What You Should Know About Indoor Air Pollution
When it comes to living well, there are many steps you can take to improve your health and wellness. For example, in our last blog, we talked about the plants you can add to your home to improve indoor air quality and which pollutants these plants could help remove from the air. Many of the plants we talked about could reduce the amount of formaldehyde and other pollutants in your home. Our HVAC company in Denver found it important to cover what these pollutants are and how they can affect your health.
Common Air Pollutants
Ammonia – This air pollutant is a gas with a pungent smell that is generally used in cleaning chemicals. If you’re experiencing itchy eyes, nose, and throat, then you might have high levels of ammonia in your indoor air.
Benzene – This air pollutant is a volatile liquid that can be found in coal, tar, and petroleum. Because Benzene is a carcinogen, it can cause cancer. According to the American Cancer Society, Benzene is linked to leukemia.
Formaldehyde – A colorless but highly pungent gas, formaldehyde can be found in various aspects of our lives. Formaldehyde as an air pollutant can cause asthma attacks, headaches, burning eyes, and even cancer.
Trichloroethylene – A colorless, volatile liquid with a sweet smell, this air pollutant can pose many health issues to people. According to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, Trichloroethylene, or TCO for short, can cause issues with mucous membranes, gastrointestinal issues, and short-term memory loss.
Xylene – Xylene is one of three isomers that make up a chemical compound. When inhaled as an air vapor, it can depress the central nervous system, causing headaches, dizziness, nausea, and vomiting.
Why is this important to know?
Knowing that air pollutants exist is important for keeping a healthy home for a healthy life. The United States Consumer Product Safety Commission has stated that, at times, indoor air pollution can be worse than outdoor air pollution. If levels of pollution increase in your home, your exposure increases as well. So what does that mean for you and your family?
Increased exposure to any of these pollutants can cause health issues that are even more damaging and life-threatening than the side effects we mentioned above, and while that may be scary to think about, it’s easily avoidable.
Oftentimes, these pollutants increase when air is not properly circulated in and out of the home.
How can you solve this issue?
Keeping a well-ventilated home is a matter of taking two easy steps.
Step 1: Change Your Air Filter
The recommendation for changing your air filter is every six to eight weeks. Depending on where you live, it could be necessary to change it more often. If you live in an urban area that is highly populated, changing your filter every five to seven weeks is much more beneficial and necessary.
Step 2: Hire an HVAC Company
The HVAC services a professional can provide can help to prevent malfunctions with your HVAC system that might cause ventilation issues. By scheduling yearly inspections, you can avoid a faulty system that poses a potential hazard to your health.
Between yearly inspections, changing your air filter, and placing some of the plants we mentioned in our previous blog, you can depend on keeping the air quality in your home at a high level. If you’re experiencing issues with itchy eyes, headaches, or difficulty breathing, be sure to give us a call. We can provide you with furnace or air conditioning repair to ensure that your ventilation is always performing well. Keep your home safe, your family healthy, and your furnace functional with the great HVAC services from Premier Heating and Air. Call us for your inspection today!
