The air you breathe, even inside your home, makes a lot of difference to your health, especially respiratory health. With air pollution already being a problem worldwide, millions of people suffer from many complications. You don’t want to get added to that list.
Poor air quality inside your home triggers many complications, including chronic cough, lung infections, and inflammatory responses. Surprisingly, the impact of poor air quality indoors is twice as bad as that outdoors.
The key is to be aware of different ways to test the air quality in your home. This detailed guide will examine that further.
What are the Telltale Signs That You are Breathing in Poor Quality Air?
The majority of the air pollutants that trigger respiratory complications are not visible to the naked eye. So, even when you clean your home regularly and ensure that personal hygiene is a priority, there is a high chance that you are still breathing in poor-quality air.
Following are some of the telltale signs that indicate that you might be breathing in poor-quality air:
1. Consistent Allergies
Chronic allergies might not seem like a symptom, but if you frequently cough, sneeze, or have watery eyes, chances are that the air inside your home isn’t as clean as you think. Beyond the standard air pollutants, some of the other factors that contribute to allergies are dust mites, pollen, and pet dander. These can accumulate inside your home, causing allergy-like symptoms occasionally.
2. Increases Occurrence of Respiratory Complications
If you have a high level of smoke, mild spores, and even chemicals in your home that you are breathing in with the air, it can contribute to different types of respiratory complications. Common health issues like bronchitis and asthma are pretty prevalent in such cases.
3. Visible Mold Development
Despite regular cleaning and dusting, if you notice mold buildup inside your home and excess dust buildup, those are signs of poor indoor air quality. While dust buildup can be cleaned occasionally, exposure to mold in the long run can contribute to a wide range of symptoms like headaches, lethargy, allergies, etc. So, besides thorough cleaning, ensuring humidity control inside the home is crucial, too.
4. Unpleasant Odors
If you can smell an unpleasant odor in your home, despite having cleaned everything occasionally, that is a sign of poor air quality. Besides harmful contaminants in the air, an unpleasant odor is also a sign of poor ventilation, which can cause mold growth, leading to the “wet” and unpleasant morbid smell inside the house. Other factors contributing to the scent are gas leaks, cleaning agents, clogged drains, plumbing issues, etc.
What Are the Best Ways to Test Air Quality in Your Home?
If you are experiencing one or more of these symptoms, it is a telltale sign that you need to implement ways to clean the air you breathe inside your home. Simply knowing the triggers isn’t enough if you don’t take proactive steps to mitigate the issue.
Following are a few of the ways you can test the air quality in your home:
1. Purchase and Install a Well-Rated Air Quality Monitor
Much like the air quality index (AQI) of the outdoors, you need to be mindful of the AQI inside your home if you don’t want to struggle with the aftermath of the condition.
A good air quality monitor comes in handy in such cases. Numerous brands, including PurpleAir, SAF, Airthings, etc., sell them.
The main function of these monitors is to provide you with ongoing and real-time updates on the pollutants inside your home. These could include different kinds of particulate matter, VOCs, and carbon dioxide that you could unknowingly be inhaling while inside your home. When you have access to the right data, it becomes much easier for you to take action to mitigate the issues.
2. Install Carbon Monoxide Detectors
One of the major elements that pollutes the air you breathe in is carbon monoxide. So, if you want to be proactive and detect any such complications, installing a carbon monoxide detector in your home, especially around the kitchen, can be a great idea.
Since carbon monoxide is odorless and colorless, it is almost impossible to detect its presence inside your home without a detector. Additionally, prolonged exposure to this gas can lead to various complications, including headaches, fatigue, and disorientation.
3. Get Thorough Mold Testing in Your Home
Although many people brush it to the side, testing for mold in your home is part of the air quality test. Since chronic mold exposure is associated with many serious health complications, it is essential that you either hire professionals for testing or get an at-home mold test kit to check the levels at home.
Sometimes, mold outgrowth is deeply rooted and not easily accessible. For that, it is best to hire professionals who can help you pinpoint mold growth locations with thorough inspection and implement ways to fix them.
4. Thorough Testing for Radon
Another indoor gas polluting the air you breathe in is radon. Although naturally occurring, Radon is a very dangerous gas that can get into your home through the foundation and linger for long periods of time.
Numerous studies even connect radon to be one of the primary triggers behind causing lung cancer in people who don’t usually smoke. This explains the need for comprehensive testing for Radon so you aren’t affecting your health in the long run.
5. Check Humidity Levels in Your Home
We briefly discussed mold growth in your home; surprisingly, the main factor contributing to it is the humidity inside the house. If your home’s humidity levels are consistently between 50-60%, it forms the basis for mold, mildew, and even dust mites.
This, in turn, affects the health of the people breathing the air inside the home. If you notice frequent complaints of mold and mildew in your home, installing a humidity monitoring device is essential. This will alert you about the rampant changes in the humidity, ensuring that you implement the right measures to keep the moisture inside the home in check.
6. Look for Leaks Inside Your Home
Besides humidity, another common factor that could pollute the air inside your home is prevalent leaks. So, when testing for the air quality in your home, ensure that you thoroughly check the basement, kitchen, and even the bathroom.
If you notice any minor or major leaks in these areas (or anywhere in the house), fixing them promptly will prevent mold growth and keep the air quality clean for breathing.
7. Cross-Check the Furniture Quality
If you have had furniture in your home for a prolonged period, consider checking its quality and state. Certain old furniture might release VOCs into your home, further polluting the air indoors.
In such instances, replacing worn-out furniture is a much better option, especially because your health might be at stake.
What Are Some Tips to Improve Air Quality Inside the Home?
While testing for air quality in your home, if you notice that things are not as prime and pristine, taking immediate measures to rectify that is mandatory. Breathing in polluted air inside your home is bound to take a toll on your physical well-being, which you can prevent with the following tips:
- The first and probably the most essential thing to do is to ensure proper ventilation. Stagnant air inside your home is one of the main reasons behind the growing concerns about breathing in polluted air, so open up the windows, ventilate the house, and allow fresh air to cross-circulate.
- Since humidity levels inside the home are associated with many air quality-related complications, like mold and mildew growth, regulating the humidity levels in your house is paramount. You can do so by installing a dehumidifier if needed.
- Be it dust, pet dander, pollen, or other harmful pollutants, a good air purifier can be a game-changer for your home. So, if you are struggling with respiratory complications or allergies, getting an air purifier can be a game-changer.
- Maintaining the HVAC system in your home is a prime necessity to keep the indoor air quality in check. There’s not much to do besides ensuring regular cleaning and maintenance. Doing so enables the system to improve the air quality and eliminate the pollutants more proactively.
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Final Words
Breathing in poor-quality air inside your home doesn’t have to be normal. If you are constantly feeling tired, have allergy-like symptoms, or suffer from respiratory complications, the key is to test the air quality in your home and take proactive measures to overcome the challenges. Be it installing an air purifier or getting rid of the humidity in your home, there are several things you can do to ensure that you are breathing in clean air, at least when you are indoors.
