Individuals nowadays are more aware and are adopting a healthier lifestyle. Daily exercise and healthy food choices are very common among people now. They are attentive to even the smallest of things that probably didn’t matter to them 5 years ago just because they want to live a healthier life. But what do you do about the things that are invisible to your eye? Like harmful pollutants in the air that are decreasing your indoor air quality.
For many people, air pollution only refers to car emissions and smog. But that is just what’s happening on the outside. You probably come across 10 ads every day while surfing the web about the harmful effects of outdoor air pollution. But did you know, these pollutants are also inside your home and are affecting your indoor air quality in various ways?
Indoor air pollution is a serious health threat as you spend most of your time in your home. It does not only decreases the indoor air quality but also increases your chances of respiratory and heart diseases. What might start as a seasonal cough might soon turn into early stages of Asthma, just because you thought that the tiny particles in your indoor air are not very harmful?
Harmful effects of poor indoor air quality
Symptoms of poor indoor air quality are very broad and depend on the contaminant. They can easily be mistaken for symptoms of other illnesses such as allergies, stress, colds, etc. Breathing in the polluted air inside your home can lead to coughing, sneezing, watery eyes, fatigue, dizziness, and even headache.
Other more severe effects of poor indoor air quality include rashes, fever, dyspnea, respiratory and heart diseases, hearing loss, neurological problems, etc. When you inhale the polluted air, tiny pollutants (called particulate matter) enter your lungs through the nose and mouth and can even trigger lung cancer or a heart attack.
4 ways to stay healthy and improve indoor air quality
Poor indoor air quality can lead to serious health hazards. Staying healthy in a polluted environment is difficult but not impossible. Here are four ways how you and your family can stay healthy and improve your indoor air quality-
1. Installing smart air monitors– It is essential for you to know the pollutants in your air before you take any preventive actions. Air monitors help in identifying the type and size of pollutants present in your indoor air. They use particle detectors to detect particulate matter which has proven to be the most harmful pollutant for human health. Installing a smart air monitor from brands like Kaiterra, uHoo, etc, will definitely help in improving the indoor air quality.
If you have children, elderly or someone with pre-existing heart disease, living and breathing the poor air quality in your home, then reducing the level of pollution is all the more important since sensitive subjects are more responsive to the harmful effects of air pollution.
- Ventilate- Proper ventilation is important if you want to improve indoor air quality. Open the door and windows in your house for a couple of hours to let the fresh air come in. But be careful about what time of the day you chose for ventilation. If you live in a busy city, you wouldn’t want to open your windows during rush hours since it will only bring more pollution inside your home.
- Monitor humidity- Monitoring humidity in your house is also important. Wet and damp spaces lead to the formation of molds which are a type of fungal air pollutant. These molds live and rest in your house carpets, curtains, walls, etc. Fixing leaks in your house and properly cleaning your furniture can help in reducing molds. Also monitoring and maintaining the humidity level between 30-50% will prevent further formation of molds.
- Say no to any type of smoke- Smoking cigarettes inside your home can be a serious health hazard for everyone. Create strict rules for outdoor smoking so that there is no smoke polluting the indoor air.
The smoke coming from activities like cooking can also prove harmful to your family’s health. Installing monitors and smoke fans can further help in identifying and driving out the polluted air outside your home.
Indoor air quality is decreasing with increasing pollution. Poor air quality is not only harmful to sensitive subjects but also for healthy individuals. Controlling the level of pollution and identifying the pollutants in your indoor air is the first step towards preventing indoor air pollution and improving your indoor air quality.