Test Your Home Air Quality

What Types of Pollutants Can Be Present Indoors?

First, though, when was the last time your ductwork was cleaned along with the draft hood for your stove?  Let’s take a look at the types of pollutants you might find in your home.

Biological Pollutants

If you are facing allergic reactions as symptoms, you might have biological pollutants in your air like mold, pollen, dust mites, and bacteria.  Beyond getting your air tested, there are a few other ways you can see if your problem is biological. For example, mold can be found in very humid spaces (like your bathroom) and can smell musty or under the sinks.

There are companies that offer to resurface your kitchen cabinets.  Often enough depending on the environment mold could also set in behind the cabinets; so regardless of if resurfacing is done you are still with the same cabinets.

Chemical Pollutants

Chemical pollutants can include VOCs or volatile organic compounds. VOCs may not be a familiar acronym, but some familiar origins can include paint, cleaners, disinfectants, and stored fuels like gas and propane. VOCs can easily become gasses or vapors that float within your home if they are not stored properly.  VOCs can range in toxicity and short versus long-term problems. Some short-term issues can include headaches, dizziness, and fatigue. Long-term effects can look like kidney, liver, and central nervous system damage. There are ways you can test for these pollutants often in the form of test kits.

Combustion Pollutants

Combustion pollutants are familiar to most individuals as it comes in the form of tobacco smoke and carbon monoxide.

Tobacco smoke is a huge cause of lung cancer, even for those who do not smoke. Second and third-hand smoke (the smoke that can be found in walls, furniture, and more) can still negatively impact you even if a former tenant was a smoker. Carbon monoxide poisoning can lead to headaches, dizziness, and ultimately death. Fortunately, tobacco smoke can usually be sniffed out with your nose. Carbon monoxide alarms are a common system found in homes. If you think your home has a combustion pollutants problem, it is best to address these immediately.

Radon Gases

Radon is a naturally-occurring radioactive gas that can cause lung cancer. Radon gas is inert, colorless, and odorless. Radon is naturally in the atmosphere in trace amounts. Outdoors, radon disperses rapidly and, generally, is not a health issue. Most radon exposure occurs inside homes, schools, and workplaces.

Symptoms of Bad Air Quality In My Home?

Getting your home inspected for air quality is vitally important.  Symptoms of bad air quality in the home can be both long and short-term. For short-term symptoms, the immediate effects can be varied depending on what the pollutant is. Differences in age, sensitivity, exposure amount, and pre-existing medical conditions can also have an effect when interacting with a pollutant.

Even if you aren’t experiencing any odd health-related issues that you may think are related to your home, it is still a good idea to test the quality of your air.

One of the major benefits you get from using a DIY home air quality testing kit is that you discover which types of contaminants you may be continually exposed to without even knowing it.

In this sense, knowledge is very powerful because it helps you determine what problems need to be fixed before it has a chance to really damages your health.

By finding out what toxins may be in your home, you can choose to install a better air filtration system or move forward with an abatement process that removes the harmful elements.

Now that you know how to test home air quality, it’s a great time to get started doing it.

The easiest way to keep yourself healthy and safe is by finding out what harmful toxins are lurking inside your home and then taking the steps to get rid of them.

As you learned in this guide, home testing kits of all kinds are widely available and an air purifier is a great product to help combat any airborne pollutant issues.

Hopefully, you’re now ready to take the next steps to ensure you have a cleaner, healthier environment inside your home that doesn’t make you feel sick.