The Dangers of Indoor Air Pollutants Demand Our Attention
Stellar Services is committed to supplying the homes and businesses of the greater Gainesville area with indoor air that is perfectly comfortable and completely safe for everyone. As local HVAC contractors, we understand that accomplishing this goal means more than simply installing functional air conditioning units in every house and office. Our extensive experience with indoor environments confirms that the best living climates are only achieved by addressing both the temperature and the quality of the air. Therefore, Stellar Services offers both air conditioning and indoor air quality services.
However, for the good of the people of Gainesville, we want to do even more than that. We want to share with families and businesses the importance of prioritizing the purest indoor air possible, and we want to equip the community to achieve better indoor air quality every day by practicing good habits of living. So to start, Stellar Services knows that we need to explain exactly how bad our indoor air quality can be because of indoor air pollutants. Only by learning how dangerous the situation really is can we take the necessary steps to remove indoor air pollutants and live healthier lives within our own homes.
This may be shocking to hear, but truthfully, the air inside of your home can be even more polluted than the air outside of your home, even in large and heavily industrialized cities.
How Bad Can It Be?
For families and businesses wanting to refine the quality of the air indoors, it is important to understand how unhealthy that indoor air can be. This may be shocking to hear, but truthfully, the air inside of your home can be even more polluted than the air outside of your home, even in large and heavily industrialized cities. Many of the things we do and live with every day contribute as many pollutants to indoor air as do all the factories, cars, chemicals, and waste that dirty the outdoor air. There are actually plenty of different types of indoor air pollutants that may be present inside of buildings, and these can be divided into three different categories:
Types of Indoor Air Pollutants:
- Combustion pollutants:
- Carbon monoxide
- Fire retardants
- Gas or particle byproducts of burning
- Nitrogen dioxide
- Volatile organic compounds:
- Acetaldehyde
- Acetone
- Asbestos
- Benzene
- Ethylene glycol
- Formaldehyde
- Lead
- Methylene chloride
- Perchloroethylene
- Radon
- Asthma and allergy triggers:
- Dust mites
- Insect particles
- Mildew
- Mold
- Pet dander
- Pollen
- Secondhand smoke
The Worst Indoor Air Pollutants
Sadly, some of these indoor air pollutants can be quite deadly. The three most detrimental indoor air pollutants are carbon monoxide, secondhand smoke, and radon gas. Carbon monoxide is a poisonous gas that kills four hundred people annually and sickens thousands. Secondhand smoke hospitalizes almost 15,000 children per year with respiratory tract infections, kills almost 42,000 non-smoking adults per year from heart disease and 3,400 non-smoking adults from lung cancer, and worsens asthma and asthma-related problems in up to 1,000,000 children per year. Radon is a silent and odorless radioactive gas persisting in many homes as the leading cause of lung cancer in non-smokers and the second leading cause of lung cancer in America after cigarette smoke. These qualifiers mean that radon kills thousands of people every year. This information proves that a common consequence of having these hazardous indoor air pollutants in our living environments is death.
More Bad News
Those long lists and frightening facts may seem pretty disconcerting, but this education on indoor air quality will have to get worse before it gets better. To continue with the bad news, many of the things that contribute these harmful indoor air pollutants to the air are products, decorations, and appliances that most households and business environments contain. The sources of these indoor air pollutants include:
- Adhesives
- Aerosol sprays
- Air fresheners
- Appliances
- Carpet cleaners
- Cigarettes
- Dry cleaned clothing
- Dryers
- Dust
- Fireplaces
- Gas stoves
- High humidity
- Hobby supplies
- Household cleaners
- Inadequate ventilation
- Insects
- Moisture
- New mattresses or furniture
- Outside dirt
- Ovens
- Paint
- Pets
- Poorly maintained humidifiers and air conditioners
- Solvents
- Space heaters
- Water heaters
- Wood stoves
- Your neighborhood
Good News To Come From Stellar Services
The good news about indoor air pollutants is that there are several simple steps you can take to improve the air quality inside your home or business, and Stellar Services will provide those steps in the very near future.
We know that is yet another long list, but please do not be discouraged quite yet. Stellar Services has the answers you need to properly handle the worrisome indoor air pollutant problems of these lifestyle staples. The good news about indoor air pollutants is that there are several simple steps you can take to improve the air quality inside your home or business, and Stellar Services will provide those steps in the very near future.
So take heart about your indoor air quality, and for more information on the indoor air pollutants that may be endangering you, contact Stellar Services today.
