Indoor air quality has always been a top concern for the HVAC industry. According to the US National Library of Medicine, indoor air pollution has been ranked among the top five environmental risks to public health. Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) has shown through research to have significant effects on individual comfort, health, and performance.
The populus spends nearly 90% of their time inside, where air pollutants can reach 100x the concentration found outdoors. Inhaled pollutants are proven to increase health concerns such as nausea, headaches, skin irritation, sick building syndrome, asthma, upper and lower respiratory disease, kidney failure, and even cancer. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 700,000 people per year die from poor breathing conditions.
Over years, as technology and building skills have increased, our homes have become better insulated- allowing less air to move into our out of the home organically. While this reduces energy costs, it also restricts the natural replacement of clean air in homes. Think of how fresh your spaces feel after a nice spring cleaning, and an influx of new air through those open windows.
This sense of your home becoming more light and airy is not a perceptual trick. When the air inside becomes stagnant, it also becomes saturated with pollutants and contaminents. That feeling of heaviness and discomfort is also not just a trick of your mind, you can tell when the air you’re breathing just doesnt feel good. And this not-so-great-air is headed straight into your lungs, where the filtration process becomes the duty of your body.
Our natural in-body filter, the lungs, then take all of those germs, viral particles, allergens, mold spores etc, and clean them out of the air before you exhale. Which is fascinating from a scientific standpoint, however then your body has to do something with all that yuck it just encountered. As your body’s systems work together to now filter your lungs, just as the lungs did for the air, you move the pollutants and carcinogens throughout your body and various systems depending on how the body reacts to that particular compound.
While the incredible human body can withstand pollutants and contaminants to an impressive degree, ultimately long term exposure will lead to a build up in the system. This can result in the wide array of health conditions mentioned above.
Options to replenish/replace the air in your home more rapidly, to kill contaminants, and to remove other particulates from your air exist in great abundance. There is any number of solutions ready available to fit the IAQ needs of your home. Participating in free Indoor Air Quality analysis appointments allows HVAC techs to promptly read and assess the problems in your home, resulting in your ability to adress them effectively.
Taking command of the air in your home protects you and your family in both the short term as well as the long. Even if you don’t have asthma, or dry air in the winter, this does not mean your home is without it’s own unique threats to your health lingering in the air.
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