Top 10 healthy home trends for 2010.

• Position: The Future

Should we be walking around our homes wearing blue decontamination suits? Not quite yet, but the health of our homes will be a challenge at the forefront of technology in the coming years. Nasty spores, mites, and bacteria may fall victim to an explosion of new home products like self-sanitizing materials and air or water purifiers. People could be taking care of routine health monitoring from their homes instead of the doctor's office.

The carbon monoxide monitors and home security alarms we use today are considered the first generation in the wave of home health and security trends on the horizon. "The market is here for these types of products in the health-conscious baby boom generation. People are concerned about maintaining their health and want to make sure they take every step in their own homes to do so," notes Steve Millett, a futurist for Battelle, Columbus, Ohio. "Technologists are working on these home products now and you'll see them become a reality by 2010."

A group of Battelle scientists and researchers have pinpointed the Top Ten Trends in Healthy Homes for 2010. They are, in order of importance:

1. Breathing easy: indoor air quality. Increasingly, energy-efficient homes have created interiors that are a virtual soup of odors and fumes from indoor pollutants. Americans spend 90% of their time indoors, and the quality of air often is worse than what is found outdoors. Homes and commercial buildings are sealed so well that, despite circulation by heating and cooling systems, odors and particulates swirl around with nowhere to go--except people's lungs. Respiratory problems, including asthma and allergies, are on the rise and can be attributed, in part, to mold and mildew spores, outgassing from synthetic fiber used in building materials and carpets, pet hair and dander, outdoor pollens that become trapped indoors, and inadequately vented cooking and food odors.

   What is a gasping and wheezing homeowner to do? What is likely to be seen on the market and in homes are products for advanced air venting and filtration and biosensors that help fight humidity, mold, and other indoor pollutants.

2. The doctor is always in: home-based medical monitoring, diagnosis, and care. Healthy lifestyles and disease prevention have never been more important than they are today. If you could find out the status of your health as easily as you find out your weight when you step on a scale, wouldn't you do it? Health-conscious consumers, the...