Indoor air pollution and its health implications are a rapidly growing concern for families in today’s society. You want your family to be safe from the air pollution problems found in the outside environment, yet you may be unaware that indoor air pollution can have a major effect on your family’s health, comfort, and safety as well.
The EPA has identified indoor air pollution as one of the top five urgent environmental risks to public health. Indoor air pollution contributes to lung disease, including respiratory tract infections, asthma, and lung cancer, and can greatly exacerbate allergy symptoms. If you or a family member suffer from allergies or asthma, or if you have infants or elderly persons living at home, indoor air pollution and its health implications are of even greater concern to you.
Even healthy adults can experience adverse symptoms with as little as a single exposure to indoor air pollution. Some common symptoms are headaches, nausea, sore or scratchy throat, nasal irritation, dry, red, or watering eyes, coughing, and fatigue.
Common indoor air pollutants
Throughout your home, there could be contaminants that you do not know about that are quietly contributing to air quality problems in every room of the house. There are many factors that can cause indoor air pollution:
- Bedrooms – dust mites, pet dander, fragrances, dry-cleaning
- Family rooms – tobacco smoke, wood stoves/fireplaces, unvented space heaters
- Bathrooms – plumbing leaks, damp flooring and carpeting, excessive moisture, insect debris, viruses and bacteria, household cleaners, air fresheners
- Kitchens – cooking smoke, gas appliances, household cleaning agents, insect debris, viruses and bacteria, garbage pails, plumbing leaks
- Attics – outdated insulation, old clothing and bedding, asbestos, dust
- Garages – paints and solvents, auto exhaust and gasoline fumes, pesticides and herbicides, carbon monoxide, hobby supplies (like vanishes and glues)
- Basements – radon, plumbing leaks, viruses and bacteria, dust
- Fireplaces – carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, particle allergens, chemical pollutants, and temperature, humidity, air pressure issues
- Yards – pollen, dust, pesticides, herbicides
If you or your family has suffered from any of the symtoms above, or recongnize any of these pollutants in your home, let us help you. Have an AirAdvice for Homes™ indoor air quality test done today in your home – it’s simple.