Indoor Air Quality – The Homeowner’s Guide During A Remodel
A key part of making your home a place to feel good and perform well is improving your indoor air quality. During your renovation, you have the opportunity to control the air quality in your home by using building materials and construction methods that reduce indoor pollutants.
What Causes Indoor Air Pollution?
A major source of indoor air pollution is the combustion of fuels such as wood, coal, oil, and natural gas. These vapors release pollutants such as formaldehyde, radon, carbon monoxide, and other gases into the atmosphere. These substances can affect the health of everyone in a building, but they can have particularly harmful effects on children and others with respiratory, heart, or lung conditions. They also may contribute to cancer, bronchitis, emphysema, and other serious illnesses and diseases.
What Are Some Common Types Of Air Pollutants?
Commonly found air pollutants in homes include environmental tobacco smoke, radon, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), mold, and allergens. Other potential contaminants in homes are chemicals released from building and cooking materials, cleaning products, pesticides, paints and other adhesives, and furniture. Radon is a colorless, odorless, radioactive gas that is released into the air from the decay of naturally occurring radioactive materials. It can enter indoor spaces through cracks and gaps in buildings and is a known risk factor for lung cancer. Smoke is another common indoor air pollutant and can come from cigarettes, cookstoves, wildfires, or other sources. It contains a range of toxic chemicals such as arsenic, formaldehyde, and lead.
Other common indoor air pollutants in homes include chemicals such as benzene, toluene, and xylene from paints, glues, adhesives, and other solvents; ammonia from household products and cooking; and formaldehyde from furniture. The air in your home can also contain biological contaminants, such as bacteria or viruses. These can cause illness or infection and are a major contributing factor to the spread of germs such as influenza, rhinovirus, coronavirus, and tuberculosis.
How To Control Indoor Air Quality?
The most important factor in controlling indoor air quality is reducing or eliminating sources of pollution. This can be done through the use of exhaust fans or ducts to remove contaminated air from the building. Other measures are the use of ventilation to dilute contaminants and the installation of filters to prevent the buildup of dust, odors, and other particles. These techniques can be incorporated into the design of new buildings and into renovations of existing ones.
You can keep tabs on indoor air quality by monitoring your home with a small device that attaches to the ductwork. This will allow you to see the amount of airborne pollutants in your home, especially PM2.5 and ozone. Many of these particles are harmful to human health and can cause headaches, itchy eyes, coughing, rashes, and skin irritation. Thus, the EPA recommends that you monitor your air quality regularly. This will help you detect any problems before they become severe and may make it easier to fix them.
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