Don't Neglect Indoor Air Quality because You think Air Pollution is Outside Only

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Air quality is something that most people don't pay attention to as a general rule today. Most of us don't even bother to think about the air we breath and what might be floating around in it that we're breathing. In fact air pollution is something we hardly ever hear about anymore on television or in newspapers or anywhere for that matter.

Maybe some of the reason for this that with the newer technology of automobiles and trucks, being that they produce less emissions than they used to. I'm sure most of you remember the ever famous E-check that the states were doing a few years back. I think most states have abolished that.

At least here in Ohio where I live at they have. I always thought that was a rip off anyway. Your car or truck would have to pass that test just so you could get your license plates renewed for the year. $20.00 bucks out of pocket for what? Basically nothing! But if your vehicle didn't pass the test then it would cost you more just to get your license plates renewed.

Besides the $20.00 bucks. So needless to say when they stopped the program of E-check I was very happy as I'm sure you were to. Now on the other hand the air pollution that none of us rarely ever pay attention to is our indoor air quality. The air that we breath while we're in our houses. Oh, you didn't think about that did you! Don't feel bad, most of us don't.

Lack of Knowledge can make You Sick

Thats what I want to talk to you about in this article. There are 2 quotes that most of us have heard, I'm sure at one time or another. They are:

• Knowledge is power!

• And what you don't know about can kill you!

Have you ever been sitting in your house early in the day, and a nice beautiful ray of sunshine is coming through your window? You know what I'm talking about, your sitting there enjoying your self and you look through that ray of sunshine and what do you see? Uh huh, you can see the dust particles flying around in your room.



And for a brief moment you think what the! Wow look what I'm breathing. But then a moment later you blow it off and forget all about it. It's that and other things I want to talk to you about here. Just maybe with a little knowledge, you can increase your health and wellbeing.

I think we need to first take a good look at what is air pollution. Or better even than that, what is pollution period.

What Is Pollution?

This definition is taken from Wikipedia:

• Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into a natural environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat or light. Pollutants, the elements of pollution, can be either foreign substances/energies or naturally occurring contaminants.
  

That definition puts it pretty plainly. I remember seeing pictures of the Los Angeles, California skyline, and the air pollution was unbelievable to me. With that puke color looking haze that hung over that city, I used to wonder how anybody could ever live there.

But Los Angeles is not the only place thats bad, most major cities have this problem. In fact air pollution is everywhere. We are all affected by its destructive nature. The next question is how can we stop or at least control how air pollution affects us in our homes.

After all, thats where we spend most of our time at. Air pollutants or air pollution outside our homes, we have little control over. I mean as far as the big picture goes anyway. Of course each of us can do our part to help that situation to some degree.



Think Long About This

Let's take a look at some of the health problems that air pollution can cause. This also counts for inside your house as well. You may be thinking, what kind of things can cause air pollution inside my home? Well, what about smoking cigarettes or pipe tobacco for one? We've already mentioned the dust particles flying around in our houses that comes from clothing and carpet and other types of materials.

Thats just 2 sources there. I'm sure you can think of way more. There are 2 major diseases caused or affected by bad air quality. Those are:

• Asthma

• And Emphysema

Some people are born with Asthma and therefore indoor air quality is important always to them. Those with Emphysema, depending on how bad or what stage it is in, really are concerned about indoor air quality. I'm sure you've seen or maybe even have friends or relatives that have this dreadful disease of emphysema. When they get into the farther stages of emphysema they need to have pure oxygen tanks of air with them at all times.




So you see, indoor air quality or air pollution, what ever you want to call it, is something we should pay more attention to. So then, how do we improve this problem in our homes?

Simple Solutions

There are a few things you can do immediately and should do on a regular basis. Heres what you can do to help right off the bat....

• 
  Change your air filter regularly in your furnace, at least every 2 months, upgrade the quality of the filter you use for your furnace. If you have one of those permanent filters, when you clean it, always take it outside to do this.
  

• Run your sweeper over your carpets at least once every week, maybe twice. Also make sure your sweeper is kept clean, as it can and will have those finer dust particles clog it up. When ever you clean your sweeper always take it outside the house to clean it.

• At least once a year clean your furnace air ducts. Dust particles will be the worst or thickest at the closest point to the furnace working out from there.

• Try to keep the dust off your furniture as much as possible. This may mean dusting the furniture more often.

• Do not neglect this one! Your clothes dryer, is a major source of dust, right. Especially if your dryer is upstairs in your living space. Even if its downstairs in your basement, that dust can get sucked into your furnace and up into your living space. Make sure the lint filter is clean and the area around your dryer is kept clean of the dust from these. Get the excess lint outside the house as soon as possible.

• Keep the clothes dryer hose and vent cleaned out at least once a year.

• Add some large green leafy plants to your home. They give off oxygen to the air, improving the air quality.

Folks, this is just some normal housecleaning, and ideas I've mentioned here. What I want you to see is the importance of keeping a closer eye on these. If you just think about it, I know you can come up with more ways to help to improve the air quality in your home.

This will go a long way to improving your health overall. Not to mention your ability to breath better as well. I believe you'll notice less frequent colds and flus and other illnesses with better air quality in your home. Its bad enough the pollution we're breathing outside in the air.

The Wrap Up

What I've brought to you here in this article are simple things you can do. But will go along way to improve your health and wellbeing. At the very least you'll have something to think about the next time you see those dust particles flying in that sun ray coming through your window on a beautiful day.

You have now been made more aware of the knowledge of your indoor air quality. Remember, knowledge is power!

Thanks for coming by...

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