Air Toxins

By Marcia Luke

How do you know if the air in your home is clean? From how nice it smells? How recently you've cleaned, or from how effective you are at keeping outdoor pollution outside. But have you ever wondered how clean is the air on the inside?

In the winter, windows are kept closed and doors slam behind residents or guests to keep the cold at bay. That means the air inside your home can get stale over the course of a few months. Toxins and allergens are actually building up inside your home and you probably don't know what or how these can affect you. Starting to sound like a bad television commercial? Time to find out.

Some common biological invaders in your home are mould, pet dander, dust, second-hand smoke, and pollen. Chemicals and toxins might include carbon monoxide, lead, pesticides, radon, and chemicals released from product use or appliances. The presence of pollutants can cause asthma, allergies, dizziness and headaches, fatigue, and nausea. The worst thing about this is it's invisible. But there are things you can do in and around your home to clear the air, save your health, and protect your home.

Ventilation is a key factor in helping the air in your home circulate, providing fresh air and dispelling bad air. Things you can do around your home include removing blockages from vents, air intakes, and chimneys as well as putting screens on these to prevent blockages from

occurring in the future. Even cleaning your heating vents inside by vacuuming and checking for blockages will help. Having a fan that exhausts to the outside will help take away cooking odours and moisture in the kitchen or bathroom.

Since mould is caused by moisture, it's important to be aware of the signs of poor ventilation. These can include water condensation on the inside of your windows and peeling paint or wallpaper. Water condensation is also a sign of carbon monoxide, so its important to have a CO detector, especially in areas where you're using natural gas appliances.

If something smells, good or bad, it could be an indicator that it's releasing toxins into the air. Even if the only side-effect is the smell, it's nice to get rid of it, if only for the noses of the occupants and guests in your home. Regularly remove kitchen garbage and compost. Look for non-toxic household cleaning products or make your own from natural ingredients. Limit the use of artificial fragrances in your home or check to make sure that they are non-toxic.

Cleaning your home is an important element of cleaning the air too. Clutter such as books, magazines, and stuffed animals can collect dust mites, a major source of allergies and congestion. Keep them collected, tidy, and clean. A handy trick for stuffed animals in particular is freezing them for a period of time. The cold temperature will kill the dust mites. You can also battle mites by reducing the relative humidity of your home to 30 to 50 per cent. Running a dehumidifier is especially important in a basement where the air can be moist. Wash linens regularly as well, like curtains, bed skirts, and bedding - they accumulate dust too.When vacuuming, use one with a filtration system; empty the bag and change the filter on a regular basis to avoid recirculating dust and other allergens. Groom and wash pets regularly. Keep a clean chimney and refrain from burning anything other than wood in it; plastic and printed materials have chemicals that can be released into the air.

Air purifiers can also be helpful, especially if there's someone in your home that suffers from allergies or asthma, but even if there isn't. Electric air purifiers use a fan to circulate the air; it comes in through one side where large particles are trapped in an aluminum mesh filter, smaller particles are then removed with ionization, and finally a charcoal filter is used to remove odours from the air before it is pushed out the other side of the purifier and into your living space. High Efficiency Particulate Air, or HEPA filters are required to remove 99.97 per cent of particles larger than 0.3 microns from the air before they receive the HEPA brand. The best types of HEPA filters use a combination of carbon to remove fumes and ultraviolet light to kill biological agents like mould and bacteria, in addition to simply removing particles from the air. Both types are effective at minimizing harmful allergens and particles from your home. Most air purifiers come in a variety of sizes from those big enough to cleanse your entire home to those small enough to place in your vehicle.