Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) describes the content of the interior air that could affect the health and comfort of your home or workplace. IAQ may be compromised by microbial contaminants, chemicals, allergens, and many other stressors that can cause health risks. Indoor air pollutants are associated with many health risks including asthma and allergies. Recent findings have demonstrated that indoor air can be more polluted than outdoor air and is often a greater health hazard than outdoor settings. Using ventilation, filtration, and source control to dilute contaminants are the primary methods for improving indoor air quality in most buildings.
Maintaining a healthy and comfortable indoor environment in any building requires integrating many components of a complex system. Indoor environment problems are preventable and solvable. Practical guidance on how to manage your building for good indoor environmental quality is available.
On average a person breathes in 16,000 quarts of air each day. Indoor Air can become up to ten times heavier with pollutants such as:
Pollen: Airborne pollen from trees, grasses, and weeds can cause allergic reactions especially in spring and summer months. | Dust particles in the home typically include human skin cells, pet dander and dust mites | ||
Mold: Mold spores grow in warm and moist conditions and can pose many serious health risks. | Smoke: Tobacco smoke can cause allergic and asthmatic attacks as well as discolor the interior of your home and furniture. | ||
Pet Dander: Dander is shed from the body of your pets and may contain scales of dried skin, hair or feathers. | Viruses: Viruses cannot be seen without a microscope but can cause diseases including the common cold, influenza and chickenpox |
Did you know?
The average home collects about 2 pounds of dust per week!
Common particles and their sizes in microns
Particles are commonly measured in microns, a metric unit of measure. There are 25,400 microns in one inch. This dot (.) is approximately 1/64 of an inch wide and equals 615 microns.
Common Items and their respective particle sizes: | |
Postage Stamp, 1 inch high | 25,400 microns |
Eye of a Needle | 1,230 microns |
Human Hair | 40 to 300 microns |
Tobacco Smoke | 0.01 to 1 microns |
Beach Sand | 100 to 2000 microns |
Mold Spores | 10 to 30 microns |
Pollens | 10 to 1000 microns |
Household Dust | 0.001 to 30 microns |
Particles 101: Did You Know?…
That’s over a billion particles per day that our lungs have to filter out!