How To Know If There Is An Indoor Air Problem

Indoor air can be polluted enough  to harm your family's health.  If you're worried that the air in your home may put your family at risk, do a little investigating to find the likely culprit.  Walk through your house and ask yourself a few questions to discover if the indoor air is causing a problem.

Do health symptoms improve when you step outdoors? Do they return when you come back into the house?  If so, you may have an indoor air pollution problem and should explore the following potential sources.

    1) Is anyone smoking indoors? Have smokers step outside when smoking.
    2) Can you see or smell mold or mildew?   
    3) Are there leaks or standing water anywhere...in the basement, kitchen or attic?
    4) Is humidity regularly above 50 percent?
    5) Have you recently remodeled your home or bought new furniture, carpeting or have you painted?
    6) Do you have fuel-burning appliances, such as a gas stove, water heater, or fireplace fully vented to the   
        outside? 
    7) Are household chemicals, paints or solvents stored indoors or in an attached garage or basement?
    8) Is there an attached garage or basement where cars, lawnmowers or motorcycles are stored?
    9) Have you used pesticides recently?
    10) Is there an attached garage or basement where cars, lawnmowers or motorcycles are stored?
    11) Have you tested your home for radon gas?  Although radon doesn't cause noticeable, 
          physical symptoms, you should test your home for this dangerous substance.  
    12) Has food garbage been covered and removed?  
    13) Do you use odor- covering chemicals or "air-freshening" devices?

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Air Cleaners Help in Reducing Indoor Air Pollution

Indoor air contaminants are undesirable, occasionally dangerous materials in the air. Indoor air pollution is among the top four environmental health risks. Generally the best method to address this risk is to manage or even get rid of the actual sources of contaminants, and to ventilate a home with clean outside air. The air flow technique may, nevertheless, end up being restricted through weather conditions or unwanted amounts of pollutants included in outdoor air. In the event that these types of steps tend to be inadequate, an air cleaning system might be helpful. Air cleaners are designed to get rid of pollutants from indoor air. Some air cleaning devices are designed to be set up in the ductwork of a home’s central heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) system to clean the air in the whole house. Portable space air cleaners may be utilized to clean the air in an individual room or particular places, however they are not designed for whole-house purification. In following blogs, I will inform you of different types of air cleaning devices and how they work.

Indoor Air Pollutants

Pollutants which may have an effect on air quality within the house fall into the following categories: 

 Air particle matter consists of dirt, cigarette smoke, plant pollen, pet dander, cigarettes smoke, contaminants produced through combustion home appliances such as cooking ovens, as well as particles connected with tiny microorganisms such as dust mites, molds, bacteria, and viruses.       

 Gaseous contaminants come from combustion procedures. Sources include gas cooking stoves, automobile exhaust, as well as cigarettes smoke. They additionally come from building materials, home furniture, and the use of products such as adhesives, paints, varnishes, cleaning items, and pesticide sprays.

What Kinds of Contaminants Can a good Air Cleaner Remove?

There are a number of types of air cleaners available, each designed to get rid of particular kinds of contaminants.

Particle Elimination

Two kinds of air cleaners can get rid of contaminants through the air — mechanical air filters and electronic air purifiers. Mechanical air filters remove contaminants through capturing them on filter materials. High efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters are in this class. Electronic air cleaners such as electrostatic precipitators utilize a procedure called electrostatic attraction to trap charged particles. They pull air through an ionization area where contaminants acquire an electrical charge. The charged particles then build up on a series of flat plates known as a collector that is oppositely charged. Ion generators, or ionizers, disperse charged ions into the air, similar to the electronic air cleaners but without a collector. These ions attach to airborne particles, giving them a charge so that they attach to nearby surfaces such as walls or furniture, or attach to one another and settle faster.

Gaseous Pollutant Elimination

Gas-phase air filter systems remove gases as well as odors by using a substance known as a sorbent, such as activated carbon, that absorbs the contaminants. These types of filter systems are usually designed to remove one or more gaseous pollutants from the airstream that passes through them. Because gas-phase filters are particular to one or a restricted quantity of gaseous contaminants, they will not diffuse concentrations of pollutants for which they were not designed. Some air cleaners with gas-phase filters may rid a portion of the gaseous contaminants and a few of the related hazards temporarily. Nevertheless, none are expected to get rid of  all of the gaseous pollutants present in the air of a normal  home. For example, carbon monoxide is a dangerous gaseous pollutant which is created whenever any fuel such as gas, oil, kerosene, wood, or charcoal is burned, and it is not easily captured using currently available home gas-phase purification items.

Pollutant Destruction

Some of the air purifiers utilize ultraviolet (UV) light technology designed to destroy pollutants in indoor air. These types of air cleaners are known as ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) cleaners and photocatalytic oxidation (PCO) cleaners. Ozone machines which are sold as air cleaners deliberately create ozone gas, a lung irritant, in order to destroy contaminants.    

UVGI purifiers use ultraviolet radiation from UV lamps which may destroy biological pollutants such as viruses, bacteria, allergens, and molds that are airborne or growing on HVAC surfaces , such as found on cooling coils, drain pans, or ductwork. They should be applied with, but not as a replacement for, filtration systems.   

PCO cleaners utilize a UV light together with a substance, known as a catalyst, that reacts with the light. They are intended to kill gaseous pollutants by converting them into safe products, but are not really designed to get rid of particulate pollutants.
      
     Ozone machines use UV light or an electrical discharge to intentionally create ozone. Ozone is actually a lung  irritant which can trigger adverse health effects. At concentrations that do not exceed public health requirements, ozone offers little impact in getting rid of the majority of indoor air pollutants. Therefore, ozone generators are not always safe and efficient in managing indoor air pollutants. Buyers ought to rather utilize techniques verified to be both safe and effective to decrease pollutant levels, that consist of getting rid of or controlling pollutant sources and increasing outdoor air ventilation.
    

 Go to www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/ozonegen.html for more information on ozone machines sold as air cleaners.

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Do You Have an Indoor Air Quality Concern?

According to the EPA, there are three basic methods in finding out...

1) Unexplained Health Problems
Are you feeling ill? Do you have unexplained health problems after moving, remodeling, refurnishing ...or using pesticides? It could be more than just coincidence. Discuss it with your doctor and see if it related to indoor air quality. He may recommend you to an allergist or specialist, in order to find answers to your health concerns.

2) Who are the Culprits?

Find out the causes of your poor indoor air quality. Spend some time and go through your home and look for sources of potential indoor air pollution. Although the presence of such sources does not necessarily mean that you have an indoor air quality concern, being aware of the type and number of potential sources is an important step toward assessing the air quality in your home.

Some of those sources may include:

1. Pressed wood products, like particle board
2. Dirty air and furnace filters
3. Paints, lacquers and varnishes
4. Mold and areas of water damage
5. Dust
6. Cleaning products

3) Poor Ventilation

Homes that have been built in the last 40 years have been "sealed"...extra-insulated...for energy efficiency. Obviously you should keep your home maintained... fixing leaks and cracks, but at the same time, finding ways to adequately exchange stale, polluted air with fresh air. In other words...adequately ventilate the air.

Signs of a poorly ventilated home include:

1) Smelly, stuffy air
2) Moisture condensation on windows and walls
3) Mold growth on books, shoes, or other items
4) A dirty central cooling/heating system

Hopefully, your home has very few indoor air quality opportunities. An ounce of prevention is all it takes to keep it that way.

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You can Sweeten the Quality of the Air you Breathe in your Home

If you have long-lasting health issues such as allergies or asthma, or even mild ones, like a sore throat or cough, it might be due to pollutants that are hovering in the air within your house. These symptoms should not be ignored or put up with. If you have a cold that just doesn’t want  to go away, allergies that are triggered when you get home, or frequent headaches and fatigue, you may be suffering from the effects of indoor air pollution that result from “sick building syndrome.” According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), people spend as much as 90 percent of their time inside, and health risks from air pollution may be even greater indoors than outside.

Cleaning supplies, paints and lacquers, pesticides, stove heaters and even furniture and carpets can cause indoor air pollution. Possible health effects of poor indoor air quality can range from an annoying stuffy nose to lung cancer. But, I have good news for you. Unlike outdoor pollution, indoor air  pollution is something you can control. With some simple precautions and proper maintenance, you can significantly reduce, or actually get rid of, sources of indoor air pollution in your home.

Invisible poisons, microscopic critters and VOCs

Radon is a colorless, odorless, radioactive gas that’s released when uranium in the dirt or rock under your house naturally breaks down. Radon then  enters the home through dirt floors, cracks in concrete walls and floors, floor drains and sumps. The EPA estimates that radon is the cause of about 20,000 lung cancer deaths each year in the U.S. Test your home. It's easy and inexpensive. Kits are available at your local hardware store. If testing reveals a radon problem in your home, hire a trained contractor who will explore your minimization choices.

Carbon Monoxide is invisible, odorless and potentially lethal when concentrated. Even at minimal concentrations, CO can cause impaired vision and affect coordination leading to headaches, dizziness, confusion, nausea and flu-like symptoms that most likely clear up after you leave your house. In order to prevent carbon monoxide from harming your health, keep furnaces, gas ranges as well as water heaters  in good working order, having annual professional checkups. It is best to also install a carbon-monoxide detector near your bedrooms.

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs), are produced as gases given off from certain solids or liquids, include fresh paint, new carpets, new furniture, wood adhesives, cleaning products, pesticides and dry-cleaning chemicals. According to the EPA, concentration levels of many VOCs can be up to 10 times higher indoors than outdoors. Inhaling these airborne chemicals can cause eye irritation, headaches or nausea, as well lead to long-term effects involving liver, kidney or central nervous system damage. Some VOCs have been established as causing cancer in humans.

Carefully read the labelled instructions on high-VOC products and make sure you ventilate the area of use and then store carefully, especially away from food or related products. Switch to natural cleaning products such as lemon juice, boric acid, baking soda and vinegar, and utilize pump products instead of aerosols.

Pesticides are another toxic pollutants that most of us don't take serious enough. Even when used outdoors, they can drift inside...or tracked on in the house on shoes and boots. They can cause eye irritation, affect the throat...can even increase the chances of cancer. Your body's central nervous system and kidneys could be also at risk . Avoid using  any chemical or artificial pesticides. Replace them with disease-resistant plants and washing their leaves frequently. Keep a healthy lawn by fertilizing naturally and  watering and aerating to eliminate or significantly reduce the need for chemical pesticides.

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Is Indoor "Air Pollution" Making You Sick?

Ever experienced listlessness, flue-like reactions, skin and eye irritations, trouble in breathing and concentrating? These are but a few of the physical manifestations associated with bad indoor air quality...of "indoor air pollution".  Your home may actually be making you ill.


Anytime we deal with air pollution, we usually affiliate this together with outside air. This may shock you to hear that the air within your own house is frequently dirtier compared to the air outside. That’s because indoor air consists of outdoor air plus all the pollutants and allergens generated from your cleaning products, pets, dust, smoke, and other sources.


Though the expanding crisis involving asthma in the United States within the past two decades, mainly among the infants as well as youngsters who devote almost all time inside, a great deal of awareness has been given to indoor air pollution. In fact, in 1990 the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) graded house air pollution as "a huge priority public health threat."  Consumers need to understand regarding their indoor air - need to talk about it - need to become aware of the growing compilation of information, investigation, and concerns among industry and health experts concerning the quality of the air that we breathe - daily.  The good news is indoor air pollution is one risk which you can do something about. Find out more in the following articles about what you are breathing in and how you can improve the indoor air quality (IAQ) around you. The EPA suggests three methods for reducing  indoor air pollution...1) Controlling causes of air pollution,...2) Ventilating adequately, as well as ...3) Cleansing inside air.



In following articles, I will inform you of how you can accomplish these techniques.

Welcome...to my Cleaner Home Air...Cleaner Health Blog

Hi, thanks for visiting my "Cleaner Home Air...Cleaner Health" Blog. I will be sharing with you the latest news and valuable information on creating and maintaining a cleaner, fresher home...and in doing so, most likely improving your overall health.

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