Poor indoor air quality (IAQ) is a health and safety concern in the US, and among the top 5 environmental risks in the country. Studies by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have shown that air pollutants inside a home can be 2 to 5 times higher than that of outside! Many health issues from asthma and sinus congestion, to dizziness, nausea and fatigue have been linked to poor IAQ.

February is National Care About Your Indoor Air Month so we thought we’d dedicate this post to what you can do to improve the air you breathe inside your home and how Surfaceworks can help!

Here are several easy, low cost steps that you can take to improve the air that you and your family breathe.

4 Tips for Improving IAQ:

#1 – Open the windows
If weather permits, simply opening the windows in your home everyday can improve IAQ. This lowers carbon dioxide levels and releases pollutants recirculated by heating and cooling systems. When it’s cold, be sure to open the window a crack every day for at least 10 minutes to let fresh air into your space. When it’s hot, fans can be placed strategically to help direct fresh air into the home.

Always use the exhaust fan in the kitchen to vent cooking pollutants and the bathroom fan to get rid of cleaning vapors. Leave the fan running for up to 45 minutes to achieve best results.

#2 – Banish second hand smoke
If you are a smoker and worried about poor IAQ, this is a great time to give it up altogether. But if you aren’t ready to kick the habit you should stop smoking indoors and go outside at the very least. Smoking inside poses a risk for all inhabitants, as more than 4,000 different chemicals are exhaled on a single drag. Second hand smoke also builds up over time, increasing risk and contributing to offensive odors.

Any visitors to your home should also be asked to go outside to designated smoking areas. Smoking within several feet of an apartment building entrance can also cause cigarette smoke to waft into the building, so be sure to set clear and healthy boundaries

#3 Keep your home clean and tidy
Dust and dirt in your home can affect the quality of the air you breathe. Regularly cleaning and tidying your home is an effective action toward the improvement of IAQ. You can also take further action with the following steps:

  • Use a doormat to reduce the amount of street dirt, pesticides, lead and carbon monoxide tracked into your home on people’s shoes
  • Keep your home a shoe free zone, providing a place for people to put their shoes before entering the house
  • Vacuum and mop floors at least once a week
  • Damp dust where possible to trap particles that vacuum cleaners and regular dusting miss
  • Wipe up moisture and other spills immediately to prevent mold and mildew growth

#4 Avoid using air fresheners
Air fresheners such as plug-ins and sprays do not help to purify the air in your home. In fact they’re designed to mask and perfume it rather than clean it! They can add to a problem of poor IAQ by releasing more compounds, such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and phthalates, into the air you breathe.

So ditch the air freshener and stock up on indoor plants instead! Indoor plants can eliminate toxic agents like formaldehyde, benzene and trichlorethylene from the air.

What Surfaceworks does as a company to tackle poor IAQ
As a member of the professional cleaning industry, Surfaceworks strives to help improve poor IAQ. Our cleaning teams use all-natural cleaning products that avoid any kind of fragrance, as well as chlorine or ammonia.

We use HEPA filters on our vacuum cleaners which emit fewer particles back into the air and we can bring air purifiers on the job upon request.

If you’re at all concerned about poor IAQ in your home and would like to schedule regular cleaning to help improve this, please contact us today.