Maintaining high quality for your indoor air is essential, but it’s not something that a lot of people think about. In fact, it’s not something that even those with poor breathing or poor health tend to think about. That’s why you want to make sure that you’re doing everything you can to stay safe and healthy, wherever you go. Don’t ignore the air quality inside of any building, and especially those where you have to spend a lot of time. It could mean health problems in the long-run. 

Do you know everything there is to know about indoor air quality – IAQ? You probably don’t, but you’re not alone. In fact, there are very few people who really understand this topic. That’s because it’s not something that most of us think about. We may go into a lot of different buildings and we notice things like what the air smell like (if anything) but we don’t think about the exact chemical makeup of that air. We assume that it’s healthy and safe, but there are some things you may not know that you definitely should. 

90% of Your Time is Spent Indoors

Did you know that you spend approximately 90% of your time inside of some building or another? Between the time you spend in your own home, at work, at school, shopping or even going to appointments you’re indoors a whole lot. And that’s one reason that it’s important to understand indoor air quality. It’s going to be different for each building that you’re in, but knowing that it’s high quality is going to help you feel safer no matter where you are. It is often recommended to consult to a professional mechanical engineering firm for identifying the best measures for improving the indoor air quality, especially during emergency situations like the novel coronavirus pandemic. 

Indoor Air Pollution Comes From Many Sources

There are plenty of different things that can cause indoor air pollution. These include:

• Building materials
• Chemical products
• Combustion sources
• Outdoor sources (which are brought in)
• Pets
• Dust mites
• Mold
• Virus/bacteria

Anyone or more of these could be contributing to the quality of the air in your home in different ways and the more you ignore them or leave them be the worse it can get. You want to make sure that you are monitoring each of these within your home. 

Indoor Air Quality Could Be Between 2 and 100 Times Worse Than Outside Air Quality

Did you know that being indoors can actually be worse than being outdoors? Many of us hear about pollution and the way that outdoor air can be bad for your health. But we don’t think about just how bad indoor air quality could be for your health. You want to spend your time inside buildings where the air quality is actually going to help you instead of being an even bigger problem. 

Poor Air Quality Contributes to the Development of Health Problems

Many health problems like asthma, allergies, lung cancer, and heart problems have all been linked to poor air quality both indoors and outdoors. That means it’s important for you to look at the quality of the air that you breathe wherever you go, and even if you’re spending your time indoors rather than outdoors where you might suspect more pollution. 

Indoor Air Pollution is One of the Top Environmental Dangers

The EPA actually puts indoor air pollution within the top five when they list environmental disasters. That definitely should tell you something, namely that you need to be careful about where you’re spending your time. If you’re not careful you could actually find yourself inhaling even more pollutants than you might think. 

Breathing Problems in Children Are on the Rise

Problems like allergies and asthma developing in children and young adults have actually continued to get worse over the years. And those conditions have been linked to an increase in poor indoor air quality. That means you could be breathing in a whole lot more particles than you think that are causing harm to your body. 

You Can Do Something About It

The good news is there is something you can do about your indoor air quality. You can help to protect yourself and your loved ones by making sure that the air in your home or business is of high quality. But just what ways can you start working on your air quality?

• Install an air purifier with a HEPA air filter, activated carbon filter or pre-filter
• Use fans to increase airflow
• Open doors and windows to increase natural airflow
• Use the fan built into your HVAC system
• Increase outdoor/indoor airflow and ventilation

When you increase the ventilation throughout your home you’re going to help keep your family and anyone who visits healthier. If you increase ventilation throughout your business you’re going to protect your customers and employees in the same way. So, you want to make sure you look into each of these methods. 

Why Increase Ventilation and Indoor Air Quality?

Just why is indoor air quality so important? Because without it you could be at risk for a number of different health problems. You could increase your chances of developing asthma or allergies. You could increase your chances of heart problems and even cancer. And you could increase your chances of minor side effects like headaches and dizziness.

You’re also going to be at greater risk for developing different health conditions and diseases that include viral and bacterial infections. You and your family want to be healthy and happy and that can only happen if the air in the places you spend the most time is high quality. That way, you can reduce your risk of:

• Colds
• Flu
• Pneumonia 
• COVID
• And more

There are plenty of different health problems that start out as a virus or bacteria, which can easily be spread through poor air quality. When you improve air quality you decrease the chances of contracting these diseases in any form. 

Understanding Indoor Air Quality

The quality of the air inside of a building is important to everyone. But it’s something that we tend not to think about. Instead, we focus on the outdoor air quality and assume that the air inside of buildings is just fine. That’s definitely not a good assumption to make because it can actually cause you more problems in the long run. Instead, make sure that you look at the actual air quality of any place you spend a lot of time and especially places where you can control the quality. Gateway Mechanical Canada