A home is a place of comfort and rest. Approximately 90% of the time is spent indoors as specified by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Even more, when you spend time indoors for long durations, you become more vulnerable to the results of low-quality indoor environments.
Indoor Air Quality Hazards
What makes a home healthy? Most people think that washing your hands and practicing daily hygiene is the only way to prevent diseases. However, your home could also be contributing to your health. If your house is older, it may be likely to contain mold or radon, both air pollutants that could lead to asthma attacks or chronic lung conditions.
The four indoor air quality toxins to avoid and eliminate from your home include:
1. Carbon Monoxide
This deadly gas cannot be detected and often sneaks up on homeowners, as it has no discernable taste, color, or smell. Carbon monoxide comes from the incomplete burning of carbon fuels such as heaters, furnaces, wood-burning stoves, and fireplaces.
If there is a carbon monoxide leak in your home, you could experience chest pain, nausea, headaches, or vomiting. The longer you are exposed to this poisonous gas, the more lethal it becomes. Installing a carbon monoxide detector is highly crucial, but you should also remember to check the batteries to make sure that the detector is working properly. It is the leading prevention test.
2. Lead
Older homes tend to have materials made with lead. Before people were more informed about lead poisoning, it was frequently used in paint. Homes built before the 1950s may have this type of paint on the walls, cabinets, drawers, or windows. Children are largely at risk to lead poisoning as they can eat chipped paint or put lead-contaminated products into their mouths. Additionally, lead dust can come from lead-based paint and the fumes from lead particles are another way people are exposed.
When lead enters the body it can reduce IQ, affect mental and behavioral growth, and cause other intellectual concerns. You can hire a lead expert to test your home. Once you check your home for lead you can remove these sources.
3. Asbestos
This toxin is commonly found in homes due to asbestos-containing materials (ACM). Roofing shingles, insulation, floor tiles, cement, drywall, and popcorn ceilings are identified ACMs that can be hazardous to your health if repaired or damaged. Most of these products were used before regulations started in the 1970s, but homes could still have popcorn ceilings with asbestos up until the 1990s.
Asbestos requires a professional due to the risks of mesothelioma and asbestos-related diseases. Both can occur at any level of exposure. Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that is only caused by exposure to asbestos and affects the lining of the heart, abdomen, or lungs. Patients can go decades without a diagnosis, but your decision to hire an abatement professional can stop future exposures.
4. Biological Pollutants
Do you have many people living in your home? Or do you share your home with one or two beloved pets? Your house could have an increased amount of biological pollutants from animal dander to bacteria to dust. The moisture and temperature in your house could also be a reason for this air quality issue.
Allergies and asthma are two chronic conditions that can be worsened by biological pollutants. These toxins could also give rise to diseases like the flu or cause watery eyes, sneezing, respiratory complications, and fatigue. These symptoms are best mitigated by regulating humidity levels, removing standing water, and cleaning up dust, pest invasions, and areas where biological pollutants are likely to grow.
Your Home Health
Investigating your home’s health is a priority. This may mean cleaning or reviewing the history of your home. When the air quality of your home is left untreated, you could run into consequential health effects. Humidifiers can also regulate chronically arid air levels. These are ideal for a reliable solution to prevent illnesses and respiratory symptoms. Modern humidifiers like the humidifiers don’t depend on filters but water to reduce harmful pollutants, so there’s less worry about upkeep.
These sources of poor indoor air quality are not impossible to remove, but they do take some education, caution, and in some cases, professional assistance.