How to Improve Air Quality in Your Home Here are some mind-blowing facts about the quality of your indoor air you probably hadn’t the slightest idea about. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the USA ranks your IAQ as one of the top five risk factors for your health. Studies that have been conducted in the past have shown that the concentration of pollutants indoors is typically about 5 times greater than those outdoors. At its worst, these pollution levels went up to 100 times higher than their outdoor counterparts. Your Furniture May be the Most Dangerous Culprit If
How to Improve Air Quality in Your Home
Here are some mind-blowing facts about the quality of your indoor air you probably hadn’t the slightest idea about.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the USA ranks your IAQ as one of the top five risk factors for your health. Studies that have been conducted in the past have shown that the concentration of pollutants indoors is typically about 5 times greater than those outdoors. At its worst, these pollution levels went up to 100 times higher than their outdoor counterparts.
Your Furniture May be the Most Dangerous Culprit
If you have furniture that you bought before the year 2006, you’re probably at risk. Back then (and even today) furniture is coated with a special fireproof paint. This sometimes contains chemicals called PBDEs, which could release toxic chemical fumes into the air in small amounts over time. Some of these are known carcinogens. Advances in technology and chemistry have not, unfortunately, led to safer chemicals being introduced to the furniture industry. For more information check out our post on how to get rid of new furniture smell
Candles are One of the Bigger Culprits For IAQ
Everyone loves burning a scented candle while going about their day or evening. Exercise caution when buying one, though. In addition to the wax they are made of, any scented candle contains benzene and toluene. These are both known to be cancer-causing chemicals or carcinogens. Burning a candle also releases hydrocarbons similar to the exhaust smoke of a vehicle into the air. A safe bet to maintain the air quality in your home is too shy away from scented candles and this includes those that contain essential oils for scents and artificial scents as well.
Your Printer Could Be Killing Your Fertility
Do you have a printer at home? For most people, the common printer type is an inkjet printer. All inkjet type printers contain chemicals that can be emitted into your indoor air, in addition, these very same chemicals and VOcs have been linked by the EPA to cause damage to the reproductive system due to long-term exposure. If you print your documents out regularly, you stand at risk of having your fertility impacted by these chemicals. One of the best things you could do to avoid this is to get yourself a laser printer or to simply get all your printing done at a store instead.
School Isn’t as Healthy as it Seems
Did you know that the IAQ at a school is far worse than it is in an office building? Schools are buildings designed to fit as many people into them as possible. It is a fact that there can be up to four times as many students as office workers per square unit of floor space. Children tend to breathe faster and deeper than adults. Studying in enclosed spaces for extended periods of time reduces the quality of the air so much that it is one of the main points of concern for the EPA and other government societies.
Your Asthma Takes a Big Hit with Poor Air Quality
Ever since asthma became an identified condition, and since the industrial revolution, people have been experiencing this respiratory condition in larger numbers every year. There is no discrimination with a disease like this. It can occur in adults and children of all nations, ethnicities, and social classes. It is, in every sense of the word, an epidemic. While it is rarely fatal, the only treatment is to reduce the onset of “attacks.” is to improve the indoor air quality in your home and reduce triggers that can lead to an asthma attack.If your home or office has poor IAQ, these attacks become way more frequent, especially in children.
Your Grandparents Take the Brunt of it
The elderly are among the most likely to contract one of the many serious effects of exposure to poor indoor air. This is because of the inordinate amounts of time they spend indoors when co...
Here are some mind-blowing facts about the quality of your indoor air you probably hadn’t the slightest idea about.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the USA ranks your IAQ as one of the top five risk factors for your health. Studies that have been conducted in the past have shown that the concentration of pollutants indoors is typically about 5 times greater than those outdoors. At its worst, these pollution levels went up to 100 times higher than their outdoor counterparts.
If you have furniture that you bought before the year 2006, you’re probably at risk. Back then (and even today) furniture is coated with a special fireproof paint. This sometimes contains chemicals called PBDEs, which could release toxic chemical fumes into the air in small amounts over time. Some of these are known carcinogens. Advances in technology and chemistry have not, unfortunately, led to safer chemicals being introduced to the furniture industry. For more information check out our post on how to get rid of new furniture smell
Everyone loves burning a scented candle while going about their day or evening. Exercise caution when buying one, though. In addition to the wax they are made of, any scented candle contains benzene and toluene. These are both known to be cancer-causing chemicals or carcinogens. Burning a candle also releases hydrocarbons similar to the exhaust smoke of a vehicle into the air. A safe bet to maintain the air quality in your home is too shy away from scented candles and this includes those that contain essential oils for scents and artificial scents as well.
Do you have a printer at home? For most people, the common printer type is an inkjet printer. All inkjet type printers contain chemicals that can be emitted into your indoor air, in addition, these very same chemicals and VOcs have been linked by the EPA to cause damage to the reproductive system due to long-term exposure. If you print your documents out regularly, you stand at risk of having your fertility impacted by these chemicals. One of the best things you could do to avoid this is to get yourself a laser printer or to simply get all your printing done at a store instead.
Did you know that the IAQ at a school is far worse than it is in an office building? Schools are buildings designed to fit as many people into them as possible. It is a fact that there can be up to four times as many students as office workers per square unit of floor space. Children tend to breathe faster and deeper than adults. Studying in enclosed spaces for extended periods of time reduces the quality of the air so much that it is one of the main points of concern for the EPA and other government societies.
Ever since asthma became an identified condition, and since the industrial revolution, people have been experiencing this respiratory condition in larger numbers every year. There is no discrimination with a disease like this. It can occur in adults and children of all nations, ethnicities, and social classes. It is, in every sense of the word, an epidemic. While it is rarely fatal, the only treatment is to reduce the onset of “attacks.” is to improve the indoor air quality in your home and reduce triggers that can lead to an asthma attack.If your home or office has poor IAQ, these attacks become way more frequent, especially in children.
The elderly are among the most likely to contract one of the many serious effects of exposure to poor indoor air. This is because of the inordinate amounts of time they spend indoors when compared to people of other age groups. In fact, almost 90% of the day of a senior citizen is spent inside. Due to this, they are exposed to toxins indoors for longer periods of time and are more at risk of getting hurt by the aftereffects of this exposure.
There are tons of pollutants and toxins out there that could be harmful to you. These include VOCs like formaldehyde and phthalates, PBDEs, pet hair, dander, and other material fluff. Any material particles that can cross into your bloodstream because of their size are considered a risk. You will typically see symptoms like dry eyes, headaches, a blocked nose, exhaustion, and even vomiting. You could also see even more severe conditions like asthma, infections, and possibly cancer as well.
Most modern air fresheners contain chemicals known as phthalates. These are toxins that have been shown in numerous studies to cause developmental issues in young children and infants. They can also cause damage to your reproductive organs and worsen the symptoms of pre-existing respiratory conditions like asthma. In addition to this, some of the chemicals released by air fresheners in a home react with naturally occurring ozone in the air to form VOCs like formaldehyde which can be harmful to your health when you are exposed over long periods of time.
Oh, the weather outside is frightful, and the fire is so delightful…”. That indoor fireplace with the roaring log fire sure looks amazing, doesn’t it? Well, it could be harming you more than you know. In fact, you stand at risk of limited immune response to other illnesses and threats to your health if you burn wood fires indoors regularly. Even if you do have a fireplace with a well-regulated chimney, you are still at risk of exposure to some of the most common carcinogens out there. Remember that these are found in the soot as well as in the smoke, so be careful!
VOCs are organic compounds that are highly volatile in nature. This means that they could break down or react in a very toxic manner without warning. Commonly found in engineered wood such as in cabinets, home furnishings and laminated wood flooring, exposure to VOCs can lead to severe health problems. These include irritation of your eyes, nose and throat, headaches, dizziness, lowered reactions, nausea and vomiting, liver and kidney damage, damage to the central nervous system, and even cancer in some people.
Some of the early warning signs you can look for to determine whether or not you have been exposed to VOCs in your home include irritation of your eyes, discomfort or soreness in your nose and throat, headaches, skin reactions like hives, extreme nausea, exhaustion, mild dizziness, and other hand-eye coordination impairments.
Always remember that these chemicals have varied effects on different people. Some are severely affected by exposure and others see no side effects at all. Some external factors determine how severe if any, the effects of exposure will be. These factors include the level of exposure, the duration of exposure, and the concentration of the chemical in the air.
There are products out there like air purifiers and air cleaners that actively destroy toxins in the air and drastically improve the IAQ of your home by removing VOCs and allergy triggers. Our EnviroKlenz air purifier utilizes a patented technology to offer a two stage filtration process designed to mitigate chemical odors and removal of particulates such as dust and dander.
The EnviroKlenz specialty cartridge is designed to adsorb chemical odors and VOCs inside of the filter media where the chemical neutralization takes place. Once these chemistries make contact with the earth mineral technology they are destructively adsorbed and the chemistry of these harmful VOCs are broken down and destroyed.
The EnviroKlenz mobile air purifier is versatile enough to remove the toughest chemical odors and VOCs as well as remove common malodors problems such as pet odors and musty smells. If you think about it all the odors in your home have multiple chemistries whether they are synthetic or anaerobic and the EnviroKlenz mobile system was designed to address and remove these various forms of odors.The entire process is extremely safe and very effective indeed.The problem with the majority of whole house air purifiers is that they either utilize a carbon based technology which is limited to the classification of chemical odors that it can be removed or use an Ionizer technology which works through a process of oxidation which in turn releases toxins of their own into your environment. This means that even though you get rid of the toxic compound you wanted to at the start, you are left with a bigger problem – new chemicals in the air you have no idea how to get rid of. We find it counter-intuitive to use a chemical pairing agent to remove chemical odors from your home and that is why the Envirolenz technology does not use any toxic material, fragrance, or release anything harmful back into your environment.
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