Indoor Air Quality Tips

It may be tempting to attribute a recent allergy episode to a change in seasons or weather patterns, but it could likely be a sensitive reaction to the contaminants in your indoor environment.

Many people experience allergies in response to a range of materials, and in fact, concentrations of pollen, dust and other irritants can be more concentrated in enclosed locations than they are in outdoor spaces. Potential symptoms include coughing, sneezing, watery eyes, headaches, bloody noses and congestion.

If you are experiencing any of these issues, pay careful attention to when the symptoms arrive and when they disappear. If you start to experience issues shortly after you walk into your office or home and those same symptoms disappear shortly after you leave, then you are likely dealing with poor air quality within that space

Many health symptoms or ailments will likely be mild. However, some contaminants like asbestos, toxic mold spores and other hazardous chemicals can have a much more extreme effect on your health. If you begin to notice dizziness, nausea, rashes, fevers, chills, fatigue, vomiting, muscle pain, shortness of breath or hearing loss, then it’s very possible that you may be dealing with a much more extreme issue.

If you find yourself in this scenario, you will want to call a professional to identify and rectify the issue as quickly as possible. It would also be wise to consult with your doctor about the symptoms you are experiencing as soon as possible, and again, once you identify what was sabotaging the air quality in your environment.

If left unaddressed, the pollutants in your home may quickly affect your lungs and, in extreme situations, can possibly lead to some severe health conditions. For example, if you frequently experience bronchitis or pneumonia symptoms, it could be a direct result of the airborne particles you’re breathing in.

Additionally, if you don’t address the reasons why this is happening or discuss your health symptoms with your doctor, then they can potentially develop into something much worse. If you are experiencing any of these there are a number of things you can do to correct the issue.

Firstly, get your HVAC system inspected and/or cleaned. Make sure you change your filters on a regular basis and get an air purification system in your home/work environment. Ideally, you want to catch milder symptoms before they turn into a bigger problem.

If there is new construction going on near you, then perhaps that is the culprit. Construction, renovations or manufacturing can release a number of chemicals and particles into the air, which may easily enter through ducts and ventilation.

Additionally, if you live in a tightly packed neighborhood, it may be wise to pay close attention to the actions of your neighbors. If they have recently sprayed their lawn with insecticides, painted their house or somehow used any other chemicals, they may be entering your home and polluting your indoor air.

Noticing simple changes to your surrounding environment can go a long way in helping you identify the potential problem. To prevent this, be sure to thoroughly clean up after the project has been completed, as well as change your air filters immediately. It would also be wise to buy an air purifier to help improve your air quality by removing potentially harmful particles that were recently kicked up.

Whether you are experiencing health symptoms or not, you can identify issues by noticing inconsistencies throughout a building. If one spot is colder or warmer than another, you likely have an issue in the system that could potentially be affecting the purity of airflow. This not only plays a role in the temperature, but the overall air quality in each area.

In addition, you want to pay attention to the humidity levels of different areas. Mugginess or dryness can be a sign that you have poor indoor air quality. Depending on the scenario that you find yourself in, a humidifier or dehumidifier can help you get the humidity back to a level that is beneficial to everyone within the environment.