In the old days, when folks wanted to live a healthy lifestyle, they would get more exercise and eat healthy foods. Being healthy in our fast-paced world today, however, involves a lot more effort.
On top of getting exercise and eating a good diet, people looking to uphold a healthy lifestyle these days need to think about their Indoor Air Quality.
Why does my Indoor Air Quality matter?
In the past several years, a swelling body of scientific research has underscored a health problem that’s been around for generations, we just weren’t as aware about it: It turns out the air inside our homes and places of work can be far more contaminated than the air outside, which we don’t breathe nearly as often. This is true even in the densest cities here in the U.S. Because people are indoors an estimated 90 percent of their lives, this makes indoor air pollution a more serious health threat than outdoor air pollution.
The quality of the air we’re breathing has a significant impact on our health in a variety of ways; it affects our mood, well being, energy levels, and brain function, to name a few. However, experts at the Environmental Protection Agency say the air we breathe in our homes and workplaces can be anywhere from two to five times more toxic and polluted than the air floating around outside. In fact, in the worst scenarios, it can be up to 100 times worse.
Although there can be a lot of smoke and smog outside that makes this hard to believe, when you consider how tightly insulated modern homes are made to keep energy costs down and heated or cooled air inside, it starts painting a different picture: Indoors, the air has nowhere to escape. Outside in nature there are vast open spaces; nature has a ton of ways to clean the air we breathe, the wind and the trees are merely a fraction of nature’s air purifying methods. In the limited spaces of a building, however, without ample amounts of outdoor air circulating inside, any sort of household air pollution is a serious problem.
What are the health implications of indoor air pollution?
How serious? Short-term health symptoms can appear shortly after being exposed to a pollutant. Some of these symptoms are irritation of the throat, eyes, nose, headaches, dizziness, and fatigue.
Long-term symptoms include respiratory illness, heart disease, and cancer; they can be severely debilitating or in extreme cases, experts say, even fatal.
Because of these implications, we at Delaware Heating & Air urge homeowners to take steps to ensure their health and the health of their loved ones: The air quality in your home is very important!
Among these steps, you definitely want to have your air tested. Furthermore, you might need to use additional ventilation and update your air filtration.
Whatever the case, identifying and resolving sources of indoor air pollution is a must.
WE CARE ABOUT YOUR INDOOR AIR QUALITY!
We at Delaware Heating & Air care about your home comfort levels; that’s the bread and butter of what we do.
However, we also care about the health of you and your loved ones. A big part of that health involves the air you breathe. With indoor air quality having such a major impact on your health and well being, we designed this information so that it would be helpful. If you are interested in any of the products and services we sell at affordable rates, or if you’d like to know more, give us a call at 740-227-8302, or Click Here to schedule an appointment now.
We’d love to hear from you!
Indoor Air Quality 101: Part 2
