Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Five Reasons to Watch What You’re Breathing

The hidden dangers inside your home’s indoor air can cause problems for your family’s health and even create risks of serious, life-threatening illness. Here are five reasons why:

  • Energy-efficient construction practices over the last few decades have created homes that are more airtight. Though energy costs were lowered, that also meant less air exchange. In other words, drafts of air that had been coming and going through leaky windows, ducts, doors, even walls, were plugged up. And pollutants from cooking, smoking, pets, germs and more stayed inside. 

  • Most of us spend most of our time indoors, especially in winter, and we keep breathing in the same old bad air. The house itself starts to feel stuffy and stale. The people inside can start to feel a lot worse. According to the EPA, some pollutants cause health problems such as sore eyes, burning in the nose and throat, headaches, or fatigue. Other pollutants cause or worsen allergies, respiratory illnesses (such as asthma), heart disease, cancer, and other serious long-term conditions. Sometimes individual pollutants at high concentrations, such as carbon monoxide, cause death.

  • Sources of indoor air pollution are varied and common. It could include what’s called “combustion sources” – like oil, gas, kerosene, coal, wood or tobacco. It could be wet or damp carpet or household cleaning products. Maybe scented air fresheners and candles. Outdoor sources, such as Radon and pesticides, can sneak inside. Also, a faulty furnace can create the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.  

  • How individuals respond to indoor air pollution varies. Depending on the types of pollutants, the level and duration of exposure, a person’s overall state of health as well as other factors, health effects could show up immediately or could occur years later after long-term or repeated exposure. Because some of the symptoms of exposure look a lot like other illnesses – such as a stuffy nose – you might not realize that the problem is in the air.

The solutions for indoor air pollution can be fairly simple. If you know what’s causing the problem, for instance, you can simply remove the source or repair the equipment. With more knowledge about the hidden dangers in your home’s air, you’ll be better prepared for better decisions. And that’s where we can help…

Contact us for a Free, No Obligation Healthy Air Review. We’ll look for risks in your home’s air and also offer solutions for improving breathability.

No comments:

Post a Comment