04/22/2020 / By Arsenio Toledo
By the end of the month, billions of people around the world would have been affected by full or partial lockdowns due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. This means that more people are spending their time indoors. While this does reduce their chances of contracting coronavirus, this does bring to light another issue – the air quality inside their homes.
Interior designers all over the United States have been worried about indoor air quality since before COVID-19 made everybody stay home. Much of their effort was focused on counteracting the consequences of “off-gassing,” where harmful chemicals known as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) like benzene and formaldehyde release airborne particulates that can potentially be detrimental to your health. Unfortunately, these gasses can pass by almost undetected in your home.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), VOCs can come from a variety of sources, such as:
The EPA further states that, if the source of the VOCs that are affecting your indoor air quality aren’t immediately addressed, they can cause a variety of serious health conditions. They can wreak havoc on your immunity, respiratory and cardiovascular health and, in worst cases, it may even cause cancer.
According to a study done by the EPA, concentrations of pollutants like VOCs are two to five times higher indoors. With Americans now spending nearly 100 percent of their time inside their homes, the risk of developing health conditions due to poor indoor air quality is increasing.
Fortunately, interior designers are saying that whole-home air purifiers have, in recent years, become adept at detecting and combating VOCs. Many advanced filters can trap even the tiniest airborne pollutants. If your home has a whole-home air purifier and if it’s integrated into your heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems, then you’re better off than many other people.
However, if you don’t have the capacity to invest in air purifiers and other HVAC systems, there are still ways that you can purify your indoor air. Here are eight other ways to improve indoor air quality.
Keeping yourself safe from VOCs can be easy if you follow a strict cleaning schedule and use items that can improve air quality like essential oils, activated charcoal and houseplants.
To learn more about the effects of poor indoor air quality, check out the articles at Pollution.news.
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Tagged Under: air purifiers, air quality, coronavirus, covid-19, Flu, immune system, indoor air, infections, lockdown, outbreak, pandemic, quarantine, respiratory health, superbugs, virus, VOCs, volatile organic compounds