It is often said that the air quality outside your home is much
worse than the air inside your home. This belief is quite common among
most of the urban dwellers where pollution has reached to alarming high
levels. However some studies show that you may be wrong.
The air inside your home may be equal to or in some cases even worse than the air outside. You must be wondering that how is it possible that the air quality outdoors is better than the air quality inside your home. There are many issues which must be sorted out in order to have a healthier indoor breathing environment.
There are many factors that contribute to poor indoor air quality such as fumes emitted by chemical paints, dust, fragrances, dampness leading to growth of bacteria and mold. If we consider that most of our time is spent inside our home this becomes a serious health concern. It is also fatal for persons suffering from breathing problems such as allergies or asthma. If you want to improve the indoor air quality you can apply some simple solutions which are affordable as well as easy to follow.
Tip#1: Let some fresh air inside
The simplest tip to improve the air quality inside your apartment is
to turn on the ceiling fan and open the windows in the morning. When we
keep the doors and windows closed overnight, the harmful air builds up
and it stays inside the home with no outlet point.
Contrary to popular belief when you open the windows in the morning the stale air inside the home will be replaced by the natural fresh air.
This will remove the harmful chemicals inside the house built up overnight. Doing this every morning will take only a few minutes of your time but it’s one of the most basic and simplest way to get regular supply of fresh air inside your home.
Tip #2: Use non-toxic cleaning products
If you are still using traditional house cleaning products, t
hen it’s
time to make a change. Most of the household cleaning products which
are available in the market today contains harmful chemicals which not
only pollutes the indoor environment but are also injurious to your
health. You can choose cleaning products which are plant based and are
devoid of artificial fragrances and dyes. In case you are unable to find
such products then make sure to read the ingredients on the label of
such products before using them.
Tip #3: Invest in healthy houseplants
In your fight against the harmful chemicals such as benzene, carbon monoxide and formaldehyde let plants be your companion. There is a study which was done by NASA, which is popularly named as NASA Clean Air Study. The main motive of this study was to research the type of plants which are effective in purifying the air and removing the harmful elements from your indoor environment. Some of the plants which were involved in this study are:
Tip #4: Choose safer paints for your home
Have you ever been in a room with freshly painted walls, then you
must have experienced the odor that fills the room. The odor is mostly
toxic fumes emitted by the conventional paints. When you are looking for
an alternative to such toxic paints then choosing paints labelled as
“Low-VOC” is a wise choice. There are also some paints which are labelled as “Zero
VOC” and are superior to other paints as they contains no solvents or
toxic elements. If you can find such paints in your local hardware
store, then they are the most suitable option over traditional paints.
Tip #5: Use a HEPA air purifier
Like the toxic elements emitted by the paints, the other form of
harmful element in the indoor air are allergens. Allergens are basically
foreign substances which induce an immune response in the body. The
major cause of increase in these allergens are dust particles which are
accumulated over time in your home. The possible solution for this
problem is using a vacuum cleaner and cleaning all the places which are
prone to dust accumulation.
However if you want effective cleaning then ordinary vacuum cleaners are not suitable for this job. You will have to invest in a HEPA air purifier which is capable to remove even the smallest of the impurities from your indoor air. HEPA or commonly known as High efficiency particulate arrestance or High efficiency particulate absorber is a type of air filter which forces the air to move through a fine mesh of fiberglass fibers and in the process traps harmful allergens to provide pure, healthy and fresh air.
These are some of the simple yet effective methods which you can incorporate to create natural and fresh environment inside your home.
The air inside your home may be equal to or in some cases even worse than the air outside. You must be wondering that how is it possible that the air quality outdoors is better than the air quality inside your home. There are many issues which must be sorted out in order to have a healthier indoor breathing environment.
There are many factors that contribute to poor indoor air quality such as fumes emitted by chemical paints, dust, fragrances, dampness leading to growth of bacteria and mold. If we consider that most of our time is spent inside our home this becomes a serious health concern. It is also fatal for persons suffering from breathing problems such as allergies or asthma. If you want to improve the indoor air quality you can apply some simple solutions which are affordable as well as easy to follow.
Tip#1: Let some fresh air inside
The simplest tip to improve the air quality inside your apartment is
to turn on the ceiling fan and open the windows in the morning. When we
keep the doors and windows closed overnight, the harmful air builds up
and it stays inside the home with no outlet point.Contrary to popular belief when you open the windows in the morning the stale air inside the home will be replaced by the natural fresh air.
This will remove the harmful chemicals inside the house built up overnight. Doing this every morning will take only a few minutes of your time but it’s one of the most basic and simplest way to get regular supply of fresh air inside your home.
Tip #2: Use non-toxic cleaning products
If you are still using traditional house cleaning products, t
Tip #3: Invest in healthy houseplants
In your fight against the harmful chemicals such as benzene, carbon monoxide and formaldehyde let plants be your companion. There is a study which was done by NASA, which is popularly named as NASA Clean Air Study. The main motive of this study was to research the type of plants which are effective in purifying the air and removing the harmful elements from your indoor environment. Some of the plants which were involved in this study are:
- Dwarf date palm (Phoenix roebelenii)
- Boston fern (Nephrolepis exaltata ‘Bostoniensis’)
- Spider plant (Chlorophytum comosum)
- Kimberly queen fern (Nephrolepis obliterata)
- Lilyturf (Liriope spicata)
- Areca palm (Dypsis lutescens)
- Devil’s ivy, Money plant (Epipremnum aureum)
- English ivy (Hedera helix)
- Peace lily (Spathiphyllum ‘Mauna Loa’)
Tip #4: Choose safer paints for your home
Tip #5: Use a HEPA air purifier
Like the toxic elements emitted by the paints, the other form of
harmful element in the indoor air are allergens. Allergens are basically
foreign substances which induce an immune response in the body. The
major cause of increase in these allergens are dust particles which are
accumulated over time in your home. The possible solution for this
problem is using a vacuum cleaner and cleaning all the places which are
prone to dust accumulation.However if you want effective cleaning then ordinary vacuum cleaners are not suitable for this job. You will have to invest in a HEPA air purifier which is capable to remove even the smallest of the impurities from your indoor air. HEPA or commonly known as High efficiency particulate arrestance or High efficiency particulate absorber is a type of air filter which forces the air to move through a fine mesh of fiberglass fibers and in the process traps harmful allergens to provide pure, healthy and fresh air.
These are some of the simple yet effective methods which you can incorporate to create natural and fresh environment inside your home.
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