The Definitive Guide to Indoor Air Quality

Welcome to The Mila Aircyclopedia, a comprehensive guide to understanding how indoor air quality affects health, comfort, and well-being. Drawing on hundreds of scientific studies, this resource distills decades of research into clear, evidence-based insights about the processes, pollutants, and technologies that shape the air we breathe indoors.

It begins by examining the impacts of degraded indoor air quality on human health, then explores the biological, behavioral, and environmental factors that determine exposure. Later chapters turn to the science behind and performance of portable air purifiers, including an inside look at Mila’s approach to air cleaning, uniting research, design, and user experience to create healthier indoor environments.


Each chapter focuses on a key dimension of indoor air, organized into clear sections and subsections for easy navigation. An A-Z glossary defines essential terms and abbreviations in plain language, making complex ideas digestible. These features make The Mila Aircyclopedia both a scientific reference and practical companion for understanding and improving the quality of the air we breathe.

Why We Wrote This

Most people spend nearly 90% of their time indoors, yet indoor air quality remains widely misunderstood. Research is often technical, fragmented across disciplines, or hidden behind paywalls. At the same time, consumer marketing around air purification can oversimplify or exaggerate claims.

We created The Mila Aircyclopedia to bridge that gap.

Our goal is simple: bring rigorous science into plain language without watering it down. We believe better air decisions start with better information, and that transparency builds trust. This guide reflects our commitment to grounding product design, performance claims, and customer education in credible research.

About the Author

The Mila Aircyclopedia was written in partnership with Brett Stinson, Mila's resident Indoor Air Quality Research Scientist. Brett is a PhD candidate in mechanical engineering, specializing in aerosol science and indoor air quality, at Portland State University's Healthy Buildings Research Laboratory under Dr. Elliott Gall. His dissertation investigates the fate and transport of wildfire smoke in indoor environments, and its mitigation via portable air cleaning. Brett is an NSF Graduate Research Fellow and has been recognized with prestigious fellowships from ASHRAE, the Ford Family Foundation, and the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society. His research output includes more than five first-author publications in leading journals and regular presentations at major international scientific conferences.

The Topics We Cover

The Mila Aircyclopedia is organized into five core areas:

1. Why Indoor Air Quality Matters:
   The core principles of indoor air quality, why they matter, and the framework for understanding pollutants and exposure.
2. Indoor Air Quality and Human Health:
   How the air we breathe affects respiratory health, cardiovascular health, cancer risk, the nervous system, pregnancy, productivity, and sleep.
3. Sources of Indoor Pollutants:
   Where indoor pollutants come from — biological contaminants, indoor-origin sources like cooking and heating, and outdoor sources like wildfire smoke and traffic.
4. Efficacy and Application of Air Purifiers:
   The real-world evidence on how well air purifiers reduce indoor pollutants and improve health, drawn from studies across homes, schools, offices, and healthcare settings.
5. Mila’s Approach – COMING SOON!
   How we apply performance modeling, real-world data, and user-centered design to build air purifiers that reflect how people actually live — not how labs operate.

The Articles We Cite

This guide draws from peer-reviewed research in environmental health, aerosol science, building science, and epidemiology, as well as guidance and standards from organizations such as the CDC, WHO, and ASHRAE.

Where possible, we link directly to primary sources so readers can review the original research themselves.

About Mila

Mila is an award-winning air care company founded by three dads on a mission to clear the world of airblivion. What started as a search for better air for our own families turned into a full-blown obsession with how indoor air actually works.

We build air purifiers that combine top-notch filtration, real-time environmental sensing, and smart software that helps you see what’s happening in your air — and do something about it. Serious performance. Thoughtful design. No lab-only tricks. And priced so clean air isn’t a luxury product.

The Mila Aircyclopedia reflects that same mindset. It’s science-first, fluff-free, and built for curious air breathers  who want to understand what they’re breathing.