Indoor Air Quality Issues

In the past 20 years, an emerging and expanding body of evidence has shown that indoor air quality has tremendous impact on human health. Americans-especially infants, the elderly, and persons with chronic diseases-typically spend 90% of their time indoors where they can be exposed to very high levels of air pollutants.

—American Lung Association® report

Are you aware that the air inside your home may not be healthy to breathe? There are many factors that can contribute to poor indoor air quality in our homes. A few unhealthy air sources examples can be found at different sources such as:

• Laundry room chemicals
• Garage items
• Car exhaust in the garage
• In your attic
• In your crawl space
• From your pets
• Your carpet
• Something you may cook
• Your cleaning items
• Outdoor air coming in that has pollen and many other contaminates
• Bathroom humidity and items such as hair spray etc.

Indoor air pollutants are all around us. They include pollen, molds, fungal spores, viruses, bacteria, smoke, gas combustion by-products, out-gassing from carpets, furniture, plywood and drywall, cleaning supplies, personal care items, pet dander, dust mites including their feces and body fragments, cockroach body parts, and more. Disgusting!

Wow! What can you do about it???

While there are many products on the market, most don’t perform as claimed (unless you live in a controlled laboratory.)  Some products might be helpful, but none can do it all and all are limited. Listed below are a few solutions that could be of some help to you and your family.

• Hardwood floors or tile are better than carpet. There is little to no off-gassing and the floors do not hide and store contaminates like carpet or rugs.
• Have your duct work sealed to reduce unhealthy air from coming in through the ducts that may be located in your attic or crawl spaces. Use mastic, 181, pastes, or tape to do the sealing.
• If you have cats or other animals that use a litter box; try using the most dust free litter available.
• Use a vacuum cleaner that has a Hepa Filter in it to keep the dirty air from recalculating back into the room.
• Vacuum, mop, and dust often. (Don’t forget the fan blades if you have ceiling fans.)
• Try not to back your vehicles in the garage where the exhaust is going into the house directly and then pull the vehicles out of the garage ASAP.
• Have your garage professionally sealed to help prevent carbon monoxide and other chemicals from entering your home. A CO monitor is a good idea so you know if there is a dangerous level in your house.
• Be sure your bathroom has operating exhaust fans that exhaust the humidity and fumes to the outdoors (Not just back into the attic.)
• Schedule an appointment with a company that offers infiltrometer (“Blower Door”) and infrared scanning and testing to locate your hidden air leaks and to find any construction issues with your house that may cause health or energy concerns, and to have solutions to solve these issues.
• Try to use a quality return filter/s in your home and change or clean them every month. Be sure to choose a filter that is compatible with your HVAC system. A simple way to determine if a new filter will work with your HVAC system is to turn the AC fan to the “ON” position and take out your return air filters. Next measure the air flow strength coming out of a couple of different supply air registers. You can just feel the air strength or you can take a tape measure and a paper towel or tissue and measure how far away from the register you can get and still feel the air or see the tissue move. Now put in the filter/s of choice in all of the return air grilles. Take your measurements again. If the air strength is about the same; great, use can use that filter. If the air strength is noticeably less or reduced; do not use that filter. With less air coming out of the registers there will be more resistance in the ducts which will harm the HVAC system over time and cause you higher energy bills.
• Ultra violet lights placed correctly in your duct work may help with killing odors caused by different types of bacteria.
• Electronic whole house air cleaners may also help in reducing small and light air borne particles when the system is operating. Room air cleaners can also help and can operate continuously and collect particles closer to the floor.
• Be mindful of where you store your household chemicals. If there is a return air filter nearby; the chemicals may be drawn into your HVAC system and ten distributed throughout your house. Not a good thing.

There are no perfect or complete solutions to air quality, but the suggestions above may help reduce unhealthy air in your home. If you locate and remove the source; you can improve your air quality. For more information, please visit: www.epa.gov. or Google "clean air in your house".