Indoor Air Quality and What You Can Do To Make It Better

You haven’t been able to turn on the news for the last thirty years without hearing about how bad pollution is making the air we breathe, particularly in the bigger cities across the country. But indoor air quality is a subject that has gotten the short shrift until recently. Those who have battled long and hard against public smoking may have been on the right track, but even many of these advocates missed the forest for the trees. The fact is that the air you breathe inside your home and office could be hazardous to your health. Airborne particles are all around you and every day you are inhaling them into your lungs. Studies have shown that pollution inside the home is far worse than it is outdoors, and people breathe the air in their homes much more frequently.

Just because no one you know smokes and you take every precaution to keep your home as clean as possible does not mean you are immune to the effects of poor indoor air quality. There are a million things in the home that can lead to sickness, a general feeling of unwell, and even lung disease. Pet dander is chief among those problems, as anyone with allergies can relate. But even those who don’t experience pet dander allergies could develop them over the years. But pets aren’t the only source of problems, either. Mold, dust, smoke, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) can all conspire to bring down the purity of the air you breathe.

Thankfully, there are a number of things you can do. First, you can start by nipping the problem at the source. If you have an ongoing mold problem, have it removed and remediated. If the problem is small, you may be able to do this on your own. If the mold has spread beyond a small patch, have professionals come in and do the cleaning. Keep smoking out of your home and avoid overcooking meals that could lead to a build up of carbons. Whenever you use solvents or paint, look for those products labeled VOC-free for best results. Can you eliminate these sources of pollution entirely? Doubtful, but any steps you make can make a big difference.

Next, you’ll want to do everything you can to improve the ventilation in your home. Indoor air quality will improve drastically once you get some airflow moving. Of course, this is always best done under the supervision of professionals. They will know what products and solutions to introduce that will allow you to strike the right balance between just enough ventilation without moving entirely to the other side. Homes benefit from having a certain degree of insulation, too, so finding the happy medium can be difficult for an inexperienced homeowner.