/hoarding/dangers-hoarding

8. Cleaning hazards with Indoor Air • The cleaning process can also be dangerous and proper planning should be considered. • Mold spores may be released into the air and breathed in. Bugs can scatter if their habitats are disturbed, and can bite the one who disturbed them or those nearby. • Bug bites can contain either venom or harmful bacteria, and also carries the danger of becoming infected. • There is a risk that mold or water damage may have weakened the structure and as the area is cleaned could collapse. • Cleaners can be hazardous if there isn’t enough airflow to carry the noxious fumes away. • https://www.clutterhoardingcleanup.com/resources/hoarding/dangers-hoarding

9. Air Quality Issues • Dust, odors, and ammonia from decaying waste products can cause serious air quality issues in a hoarder’s home. • It may be difficult to breathe and respiratory problems may develop. • It’s dangerous enough to clean up such an environment without respiratory protection, but if people and animals live in these conditions, it could have a very detrimental effect on their health over time. • https://rainbowintl.com/blog/health-risks-associated-with-hoarding

10. Poor Air Quality • The large amount of dust in hoarders’ homes and the odors and ammonia from decaying products cause serious indoor air quality issues and can result in various respiratory problems – chronic coughing, shortness of breath, inflammation of the lungs, etc. • https://restorationmasterfinder.com/restoration/dangers-of-hoarding/

11. Questions/Comments • Reno Sparks Indian Colony