Yes, there really is bad air in most modern buildings. Most of which is caused only partly by poor ventilation. I happen to be in the construction industry, and we find many people have problems due to modern building materials and modern furniture which are made of products mostly man made. Therein lies the problem. The wood is rarely solid wood, but particle board made of wood "products" and chemicals including glues & formaldehyde. These chemicals emit gasses which are toxic, as in carcenogenic meaning serious respiritory deseases & cancer! The carpets & rugs nowadays are made of petroleum and emit toxic smells which a few years ago, sent me to the Dr. weeks on end, until finally I got rid of the beautiful nasty smelling rug I bought. The wall products are manmade with similar scary products, and so on. The chemicals in the furniture we buy, the petroleum products in shoes, appliances, all of these things cause many of us to have respiritory problems, not to mention burning eyes, and skin problems. So what is the answer? Many folks are buying old houses and painstakingly restoring them with solid wood, getting solid wood furniture--old used stuff is great! There are some paint which are much lower in nasty smelling toxins. (a few years ago, a popular women's magazine-can't remember which, maybe McCalls or Ladies' Home Journal did an article on all this.) Then we can rip out the carpets & resurface those glorious wood floors many midwestern homes have. Then there is the subject of perfumes in all soaps, candles, laundry products, air "fresheners", carpet cleaners, etc., which Dr.s say is one of the worst problems of indoor air pollution & send kids to the hospital with asthma attacks everyday. One of these days, our culture is going to have to realize that all that smelly stuff is keeping all the pharmaceutical companies getting richer! Any of you out there find yourself buying fragrance free stuff, or doing other things to eliminate at least some of these "modern" toxins from your environment? Let's hear it for beautiful wood guitars! Yeah, yeah, I know that my guitar has plastic, but hey, let's rationalize & say "not that much!"