We’re all now aware of the fact that air pollution can affect our health. We’re constantly seeing never ending headlines warning us on how the planet is changing because of the increasing amount of pollution and carbon dioxide emissions, which brings multiple health problems along with it. To try tackle the issues, we tend to seek greener alternatives and reduce our use of automobiles.
For many, air pollution is considered to be an “outdoor problem”. But we do not consider the fact that the air we’re breathing in our homes is the same air as outside, but instead, it’s trapped within our four walls. The air circulating within our homes is likely to carry the same pollutants as the air outside. We averagely spend about 90% of our time indoors, so It’s important that the air we’re breathing in is cleaner. Together with Daikin, who are the leading air conditioning unit suppliers, we can reduce the risks of building toxins at home and improve the air quality by making it purer.
Toxic House Syndrome
The National Health Service (NHS) outlines possible cases of the symptoms relating to Toxic House Syndrome (or Sick Building Syndrome). Some of them include smoke, dust, bad ventilation, and air conditioning units that are not properly maintained. Some of the risks outlined by the World Health Organisation that are related to the poor indoor air quality are as below:
- Lung cancer
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
- Ischaemic heart disease
It is fact that poorer underdeveloped and developing countries are more subjected to the impact of toxic household air, due to their usage of solid fuels like charcoal, wood and waste. However, developed countries are adding to their indoor pollutants in other ways.
What are the causes to poor indoor air quality?
Looking at the root causes of pollutants within our homes or workplaces, the British Long Foundation had stated listed our things like the temperature, ventilations, cooking, pets, damp, cleaning products and even pollution from outside all accumulates inside the home. Therefore, it is necessary to open the windows of the home for at least some time every day. That becomes more important while cooking. Checking the dampness at home is equally important as ignoring that can cause a series of health-related problems.
The scented candles are meant to create a great ambiance for lovely occasions; however, it needs to be understood that these very things are bad for our lungs. The chemicals used to put scents in these candles are made of harmful chemicals like benzene and toluene, which are the same thing that goes even in the air fresheners. Therefore, these kinds of harmful products should be avoided and one should prefer to stick with opening doors or windows to let the air inside the home get cleaned with natural agents.
If one cannot resist using scents at home, they can go for liquid cleaners as much as they want. Other sprays like the har sprays, deodorant, etc should only be used in well-ventilated areas. The cleaners in the spray bottle can lead to chemical cleaning products to partly disperse into the air.
Ways to purify the air
As we know the causes of the poor air quality, we need to know the methods to resolve them. Getting rid of the air fresheners bought from the stores along with their toxins is one way to remove the indoor pollution. However, we cannot keep our windows open all day long and need to come up with alternatives. Luckily, there are natural ways to create air fresheners and they are easy to create as well. There are great ideas from the Natural Penguin who are the creators of the oil-scented wood blocks, that are simple to create and would look boho-chic in a glass bowl mixed with glass pebbles or some dried flowers.
Scattering a few plants is another natural way of cleaning the air around a place. According to research done by NASA, some of the best air-purifying plants that can be placed at home are plants like the aloe vera, spider plants, etc. Bringing greenery to the office is also a great way to breathe in some natural fresh air.
Air purification systems are a great way to clean the outdoor pollutants that manage to get indoors. These machines have powerful systems that help you to breathe fresh air by capturing harmful particles or pollutants coming in the air. These purifiers can help reduce the number of bacteria that we breathe in the air as well as help to lower allergy and asthma symptoms. They also help to remove any kind of odors prevailing in the room without the need for any of those harmful air fresheners.