5 ways to improve indoor air quality

Indoor air quality is often much worse than outdoors. In fact, medical experts say that this leads to problems ranging from allergies and asthma, shortness of breath, bronchitis, cough, colds, symptoms such as eye irritation, headache, sore throat, and more.

1. Ensure proper passive ventilation

Do not rush to open all the windows. Instead, use ventilation and invest in non-sanitary air filters until this air enters the living area. Many filters are only a few centimeters high and are adjustable to fit most windows.

Place one in the window at the beginning of the house, and the second on the other end to reduce the cost of circulation, which lets in fresh, filtered air and exhausts it into the street.

2. Use fans

If you have fans in your bathroom and kitchen at home, use them to remove moisture and odors from your surroundings. If they do not help much, then put in a window so that smoke and other irritants are quickly removed.

When using a gas stove or oven, start the fan or open a window. Why? These devices produce nitric oxide, which in combination with sunlight produces ozone. After all, irritants can cause wheezing and shortness of breath even in those who are not sick with asthma.

3. Turn on the air conditioner

One of the easiest ways to improve indoor air quality is to turn on the air conditioner. Common irritants, such as mold, dust mites, are found in moist air. Your air conditioning system filters it and removes moisture, increasing overall quality.

4. Invest in high performance filters

You can expand the filtering capabilities of your heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems by investing in high-performance air filters. HEPA filters (high efficiency air particles) should remove 99.97% of airborne particles, from small ones - 0.3 microns. While filters with high efficiency MERP (13 to 16) - 75% of the particles, from 1 to 0.3 microns.

5. Eliminate irritants

Reduce emissions and pollutants. Avoid detergents, perfumes, hair spray, air fresheners, paints, chemicals that emit Los (volatile organic compounds).

Products with artificial flavors can be especially problematic.

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