Air Quality in the Home

Air Quality in the Home There are things that you as the home owner can do to make your home's indoor air healthier. The quality of indoor air can be worse than that of outdoor air. Today many homes are built or remodeled without regard to the factors that assure fresh and healthy indoor air. Our homes today are built more tightly, contain many furnishings, appliances and products that can and do affect indoor air quality.
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Signs of Indoor Air Quality Problems Include: -asthma and allergic reaction symtoms -strange and mouldy odors -stale or stuffy air -a detectable lack of air -dirty or faulty central heating or air-conditioning equipment -damaged flue pipes and chimneys -unvented combustion air sources for fossil-fuel appliances -excessive humidity -the presence of molds and mildew adverse health respond after remodeling, weatherizing, bringing in new furniture, using household and hobby products, and moving into a new home, and feeling noticably healthier outside of the house.
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Indoor air quality can be worse than that of outdoor air.Problems come from construction materials used in building homes, moisture intrusion, insects, pets, appliances, radon, materials used in household products and furnishings, smoke, and other sources.Health effects range from minor irritation to major health risks.Remedies include ventilation, cleaning, altering moisture intrusion, and following manufacturers' directions when using houshold cleaning products.
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Bathrooms Organic gases are released from chemicals in some personal care products, such as deodourant, hair spray, toner, shampoo, nail polish and perfumes. Solution: Select odor-free or low odor-producing products. Select non-aerosol varieties. Open a window, or use an exhaust fan. Follow manufacturers' directions whenusing the product and disposing of containers. Air fresheners can release organic gases . Solution: Open a window or use the exhaust fan. Follow manufacturers' directions. Select natural products. Bedroom Humidifiers and cold-mist vaporizers can encourage biological allergens, including mold, mildew and cockroaches, that can trigger an asthmatic attack, and encourage the spread of viruses and the growth of bacteria. Solution: Use and clean these appliances according to manufacturers' directions. Refill daily with fresh water. Moth rpellents often contain the pesticide paradichlorobenzene. Solution: Avoid breathing vapors. Place them in a tightly sealed container. Store separately, away from living areas. Chemicals used in the dry-cleaning process release organic gases. Solution: Bring any odors to the attention of your dry cleaner. Try to air out dry-cleaned goods before bringing them into the home. Seek alternatives to dry cleaning, such as hand washing items. Consider using green dry cleaners who use newer, non-toxic solvents and methods to clean garments.Utility Rooms Unvented gas clothes dryers produce carbon monoxide and combustion byproducts and can be a fire hazard. Solution:Regularly dispose of lint around and under the dryer. Provide air for gas units. Vent the dryer directly to the outdoors. Clean the lint trap, vent and ductwork on a regular basis. Gas and oil furnaces and boilers, and gas water heaters can produce air-quality problems which include back-drafting of carbon monoxide and combustion pollutants. Solution: Have your heating system and water heater, including gas piping and venting, inspected every year.Asbestos pipe wrap and furnace insulation can release asbestos fibers into the air. Solution:Periodically check for damage and deterioration. Do not cut, rip, sand or remove any asbestos-containing materials. If you plan to make changes that might disturb the asbestos, or if materials are more than slightly damaged, contact a professional certified remediator for repair or removal. Basements Ground moisture encourages biological allergens, including mold and mildew. Solution: Inspect for condensation on walls, standing water on the floor, and sewage leaks. To keep your basement dry, prevent outside water from entering by installing rain gutters and downspouts, do not water close to the foundation, correctly grade soil away from the home, and by applying waterproofing sealants to the basement's interior walls. If you have an accumulation of standing water, consider installing a sump pump. If sewage is the source of water intrusion, have drains professionally cleaned. If moisture has no obvious source, install an exhaust fan controlled by humidity levels. Remove mold and mildew. Regularly clean and disinfect the floor drain.Radon is an invisible, radioactive gas which poses the risk of lung cancer. Solution:Test your home for radon. Have an experienced radon inspector test your home and a certified contractor mitigate your home if your radon level is 4 picocuries per liter (pCi/L) or higher. Chemicals in hobby products, such as solvents, paint, glue and epoxy, release organic gases. Solution: Follow manufacturers' directions for use, ventilation, application, clean-up, and container storage and disposal. Use outdoors when possible. When using indoors, open a window or use an exhaust fan. Re-seal containers tightly. Clean tools outside or in a well-ventilated area. Health effects from indoor air pollutants may be experienced soon after exposure or, possibly years later.Immediate Effects Immediate effects may show up after a single exposure, or it may take repeated exposures. These include irritation of the eyes, nose and throat, headaches, dizziness and fatigue. Sometimes, the treatment is as uncomplicated as eliminating the person's exposure to the source of the pollution. Symptoms of some diseases, including asthma, hypersensitivity pneumonitis, and humidifier fever, may also show up soon after exposure to some indoor air pollutants. The likelihood of immediate reactions to indoor air pollutants depends on several factors: Age and pre-existing medical conditions are two important influences.How a person reacts to a pollutant depends on individual sensitivity, which varies tremendously from person to person. Some people can become sensitized to biological pollutants after repeated exposures, and it appears that some people can become sensitized to chemical pollutants, as well. A comprehensive inspection and laboratorytesting can help identify the culparts. Certain immediate effects are similar to those from colds and other viral diseases, so it is often difficult to determine if the symptoms are a result of exposure to indoor air pollution. For this reason, it is important to pay attention to the time and place that symptoms occur. If the symptoms fade or go away when a person is away from home, for example, an effort should be made to identify the possible cause. Some health effects may be made worse by an lack of fresh air, or from the heating, cooling or humidity conditions that exist in your home.Long-Term Effects Other health effects may show up years after exposure has occurred, or only after long or repeated periods of exposure. These effects, which include some respiratory diseases, heart disease and cancer, can be severely debilitating or fatal. It is important to improve the indoor air quality in your home even if symptoms are not noticeable. While common pollutants are found in indoor air many are responsible for illness. Concentrations or periods of exposure are necessary to produce specific health problem, but are different for each person. People may react very differently to exposure to indoor air pollutants. Further investigation and testing are needed to better understand which health effects occur after exposure to the average pollutant concentrations found in your home, and which occur from the higher concentrations over short periods of time. Indoor air contaminants can be a source of illness. Hire an IAC2 certified inspector trained in air quality to perform your next home inspection. Article provided by A+ Inspections - Serving Orange, San Diego and Southwest Riverside Counties 1-888-239-6969