Healthy Homes

 Air Quality in your home has a major impact on the health of your family. The EPA has identified indoor air quality as one of the top five most urgent environmental problems facing the United States today. (click here for Glen Haege website) Many people, especially young children and the elderly spend most of their hours at home. People with home offices are confined in the same environment for most of the time as well. If the air quality is poor where you spend most of your time, your health can become profoundly affected.

According to the EPA, the level of indoor air pollutants may be as low as two to five times higher and can be up to 100 times higher than pollutant levels outdoors. A variety of illnesses can manifest themselves as a result of poor indoor air quality. You work hard to protect yourself and your family from harm on a daily basis. Protect yourselves from the culprits that may be lurking in the air you regularly breathe.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), indoor air can be up to 40 times more polluted than outdoor air. As we close up our homes and add new windows and insulation, our homes become more efficient places to heat and cool. That’s good, but we also cut off the majority of fresh air from coming in. That’s bad. Healthy Homes recommends using True HEPA Purifiers to ensure air quality in your home. (click here for air purifiers)

Tour the virtual house  Hazardous Products in the Home to locate potentially hazardous products in your home.

At times, the cause of poor air quality is readily apparent. Examples are:

Pet odors and odors from smoke can be easily noticed.

Mold and mildew is often characterized by a musty or damp odor. This smell is a indicator of a serious problem. Many people are highly allergic to molds and bacteria that can grow in homes with even minor water damage. Molds can also form after several months of disuse in furnaces, air conditioning units and ducts. Healthy Homes can permanently remove the causes of these odors from your home.

Formaldehyde can be found in insulation placed in homes in the late 1970's and early 80's. It is still being used in a variety of new building materials. Formaldehyde is gradually released into the air from these materials and from carpets, which trap formaldehyde from other household sources. The American Lung Association states that "exposure to formaldehyde can cause a variety of respiratory problem, eye irritation, skin rashes, headaches, dizziness, nausea, vomiting and nosebleeds."

Formaldehyde is common in many homes. However, as a rule, measurable levels should not exceed 0.10 parts per million (ppm). The World Health Organization recommends nothing over 0.05 ppm. The United States has not yet established a standard. If you smell a pickle-like, pungent odor in your home or office, you may have a formaldehyde problem. If you would like testing performed to determine the levels of formaldehyde in your home, please contact us today.

To read more about other indoor contaminants please review our pages on Radon Gas , Asbestos and Lead.

If you can already detect that you have a problem the American Lung Association provides several suggestions to reduce the problem before the professionals arrive. These things are particularly useful if you have someone in the household less than 4 years old or greater than 60 years old. Also, it is important to optimize your environment if you reside in your home more than 12 hours per day.

You can improve your indoor air quality by doing the following:

• Do not allow smoking in your home or your car, when traveling with children or elderly adults
• Leave doors between rooms open most of the time
• Leave some windows partially open when possible
• Install exhaust fans in bathrooms
• Keep humidity levels appropriately low
• Fit gas ranges with hood fans that exhaust outside
• Install outdoor air intake to return air duct work of forced-air systems
• Have furnace, gas water heater and clothes dryer inspected regularly
• Clean air conditioners, humidifiers and heat exchangers regularly
• Test for radon levels in your home

 You can also contact Healthy Homes anytime for help in making your home a healthy one.