Improving the Air Quality in Your Home

Identifying Air Quality Problems

Some health effects can be useful indicators of an indoor air quality problem, especially if they appear after a person moves to a new residence, remodels or refurnishes a home, or treats a home with pesticides. If you think that you have symptoms that may be related to your home environment, discuss them with your doctor or your local health department to see if they could be caused by indoor air pollution. You may also want to consult a board-certified allergist or an occupational medicine specialist for answers to your questions.

Glossary

Improving the Air Quality in Your Home

Indoor Air and Your Health

Health effects from indoor air pollutants may be experienced soon after exposure or, possibly, years later.

Immediate effects may show up after a single exposure or repeated exposures. These include irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat, headaches, dizziness, and fatigue. Such immediate effects are usually short-term and treatable. Sometimes the treatment is simply eliminating the person's exposure to the source of the pollution, if it can be identified. Symptoms of some diseases, including asthma, hypersensitivity pneumonitis, and humidifier fever, may also show up soon after exposure to some indoor air pollutants.

MERV 13 EFFICIENCY GUIDE

We hope you find valuable information in the table below. If you would like to read more about the different furnace filter options and some of the benefits of each.  Activated Carbon Air Filters are not listed in the table because they do not have MERV ratings but they are available at The Pure Air Store. We also offer a wide selection of Air Purifiers.

Choosing good furnace filters and keeping them changed on a regular basis will greatly increase furnace efficiency and improve air quality in a home. The type of filter selected is not as important as making sure that furnace filters are changed often and regularly, but a variety of choices do exist. Some of the most common varieties of furnace filters include electrostatic furnace filters, pleated furnace filters, HEPA furnace filters, and activated charcoal furnace filters.

Turn Your Furnace into a “Whole-House Filtration System” with a HEPA filter.

Is Your Indoor Air Clean? Experts May Use a Particle Counter to Check

By The Clean Trust

What you can't see can hurt you. Microscopic fragments of mold or other airborne particles can be inhaled causing health impacts, so sampling the air during and after mold cleanup may make sense to determine how effective the process has been at removing or containing these contaminants.

Restoration professionals sometimes use a laser particle counter to determine the level of airborne particles. A laser or optical particle counter draws in a sample of air, shines a laser light across the airstream inside the device, then electronically counts the particles that cross the beam path.

Air filters

The HVAC filter is one of the most crucial components of a forced-air heating and air-conditioning system. Without a filter, dust would be blown all over the house, thwarting your cleaning efforts and spoiling indoor air quality. A neglected filter will clog with dust and debris, restricting airflow and reducing energy efficiency.

A wide range of filters are available: fiber-and-paper filters, widely used because they’re inexpensive and easy to handle; models made of polyester or fiberglass; HEPA (high efficiency particulate air) filters, for those with allergies or dust sensitivities; and even “permanent” filters that can be washed out and used repeatedly.

The most effective filters have a high Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value or MERV (a rating for mechanical air filters). MERV is detailed in a standard developed by the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE).

Basics of Air Filtration

In the past, the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) standards defined air filter efficiency as the percentage of airborne particles larger than 1 micron captured by a filter; for example, 30 percent, 80 percent or 95 percent.

The new ASHRAE Standard 52.2 — which defines the MERV scale — assigns a value for the filter’s minimum efficiency in capturing particles at six progressive stages of dust-loading with particles in the range of 0.3 to 10 microns. Comparing the new standard with the old, for example, a filter rated MERV 8 will capture roughly 30 percent of 1-micron particles at maximum dust-loading; MERV 13, 80 percent; and MERV 15, more than 95 percent.

Stop Pollution Indoors

By Ruth Travis

EPA studies of human exposure to air pollutants indicate that indoor air levels of many pollutants may be 2-5 times — occasionally more than 100 times — higher than outdoor levels. These levels of indoor air pollutants are of particular concern because it is estimated that most people spend as much as 90% of their time indoors.

The following are ten suggestions you can make for immediate improvement of indoor environmental quality:

Air Filtration Can Make Breathing Easier

In the past, air filtration systems in spaces such as offices and schools were designed primarily to protect HVAC equipment and reduce the need for facility cleaning. In recent years, people have become aware of the issue of indoor air quality as independent studies have focused attention on the deleterious effects of airborne contaminants and the relationship of “sick building syndrome” to higher absenteeism and lower productivity. In turn, facility executives have felt increasing ethical, legal and marketing pressures to provide a high-quality indoor air environment for their occupants.

Clean Air Guide – Health Effects

Short-term exposure and high pollution levels can cause watery eyes, coughing and wheezing, worsen heart and lung illnesses including asthma and other respiratory diseases such as emphysema, contribute to stress on the cardiovascular system, lessen the lung’s ability to exhale air, and damage lungs even after minor irritation disappears.

Long-term contact with polluted air can have permanent health effects, like rapidly aging the lungs, decreasing lung capacity and function, causing diseases like asthma, bronchitis, emphysema, and cancer and shortening life span.

A Valentine’s Day Gift

They Will Thank You For All Year Long

Give the gift of an air purifier.  Studies have shown the air we breathe in our homes is up to 100 times worse than the air outside.  With the increase of more energy efficient homes, the air contained in them is worse now than ever before.  At The Pure Air Store we are committed to providing solutions to your indoor air quality problems.

Below are several different types of Air Purifiers and a short description of their abilities.  Click on the links to be taken to our blog articles where more in depth information is provided.  These are a sample of the numerous brands and styles of Air Purifiers that we stock at The Pure Air Store.

Clean Air Guide -- Glossary

A Glossary of definitions for words commonly used in Air Quality Discussions.

New Report Ranks 50 Cities Where Dirtiest Air Impacts The Most Kids

Environmental Defense Lays Out Plan To Cut By 80% Key Air Pollution Sources That Trigger Asthma

A new report from Environmental Defense ranks the top 50 U.S. cities where the worst air pollution impacts the greatest number of kids. The Dangerous Days of Summer report recognizes the serious impact poor air quality has on the health of children, but especially on those with asthma, and lays out a plan to reduce by 80% the most important sources of air pollution that trigger asthma.

"This report is a wake up call. Fighting for clean air in this country means fighting for the millions of kids that struggle to breathe every day because of pollution," said John Balbus, M.D., M.P.H., director of the health program at Environmental Defense. "The good news is that the country can curb the triggers of asthma and ease the burden of other health consequences from air pollution. An urgent first step toward this goal is for EPA to cut the harmful pollution from power plant smokestacks instead of weakening long-standing clean air protections."

Tackling the global clean air challenge

News release from World Health Organization

http://www.who.int

26 September 2011 | Geneva -In many cities air pollution is reaching levels that threaten people's health according to an unprecedented compilation of air quality data released today by WHO. The information includes data from nearly 1100 cities across 91 countries, including capital cities and cities with more than 100 000 residents.

Clean Air, Sure, But Not During Fire Season

That Santa Fe has relatively clean air is pretty obvious to anyone who bothers to look around. That the city is among the top 10 urban areas with the cleanest air on the planet, however, seems a little surprising — especially since our nearest competitors on the list, compiled by the World Health Organization, seem to be mostly smallish towns in the vast (and relatively unpopulated) Canadian Northwest.

Which U.S. cities have dirtiest and cleanest air?

How clean is your air? Most U.S. cities with the dirtiest air are getting cleaner but half of Americans still live in in areas where it's often difficult to breathe, the American Lung Association reports today.

Los Angeles remains the smoggiest metro area, although it's improved significantly in the last decade, and Bakersfield, Calif., has the worst particle pollution such as soot and ash, both on a daily and annual level, according to the ALA's 12th annual "State of the Air" report.

Controlling Asthma Triggers

How can I prevent asthma triggers at home?

The most important thing you can do is to control asthma triggers. The main asthma triggers that are in your home are dust mites, molds, pollens, pets, cockroaches, and household irritants. Secondhand tobacco smoke may also be a trigger in your home, especially for a child with asthma.

How does the air quality in my city compare with other cities? What time of year has the best air quality? Has the air quality in my city improved? AirCompare provides local air quality information to help you make informed, health-protective decisions about moving or vacationing.

Health Effects of Ozone and Particle Pollution

zone and particle pollution are the most widespread air pollutants—and among the most dangerous. Re­cent research has revealed new insights into how they can harm the body—including taking the lives of infants and altering the lungs of children. All in all, the evidence shows that the risks are greater than we once thought.

Selecting An Air Filter For Home Use

When selecting an air filter for home use it is important to determine what your objectives are. There are many different types of home furnace filters to choose from. Some air filters are very efficient and stop the smallest of particles while others are very inefficient and are a total waste of your hard earned money.

State of the Air

People at risk

Looking at the nation as a whole,

The American Lung Association State of the Air 2011 finds—

n Roughly half the people (50.3%) in the United States live in counties that have unhealthful levels of either ozone or particle pollution.

Almost 154.5 million Americans live in the 366 counties where they are exposed to unhealthful levels of air pollu­tion in the form of either ozone or short-term or year-round levels of particles.

n Nearly half the people in the United States (48.2%) live in areas with unhealthful levels of ozone.

Counties that were graded F for ozone levels have a com­bined population of almost 148.1 million. These people live in the 338 counties where the monitored air quality places them at risk for decreased lung function, respiratory infec­tion, lung inflammation and aggravation of respiratory illness. The actual number who breathe unhealthy levels of ozone is likely much larger, since this number does not include people who live in adjacent counties in metropolitan areas where no monitors exist.