Indoor Air Quality Solutions to Care for your Air

When it comes to indoor air quality, we're sure you would go above and beyond to keep your family safe and breathing the best air possible.

The solutions are simple that will bring more fresh air into your home and improve your indoor air quality and reduce those pesky household contaminants.

If you're looking for actionable tips that you can use today, then you'll love this article.

Many homes fall short when it comes to healthy indoor air quality.

Bottomline?

According to CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission), "In the last several years, a growing body of scientific evidence has indicated that the air within homes and other buildings can be more seriously polluted than the outdoor air in even the largest and most industrialized cities."

"Other research indicates that people spend approximately 90 percent of their time indoors. Thus, for many people, the risks to health may be greater due to exposure to air pollution indoors than outdoors."

Bring Nature Indoors for Clean Air

The benefits of houseplants cannot be overstated. Houseplants clean the air. Houseplants actually breathe. They take in carbon dioxide and breathe out oxygen. People and animals take in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide. By bringing plants into your home, you're creating a symbiotic relationship, filtering the air, creating fresh oxygen, and beautifying your home. Here are some good houseplants you may want to consider:

Aloe Plant - the Aloe plant is a great choice because it's pleasant to look at and it's easy to care for, but it has some other great attributes:

- it is great for cuts, burns, and detoxing your body

- its leaves will show brown spots when there is an abundance of harmful chemicals in the air

English Ivy - English Ivy is another easy to care for houseplant, with amazing attributes. NASA scientists have rated English Ivy as the best houseplant for filtering air. It is also the best known houseplant for filtering formaldehyde.

Rubber Tree - Rubber trees clean the air, thrive in poor lighting, do well in cooler climates, and require minimal care. They also efficiently remove toxins from the air.

Snake Plant - the Snake plant is unusual because it releases oxygen during the night, while most plants only release oxygen during the day. It doesn't need much water or light.

Bamboo Palm - this attractive plant also made NASA's list of great purifying plants. It is effective at removing benzene and trichloroethylene from the air.

Red-Edged Dracaena - this vibrantly beautiful plant is great for adding some flair to your decorating, as well as cleaning toxins from the air, such as xylene, trichloroethylene, and formaldehyde.

Crack the Windows and Keep the Floors Clean

Your home, especially if it is newer, does not breathe well. It re-circulates the same air, over and over. This can be a real problem for indoor air quality. By cracking the windows, you are letting fresh air into your home.

By keeping the floors clean, mopping, vacuuming, and utilizing doormats, you are removing particles that will eventually end up in the air.

One of the best indoor air quality tips that will keep your air quality at optimum levels is to just turn your furnace blower on. This serves to re-circulate the air, in your home, through your intake and back out of your home's supply ducts.

Also make sure your furnace has a filter system with UV lights. UV lights kill microbial bacterial and mold spores. A furnace equipped with a UV light filtration system cleans your air as much as 90% better, which dramatically increases your indoor air quality.

Make certain your furnace has been serviced. If your furnace isn't working up to par, it will not clean your air as well. It can also cause more maintenance problems or even stop working altogether. It is important to keep your furnace serviced regularly. Contact your furnace service provider for the best maintenance program for your unit.

Use a Whole Air Home Purification System

The air inside your home is essential for more than comfort, it's essential for life. For those that suffer with asthma and horrible reactions to allergens you know exactly what I'm talking about.

It can get tricky. Proper balance is hard to find. We can suggest air purifiersbecause they can remove airborne contaminants and allergens.

They will trap approximately 98% or more of pollen and mold spores depending on the unit your home requires. According to the Mayo Clinic, 93% of Chronic Sinus Infections have been attributed to mold. As we breathe in the spores that float through the air, that mold can actually grow in our sinus cavities and lungs.

Mold has a way of prevailing. Humidity, dampness, leaks and condensation in the right conditions can cause mold to grow almost anywhere.

Be Aware of the Furniture You Purchase

Make sure new cabinets, furniture, and building materials such as plywood, particle board, and oriented strand board (OSB) used in your home are not made with adhesives that contain formaldehyde. [Today'sHomeowner.com...]

"Formaldehyde is a toxic gas that is given off by a surprising number of items in our homes. As a constituent of many manufactured items, formaldehyde can be found in:

· Furniture

· Walls

· Carpeting

· Flooring

· Decorations

How can you tell what types of furniture could potentially release formaldehyde gas?

One of the primary uses of formaldehyde is in adhesives, so if your furniture is made out of “wood” that is something other than solid natural wood, it is likely to be emitting formaldehyde. Items like plywood, medium-density fiberboard (MDF), chipboard, and particle board all rely on glue to hold them together, and each of these can be high in formaldehyde."

Give Your Stuffed Toys and Pillows a Deep Freeze

Hard to think those cute teddy bears or your pillow you use daily, could have dust mites.

Service Master Clean suggests "to get rid of them, put the stuffed toys and pillows in a waterproof laundry bag and place it in a freezer. Let it cool for a few hours. The low temperatures will kill all the dust mites and this will tremendously contribute to cleaner indoor air."

Another reason to clean your pillows is because they are grosser than you could possibly imagine...

Throw them in the wash. Pillows are ideal breeding grounds for dust mites and the flu.

"Research stated that after two years, approximately 1/3 of a pillow’s weight contains dead skin, dust mites (which eat the dead skin), and droppings (poop from all those mites). Additionally, 10% of people and 80% of allergy sufferers are allergic to proteins found in waste and decomposed dust mites!"

Following these indoor air quality tips isn't all that difficult, but it does require some effort. By bringing in houseplants, opening your windows, keeping your floors clean, and circulating the air through a maintained furnace, you're taking the proper steps to care for you and your family.

The question of how to improve air quality in your home is a year round issue. The answer lies in a multi-faceted approach that addresses the sources of poor air quality. Controlling the dust, mold or lack of ventilation and maintaining your homes humidity will help improve the air quality in your home as well.

There are a number of factors that can cause indoor air pollution and trigger asthma, allergies and a plethora of other illnesses. The indoor air quality solutions listed is a refreshing start to improving your air.