Air pollution has become one of the major concerns of the 21st century. More emphasis is being laid on improving the outdoor air quality in the recent past few years due to increasing cases of casualties and fatalities due to a variety of respiratory diseases. As most of the children, women, and aged people spend their time indoors and are among the majority of demographic recorded when it comes to dealing with one or the other respiratory disease, it simply points to the fact that indoor air quality also needs proper monitoring and regulation.
The odorless property of various toxic chemicals and pollutants almost makes them impossible to detect. At times, you can get certainly late in realizing that you can be living with a lot of harmful pollutants, toxic chemicals, and allergens near around while indoors. One simple way is to perform indoor air quality tests to check the concentration of the existing pollutants indoors. However, there are some measures that you can always take to keep the indoor air quality healthy and clean, and indoor atmosphere spruced up at all times. To make it easier, here is a list of 6 easy steps that you can take to improve air quality indoors.
Maintaining Cleanliness
The first thing to do to improve air quality is to work on cleanliness. This includes keeping the sheets, clothes, curtains as well as the carpet clean. As most of the pollutants, dander, and other allergens tend to settle on such fabrics, it is necessary to keep them hygienic and dirt-free.
The same is equally applicable to other household items such as bed, furniture, cushion, and other such things that are susceptible to absorb a great deal of dust and air pollution.
Air cleaners, particularly vacuum cleaners fitted with true HEPA filters are pretty much efficient in absorbing almost 99.9% of pollutants and come in handy in cleaning almost all of the above-mentioned household items.
Maintain Ventilation and Keep Vents & A/Cs Clean
Another effective way to regulate indoor air quality and rejuvenate the inside atmosphere is by keeping the house ventilated. If living in the suburbs or city area, you can also select the perfect time for fresh cross-air ventilation as the consistent availability of fresh air is scarce in some instances. Most preferable is to do this early in the morning as the outdoor air quality is at its best during this time of the day. However, this might not bode well during winters.
Still, you can always go for thermal-insulated vent systems and HVAC to monitor the temperature indoors and can make productive use of filtered ventilators to regulate the air inside.
The above also includes keeping the air conditioner filters and ventilators clean at all times to maintain healthy and pollutant-free airflow.
Consider True HEPA Filter in Your Air Filter or Purifier
Air filters and purifiers have trended quite a lot recently thanks to its efficiency in helping improve the indoor air quality. These filters and purifiers are available in a variety of designs, specifications, and features that can include a multitude of filter systems. A few also come with cascaded features carrying several benefits in a single package.
However, if you tend to own a pet friend as a companion, you might need to do some research on the product features and specifications while choosing the right thing. Ionized air filters are not considered pet-friendly and must be avoided in case if you own one. Inclusion of HEPA filters is one essential product characteristics that you should look for while choosing the right filter or purifier. The ability of an air filter or purifier depends on how well it absorbs the pollutants, removing them at a microscopic level, and a true HEPA filter system has proven benefits in purifying the air indoors.
Keep a Control on Indoor Pollution Causing Sources
It is equally important to keep a check on various pollution generating sources indoors. Wall paints, use of pesticides, use of adhesives, and wood treatment chemicals for furniture, are some of those factors if overlooked can cause several health problems in the long run. So you might have to reconsider the things being used in constructing items of furniture, wall paints, etc., to keep a check on the indoor air quality.
Other such source monitoring steps can potentially include controlling the emission of cooking smoke & gases, prohibiting the use of artificial fragrance, and the use of VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) containing products such as aerosols.
Monitor Humidity Levels
Excessive humidity is an open invitation for fungi and allergen growth. This can particularly harm your respiratory system and may cause severe damage if persistent for a longer time. Thus, it is necessary to keep the indoor humidity at a normal 30% to 50% rate and under control in order to avoid such allergen growth.
Proper ventilation, exposure to sunlight and use of humidifiers can really facilitate you at preserving your indoor humidity to a normal level.
Prohibit Smoking Indoors
Indoor areas that are frequently exposed to smoking often carry poor air quality. The various exhaled smoke toxins, along with the pungent smell, tend to persist around the walls, furniture, and other absorbing materials. Besides, indoor tobacco smoking also promotes passive smoking, which makes it equally harmful for any other non-smoker, and twice as harmful for the smokers themselves. It is a must-avoid thing to do if you want to maintain good air quality indoors. Smoke toxins potentially include a list of carcinogens and harmful chemicals such as carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides that, if ingested in larger amounts, can be actually fatal for your health.
Apart from these 6 easy steps mentioned above, there is always something extra that you can do to clean up the air around and improve air quality indoors. Promoting use of charcoal and alum helps in reducing pollution by absorbing the harmful pollutants from the air and is a natural way of working on air quality. The same can be done by using a beewax candle whose negatively ionized smoke tends to settle with positively charged pollutants, thus preventing it from free-floating in the air. With a few easy to follow steps, you can always keep you’re the atmosphere indoors spruced up, healthy, and pollution-free!
