How Pollution Of Indoor Air Has an effect on Your Health
Are you living in some remote place where the air is pure and your residence isn't filled with manufactured furniture and the like that give off dangerous gases? If not you will definitely be impacted by indoor air pollution. There are many different kinds of airborne particles in the air around us all and plenty of them are not very good for your health. One obvious response to air pollution is that of individuals allergic to pollen, animal dander or dust-mites.One of the biggest health risks due to the environment is indoor air pollution. If it's possible, getting adequate ventilation into your house is a good start to addressing indoor air pollution. If you live where you get cold winters, ventilation may not be so convenient all year round. Ventilation may not be such a good idea if you suffer from hayfever and it's that time of year.Another potential method to deal with the problem of indoor pollution is to obtain a whole house air cleaner system. These are installed in your heating or air conditioning systems. They are not cheap.It's futile to clean the air without removing the sources of pollution. It's obvious that it's crucially important to remove the sources of pollution. One of the worst sources in the home is burning candles or incense.The two main kinds of pollutants in the air are gaseous pollutants and particulate matter. Examples of particles are dust, pollen and tobacco smoke. More examples of particles are pesticides and herbicides.There is a wide range in the size of particles. You want to know the size of the particle you want to remove. They can differ from room dust which is 100 to 300 microns to pesticides and herbicides which are only 0.001 micron.Particulate matter can be removed by mechanical filters such as HEPA filters and by electrostatic air filters. What you need to pay attention to is how small particles the filter can capture. You should also pay attention to the fact that even though you may be allergic to particles bigger than 10 microns, particles equal to or less than 10 microns (known as PM10) are definitely a health hazard because they can penetrate to the deepest parts of your lungs. These particles can increase asthma symptoms and cause or aggravate lung diseases like bronchitis.Any type of burning can create toxic gases or volatile organic compounds. So, gases could come from gas stoves, lighted candles and cigarette smoking. Many household products discharge volatile organic compounds. Good examples are furnishings, paints and lacquers, cleaning products and cosmetics.Whereas a mechanical filter works well for particles, gas molecules are so tiny that a process called adsorption is needed to capture them. The gases bond to the surface of a suitable material like activated carbon, zeolite and potassium permanganate. As it's a surface phenomenon, you need a lot of surface area to capture the gases. So, you are typically talking about pounds of activated carbon for it to be effective.A thin carbon pre-filter cannot seriously cope with any gaseous pollution problem. Perhaps it will remove some odor but its weight is not sufficient for efficient gas removal.What are the health issues caused by indoor air pollution? There are both short term effects and long term effects. Short term effects are problems like allergy symptoms which appear to become more and more common. Even people who aren’t allergic can be irritated by pollutants in the air. Their eyes, nose and throat can be irritated. Long term effects are as critical as carcinoma of the lung and heart disease. A whole lot is dependent upon the actual pollutants. The consequences of tobacco smoke in leading to lung cancer are well known. A lot of research is going on today into the effects on health of the extremely small particles and gaseous pollutants which result in indoor air pollution.
If you wish to know more about indoor air pollution and also the ways of combating it, drop by the Air Purifier Reviews website which has educational articles on this subject and also objective reviews of several air purifiers.