Indoor Air Quality

Mold Spores

Cat Dander

Pollen

Household dust

I've never heard anything about indoor air quality before. You're not alone. The majority of people are not aware of the poor quality of some indoor air. Americans spend approximately 90% of their time indoors, either at home or at their workplace, where they can be exposed to very high levels of airborne particles. In fact, the EPA ranks indoor air pollution among the top five environmental risks to public health. Furthermore, according to the EPA, levels of many airborne pollutants may be 25-100 times higher than outdoors. Most of the airborne particles cannot even be seen. What Causes poor Indoor Air Quality? Today's homes are built "tighter" to help conserve resources and save expenses. As a result, there's less fresh air circulation. Certain airborne particles can thrive in this "airtight" environment and promote poor air quality. It is important to ventilate your home. Keep the windows open as often as possible to allow air to circulate. Or, when the temperature, pollution index or pollen count is high, use an air conditioner to allow the windows and doors to stay closed while air circulates. Do I Really Have To Clean The Air to Improve my Indoor Air Quality? With more energy-efficient building construction and less ventilation with outside air, indoor air quality can suffer. Removing airborne particles may reduce allergic reactions of people suffering from asthma, hay fever, sinusitis and other respiratory problems. Air cleaners may be one part of the solution, but we offer many other products to alleviate respiratory problems. Call us to learn more about creating a "safe zone" in your home. Did you Know... * Common causes of indoor air problems include inadequate ventilation, due to not allowing outdoor air to dilute indoor air emissions and the lack of indoor air leaving the home. Also, high temperature and high humidity levels can heighten the concentrations of some indoor air pollutants.* * Common indoor air pollutant sources include oil, gas, kerosene, coal, wood and tobacco products. Pollutant sources can also be found in asbestos-containing insulation, some products used for household cleaning and outdoor sources such as pesticides and outdoor air pollution. * Additionally, household cleaning agents and personal care products may trigger allergic reactions. * Studies also show that 75 percent of U.S. homes use at least one pesticide a year indoors to control insects, termites, rodents, and fungus and other microbes. Also, 80 to 90 percent of most people's exposure to pesticides occurs indoors.** * Exposure to dust mites, cat saliva, animal dander and mold is estimated to cause at least 200,000 emergency room visits by asthma patients each year.** * According to the American College of Allergists, 50 percent of all illnesses are either caused by, or aggravated by, polluted indoor air.** * Individuals who are most susceptible to indoor air pollution are the ones who are home the most: children, pregnant women, the elderly and those with chronic illnesses.† * The health care costs and productivity decreases from allergies and asthma are about $13 billion per year.** * According to Mothers of Asthmatics, an estimated 40 to 50 million Americans - about one in five - suffer from allergies including allergic asthma.‡ * Also according to Mothers of Asthmatics, allergies are responsible for 3.4 million lost U.S. workdays each year, plus an estimated 2 million lost school days.‡ *United States Environmental Protection Agency and the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission Office of Radiation and Indoor Air. "The Inside Story: A Guide to Indoor Air Quality." **EHS Services, Inc. "Indoor Air Quality: Issues, Action, Solutions, and Management, 1st Edition." †The National Safety Council's Environmental Health Center. Air Quality Program brochure: "Indoor Air Quality in the Home." ‡Allergy and Asthma Network, Mothers of Asthmatics, In. Note: While air cleaners are known to reduce allergans and particles from the air there is no guarantee that some or all of the above conditions described above will be alleviated or cured by air cleaners.