ByGrant
Why is Indoor Air Quality Important?
The Importance of Healthy Indoor Air Quality
Because we spend approximately 90% of our time indoors, people can be affected by the quality of the air that we are breathing inside. Poor indoor air quality (or IAQ) can lead to a number of adverse reactions and symptoms in people, including:
- Irritated eyes, nose, throat, and skin
- Asthma
- Wheezing and irritated airways
- Headache
- Fatigue and dizziness
- Coughing
- Nausea
- Hypersensitivity
- Allergies
Experts say that the best strategy for controlling indoor air quality is with proper maintenance and cleaning, including regular vacuuming and periodic extraction of pollutants with steam or dry cleaning of the carpets.
Causes for Inadequate Indoor Air Quality
Some of the top causes for poor IAQ include people releasing and transferring into the environment things such as:
- Toxins
- Hair
- Carbon dioxide
- Perfume
- Tobacco smoke
- Pet dander on clothes
- Airborne colds and viruses
As well as building materials which may release dust, fibreglass, asbestos, gases, formaldehyde, pollution that has travelled in from outside and more.
Carpets act as a filter for all of this, believe it or not. They collect all these in their fibres but eventually they become contaminated after a certain period of time and the pollutants need to be extracted in order to maintain healthy indoor air quality.
Carpets often contain some of the most dangerous contaminants, bacteria and other hazardous particles in your home. What’s even worse, they often hide in plain sight without you realizing the effect they are creating to the indoor air quality. Regular vacuuming can help extract these contaminants. But sometimes, a more thorough carpet cleaning is necessary to improve the quality of the air you are breathing. Sometimes we do not see or smell all these particles in the air.
When tested, the air above carpet contains fewer allergens and dust mites than the air above un-carpeted surfaces. Carpet is a benefit rather than harmful to air quality because it tends to trap allergens out of the air until they are vacuumed away. But, the carpet must be vacuumed and cleaned often enough for this filter to keep working otherwise it gets filled with these pollutants.
Enhancing Indoor Air Quality
Enhanced IAQ increases productivity, protects health and saves money.
It is a well-established fact that polluted air is a risk to human health but many business owners do not realize the major impact of unhealthy indoor air.
Correct vacuuming and cleaning methods can properly extract trapped contaminants from carpets and greatly improve indoor air quality.
