All over the world people are doing their best to shelter in place in order to protect themselves from COVID-19.
While this is one proven method to reduce the risk of contracting the new novel coronavirus, it isn’t the only important safety measure to take.
A few weeks ago, we shared details from a breaking news story linking dirty outdoor air to higher COVID-19 mortality rates.
Unfortunately, the EPA recently released data proving that, for most of us, the air inside our homes and workplaces is up to five times more polluted than our outdoor air.
This can cause our home to be one of the most dangerous places to be, especially if you are already in a high risk group due to age or another health issue.
In this post, we share our favourite indoor clean air solutions to help you make sure your home remains a safe place to shelter.
Meet the Most Common Indoor Air Toxins
As the EPA explains, the most common toxins inside North American homes today come from regular daily activities and trusted products that we wouldn’t normally question.
Once you understand where you may be introducing pollution into your indoor air – or at least allowing it to come in – it is a lot easier to know how to fix the problem.
Let’s take a look at what is probably polluting your indoor air right now!
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
Volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, are released from new home furniture and furnishings, commercial cleaning products, paint and solvents, personal care products, fragrances and air “fresheners” and many other modern products.
Combustion by-products.
Combustion happens anytime a fuel source ignites. The most common types of combustion inside the home come from smoking and vaping, burning candles or incense, use of gas or wood-burning appliances and idling car engines.
Radon.
Radon is a naturally-occurring, colourless, odourless gas that is produced when uranium and certain other rocks begin to decay. Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer and the first leading cause in non-smokers here in Canada.
Biological materials.
Pollen, mould, mildew, dust mites, pet dander and pests such as insects and rodents can all bring toxic biological materials into the home. Often this happens “behind the scenes” in the attic, basement, garage and drywall.
Clean Air Tips to Detoxify Your Indoor Air
Each one of these clean air tips will help you remove or block toxins that are polluting your indoor air and lowering your immune system’s resistance to the new novel coronavirus and other worrisome health issues.
1. Keep your air filter clean.
Even as you are spending more time at home, it is still all too easy to forget about inspecting and changing (or cleaning and replacing) your hard-working indoor air filter.
Your standard furnace air filter may not be able to filter out all the toxins inside your home, but it will definitely do its best work when it is clean.
Right now, many of our customers are also choosing to add on a standalone HEPA air filtration system (both central and portable models are available) for an extra layer of protection inside the home.
HEPA air filtration systems are capable of filtering out up to 99.97 percent of very small solid airborne particulates (as small as 1/100th the width of a single human hair).
HEPA filters are used in laboratories, hospitals and urgent care centers around the world.
2. Make the switch to green cleaning and personal care products.
There is no doubt it can be hard to look at that stash of commercial cleaning products, bath and body products, air fresheners and home care products without seeing dollar signs.
And it is true that certain extra-strong cleaning and disinfection products are recommended for use right now to guard against coronavirus.
But as best as you are able, consider beginning the transition from those chemical-laden products to green products made with natural ingredients.
In most cases, essential oils do the same great job, adding pleasant fragrance to your home without the VOCs.
And in most cases, natural ingredients like lemon juice, baking soda, hydrogen peroxide, white and apple cider vinegar and rubbing alcohol along with plain water will do the same job just as well.
We devoted an entire blog post to DIY home cleaning recipes that can give you the same great squeaky clean home without the side helping of toxicity.
3. Increase air circulation and ventilation in your home.
Depending on your budget and situation, improving air circulation and ventilation can be as simple as turning on a ceiling or floor fan and opening up a window.
A better option that also addresses trapped toxic, stale air is the heat recovery ventilator, or HRV.
HRVs isolate fresh incoming air from stale outgoing air, ensuring a steady cycle of ventilation and air circulation. HRVs also recycle otherwise wasted energy to lower heating and cooling bills while helping to balance indoor air humidity levels.
HRVs can work with any central (ducted) HVAC system.
4. Add on an ultraviolet air purifier.
Ultraviolet air purification has been having its 15 minutes of fame since the pandemic began.
Shortwave UV-C light is the most powerful tool we currently have to neutralize coronavirus particles.
A variety of ultraviolet air purifiers are available for all size spaces to purify your HVAC coils as well as your indoor air. Both central (ducted) and portable models exist.
Get in Touch
Indoor air quality has been deemed an essential service here in Ontario province. While our staff is working remotely at the moment as a safety precaution, we are always here to serve you.
Right now, in addition to our suite of customized indoor air solutions for homes and workplaces, we are offering curb-side service, pick-up, delivery and online orders with contactless payment methods for convenience and safety.
Give us a call at 1-905-549-2470 or visit us online.
