Indoor Air Pollutants
It is common knowledge that our outdoor air quality is subpar in most geographical locations and can have an effect on our overall health, but there are a lot of misperceptions about the quality of air that we breathe indoors. Indoor air pollutants come in all shapes and sizes and we felt that it would be valuable insight to understand which everyday products may be affecting your health. The following information has been shown to be contributing factors in many health conditions and symptoms like: asthma, eczema, fatigue, insomnia, depression and anxiety, hormonal imbalances, allergies, autoimmune diseases and even cancer.
Avoid:
Air freshener’s. They cover up what the underlying odor is in the house. It is best to get rid of the problem instead of covering it up with a chemical.
Carpet. It is the biggest collector of dust and toxins. Both indoor and outdoor toxins that are brought home with you on your shoes can be trapped in the carpet. The carpet materials themselves can off-gas for 10-12 years.
Wearing shoes in doors. Toxins get tracked into your home from your shoes.
Smoking indoors. The chemicals in cigarette smoke are concentrated and linger in your home and in your furniture.
Pesticide spraying indoors. These pesticides are inhaled whether you are there when they are spraying or not.
Dry Cleaning. The process of dry cleaning is very toxic and those chemicals lingering on the clothes are brought into the home where they off gas.
Synthetic fragrant products. Generic cleaning supplies, perfumes, lotions, scented detergents, and drier sheets are examples of chemicals that you are not only inhaling but absorbing through the skin when placing topically.
How to improve your indoor air quality
Take your shoes off when you enter your home.
Use natural pesticide companies (Lady Bug Pest Co).
Quit smoking or at least stop smoking indoors until you are ready.
Stop wearing perfume. Check out cosmeticdatabase.com to see how toxic your current beauty products may be and consider switching to more natural products.
Change up your cleaning supplies. Use vinegar and water or more natural cleaning supplies like Seventh Generation products.
Use natural dry cleaning shops or keep your dry cleaning in the garage for 48 hours before bringing it in the home.
Replace your carpet with tile. Use Zero VOC paint, non-toxic adhesives (Eco Clean Store).
Add plants to your home. Plants can help clear the toxins out of the air but need to have plenty and the right ones.
Examples of helpful plant: Chrysanthemum morifolium, Gerber daisy, Ficus benjamina
Get an air purifier. The top air purifiers are: IQAir.com, BlueAir.com, and AustinAir.com. You need to program it to exchange air at least once every 20 minutes to be most effective.
Use HEPA or charcoal filters as they are the best air filters.
1. Disposable pleated air filters- Needs to be a MERV 7 filtration to help get the dust out. You should change out every 1 to 3 months to keep your air cleaner. ( TheAirFilterstore.com)
2. Charcoal filters. Even better filter for removing odors and chemicals, especially with indoor smokers, pets, mold, etc. (TheAirFilterStore.com)
