Here's how to keep your home's air clean. Poor indoor air quality can contribute to health problems. Letting in fresh air, keeping air filters changed and using air purifiers can help. This summer, with wildfire smoke suffocating swaths of North America, we've been warned to stay indoors to avoid poor-quality air.
Is your house making you sick? Don't be surprised if the answer is yes. Toxins, pesticides, gases, mites, and molds are everywhere, and the more you're exposed to them, the greater your risk for developing the health problems they can cause.
Signs of poor indoor air quality may include excessive amounts of dust or increased difficulty breathing in your home. People with allergies or other breathing problems will often be some of the first to experience the effects of poor indoor air quality. Sometimes you might even smell the problem before you can see it.
Poor indoor air quality (IAQ) has been tied to symptoms like headaches, fatigue, trouble concentrating, and irritation of the eyes, nose, throat and lungs. Also, some specific diseases have been linked to specific air contaminants or indoor environments, like asthma with damp indoor environments.
You can use a 3M LeadCheck Swab (found at most hardware stores) to do this; be sure you swab any children's products and imported goods. Conduct a lead risk assessment by a certified inspector before any home remodel.
The first option is to install an air quality monitor to provide continuous data on pollutants in the home, like particulate matter, carbon dioxide, and VOCs. Devices like the PurpleAir Indoor Air Quality Monitor help homeowners monitor real-time changes in air quality, making it easier to take action when necessary.
The solution could be as simple as re-arranging your furniture for better air flow, deep cleaning, cooking more often, and adding small touches such as displaying fresh-cut flowers and burning candles.
These consist of dust and pollen, mold, fungi and mildew, wood smoke, dust mites, dander from our furry friends and debris from insects, all of which can cause the nose and throat irritation, congestion, sneezing and coughing.
Sanitizing reduces the remaining germs on surfaces after cleaning. Disinfecting can kill viruses and bacteria that remain on surfaces after cleaning. By killing germs on a surface after cleaning, disinfecting can further lower the risk of spreading germs that can cause illness.
Clutter puts your mind into overdrive, causing your senses to focus on what isn't important, leading to stress. A messy environment draws your attention from where it ought to be. Clutter continually tells your brain that work isn't finished (you have to clean up!)
Essentially Toxic Building Syndrome is where the air quality in your home or office is so bad that it can affect the health of those inside. You see you might think you're breathing clean air, but in fact the air inside your home can have more than 900 harmful chemicals and organisms in it, which you simply cannot see.
Lead testing is a quick and effective way to determine if your home is making you sick. Indoor Air Quality testing: Indoor air quality (IAQ) testing collects air samples from your home in an effort to determine what allergens, chemicals or other contaminates are circulating through the air in your home.
Cold air inflames lungs and inhibits circulation, increasing the risk of respiratory conditions, such as asthma attacks or symptoms, worsening of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and infection.
Occupants of homes with poor indoor air quality may complain of symptoms such as headache, eye irritation, fatigue, dry throat, sinus congestion, dizziness, and nausea. Because many illnesses can cause these symptoms, diagnosing sick building syndrome is difficult.
Yes. However, no air cleaning device or filter can eliminate all of the air pollutants in your home. Position it well: If you just have one unit, put it in the room where you spend the most time. Place your air purifier in an open area.
A mild case of dust mite allergy may cause an occasional runny nose, watery eyes and sneezing. In severe cases, the condition may be ongoing (chronic), resulting in persistent sneezing, cough, congestion, facial pressure, an eczema flare-up or severe asthma attack.
Genetics, high stress levels, and your environment may explain why you get sick so often. Even if you're generally healthy, it's always possible to get sick. How often you get sick as a healthy person depends on how your body functions. You have different types of immunity, which affect your likelihood of getting sick.
Repeated or prolonged exposure to high levels of some VOCs can cause blurred vision, headaches, nausea, dizziness, coughing, burning eyes, respiratory irritation, skin rashes, respiratory illness, concentration difficulties, and other symptoms.
Average indoor air quality testing costs around $400, but can range from $250 to $550+. Testing specific pollutants can cost you $100 to $1,000+.