Start Breathing Easier
It may be difficult for most homeowners to believe, but simply living and breathing in your home may pose the same health hazards as inhaling heavy smog or smoking a pack of cigarettes every week.
An airtight home does wonders for energy efficiency, but those same insulating qualities can prevent common air pollutants from flowing out of the home. With all the carpet fumes, mildews, fungi, bacteria, dust mites and other indoor air pollutants floating around, isn’t as clean as you think.
The average home collects about two pounds of dust per week and Environmental Protection Agency studies have found that indoor air is between 2 and 10 times more hazardous then outdoor air. According to Scientific American, a baby crawling around a typical home inhales the chemical equivalent of four cigarettes a day! Indoor air pollutants compound the symptoms of people with respiratory diseases such as asthma, which afflicts almost 20 million Americans, including over 6 million under age 18.
So what can you do about it?
Unfortunately, many homeowners believe that portable room air cleaners and purifiers are the answer. Cylindrical, stand-up models and table top units made popular by home specialty stores and TV infomercials can remove some airborne particles, but only if particles float within the vicinity of the unit. Many consumer advocacy groups, namely Consumer Reports®, have called such units ineffective. Plus, a home would need one in every room to make any impact on overall air quality.
More effective solutions come in the form of whole-house cleaners, which are attached to the air flow lines near the furnace blower. Research and testing conducted by a Harvard professor of public health John D. Spengler claim that furnaces-mounted units are five times as effective as two portable units!