Indoor Air Quality in Residential Buildings
Residential buildings are normally designed to be airtight. Ventilation usually comes from a central ventilation system and small windows. This type of ventilation may not be sufficient to maintain good indoor air quality, thereby, increasing your chances of getting health problems.
Indoor air quality in residential buildings can easily be polluted by gases that are released from home furnishings, building materials, appliances, and household products. Molds, mildew, and bacteria are some examples of harmful particles that can easily get caught in the air. If you are living in an apartment building, here are some steps on how to improve your indoor air quality:
Test for pollutants – the first thing that you need to do is take the time to look around your apartment. Your sense of smell will be very helpful in spotting a problem. However, keep in mind that just because you do not experience any weird smell doesn’t mean your air is safe. Gases released from furnishing and other combustible compounds are usually odorless. You can use an indoor air quality test kit to help you determine if your indoor air is polluted.
Reduce pollutants – once you know which pollutants are present in your place, find the time to eliminate them by contacting a professional to help you get rid of the problem. If your place has high gas concentration, you will need an expert to deal with proper handling of the chemicals to avoid putting yourself at risk. Store your household products in a safe place, or you can throw them away and replace them with eco-friendly products. To prevent the negative health effects of allergens, make sure you clean commonly infested areas, such as basement, bathroom, and garage. Vacuum your carpet and wash your drapes. Get your leaky pipes fixed to lessen moisture and eliminate mold build up. Also, avoid smoking inside your apartment as tobacco smoke can really pollute the air.
Increase ventilation – it is hard to increase ventilation when your apartment building only has small windows. What you can do is make sure that your stove has a proper vent, invest in an air purifier, and see if you can install a vent fan near your window. These strategies should help you increase the natural ventilation in your place and help eliminate indoor pollutants.
Maintain good air quality – once you are breathing clean air again, make sure to regularly clean your place. If you have pets, make sure that they are groomed properly so that dust and other allergens do not get caught in their fur. Vacuum your carpet regularly or get rid of it altogether if you can. Maintain proper moisture inside your home to avoid mold and bacteria build up.
It is hard to make ventilation changes in residential buildings but there are things that you can do to make sure that the air you breathe is safe for you. An indoor air quality test kit will help you determine the pollutants present in your home. Once you have identified your household allergens or irritants, you can start fixing the problem with the help of a professional and make an effort to maintain cleanliness inside your home.
Breathing is a basic and integral part of our life and since we spend most of our time indoors, we have to make sure that our indoor air quality is always clean to the best of our abilities. It is important that we do not increase our chances of getting a disease because of poor air quality.
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indoor_air_quality
http://aerias.org/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabindex=3&tabid=79
