Over half of consumers in Asia, Europe and the USA are worried about their indoor air quality, according to exclusive new research by CINT research commissioned by Blueair, the global indoor air purifier manufacturer. Some 57 percent of men and women aged between 25-50 years in China, Japan, Sweden, the UK and United States said they were concerned about the quality of their indoor air, although just 37 percent said they were worried enough to buy an indoor air purifier.

Cooking smells and airborne viruses

The research of 1,500 men and women consumers provides an interesting snapshot of what consumers really worry about when it comes to the air they breathe at home and work.  For example, householders are far more likely to be offended by cooking and baking smells at home than any other odors, including smoking, according to the Blueair survey, while office workers most worried about their air being contaminated by highly infectious airborne cold and flu viruses.

The Blueair study found smelly pets, cooking and baking smells and tobacco and cigar smoke offend people the most at home, while fear of cold and flu bugs spreading is widespread among office workers.

Who worries most, least

Men and women in China (94%), the USA (65%) and UK (56%) were most concerned about their indoor air quality, while Japanese (40%) and Swedish (28%) consumers were least worried.

For Chinese, British, Swedish and American consumers the worst offending odor in their homes was cooking and baking smells, while their Japanese equivalents rated flatulence the worst offending odor. Chinese respondents were the least bothered by smoking related smells with just 4% saying they found it offensive, a major difference compared to their counterparts in the other four countries where tobacco and cigar smells were widely considered offensive.

Bugs and chemicals

For office workers, the biggest fear concerned the spread of cold and flu bugs, especially in Japan where 65% rated the problem their greatest concern. Work related causes of bad indoor air such as dust particles was the second greatest overall concern (63%), while a sizeable majority (55%) also admitted to being concerned about airborne chemicals leeching from office furniture and building materials and from use of cleaning fluids.

The research was carried out online in China, Japan, UK, USA and Sweden and involved a total 1,500 consumers aged between 25-30 years took part, with 300 confirmed respondents in each country and an equal 50/50% gender split.