Maintaining Healthy Air In Your Home
By Frank Rayburn
Humans have the ability to make wherever they are feel like home. An ideal home is a refuge from the dangers of the outside world. A place of isolated safety where one can feel comfortable and relaxed. Everyone deserves to have such a place to stay. However, even a seemingly safe home can contain elements that could prove hazardous to its occupants. One of the most common hidden dangers is poor air quality.
Maslow's hierarchy of needs portrays what a human needs as a pyramid, starting with the most basic at the bottom and becoming more complex nearing the top. The bottom includes physical needs, such as food, water, sleep and air. If any one of these needs were denied long enough, we would be unable to live. However, we are able to for weeks without food and days without water or sleep. But going more than a few minutes without air would make us just as dead. And just as food or drink of poor-quality would have a negative impact on our health, the effects of breathing poor-quality air would manifest in time. Security of health is one of the needs on the next level of the pyramid. How can you be secure in the health of your environment?
A home that produces unhealthy air will demonstrate its effects on its occupants. If you live in such a home, you have likely noticed them already. If you have flu-like symptoms that persist over a long period, regular headaches, or a constant feeling of stuffiness that suggests that something is somehow wrong, your home may be the cause. A healthy person can resist the effects of an unhealthy environment for reasonable periods. But regular, prolonged exposure will eventually begin to wear away at your health. You probably spend more time in your home than anywhere else, so if the air there is hazardous, you will inevitably feel the effects. Fortunately, you can control most of the sources of unhealthy air in your home.
One source of unhealthy air, especially in older homes, could be the construction materials themselves. The most dangerous of potential hazards would be things like asbestos or lead, but these are regulated much more strictly now than they were in the past. But making sure your home has been inspected is never a bad idea.
Dust and allergens are the most common cause of minor health issues that come from poor air. Cloth surfaces have a tendency to catch these floating particles in their fibers, kicking them back into the air when they are handled or used. For this reason, regularly cleaning the carpets, upholstery and curtains is recommended.
Things degrade over time. Matter can only last for so long before it decays and its parts are used to make something new. This cycle of decay and replacement is a good metaphor for maintaining quality air. Keeping a steady flow of fresh air to replace the stale air is one of the keys to keeping your home fresh and healthy. Open windows provide access to outdoor air, but the effects are limited and not consistent year-round. A more efficient option would be to find a system that pumps fresh, filtered air into each room of the house.
Maslow's hierarchy of needs portrays what a human needs as a pyramid, starting with the most basic at the bottom and becoming more complex nearing the top. The bottom includes physical needs, such as food, water, sleep and air. If any one of these needs were denied long enough, we would be unable to live. However, we are able to for weeks without food and days without water or sleep. But going more than a few minutes without air would make us just as dead. And just as food or drink of poor-quality would have a negative impact on our health, the effects of breathing poor-quality air would manifest in time. Security of health is one of the needs on the next level of the pyramid. How can you be secure in the health of your environment?
A home that produces unhealthy air will demonstrate its effects on its occupants. If you live in such a home, you have likely noticed them already. If you have flu-like symptoms that persist over a long period, regular headaches, or a constant feeling of stuffiness that suggests that something is somehow wrong, your home may be the cause. A healthy person can resist the effects of an unhealthy environment for reasonable periods. But regular, prolonged exposure will eventually begin to wear away at your health. You probably spend more time in your home than anywhere else, so if the air there is hazardous, you will inevitably feel the effects. Fortunately, you can control most of the sources of unhealthy air in your home.
One source of unhealthy air, especially in older homes, could be the construction materials themselves. The most dangerous of potential hazards would be things like asbestos or lead, but these are regulated much more strictly now than they were in the past. But making sure your home has been inspected is never a bad idea.
Dust and allergens are the most common cause of minor health issues that come from poor air. Cloth surfaces have a tendency to catch these floating particles in their fibers, kicking them back into the air when they are handled or used. For this reason, regularly cleaning the carpets, upholstery and curtains is recommended.
Things degrade over time. Matter can only last for so long before it decays and its parts are used to make something new. This cycle of decay and replacement is a good metaphor for maintaining quality air. Keeping a steady flow of fresh air to replace the stale air is one of the keys to keeping your home fresh and healthy. Open windows provide access to outdoor air, but the effects are limited and not consistent year-round. A more efficient option would be to find a system that pumps fresh, filtered air into each room of the house.
About the Author:
Air is vital to your body, and it will use whatever is nearby. Making sure that air is up to snuff can have a positive long-term effect on your health. Visit Hayward Healthy Home for more advice on how to maintain a healthy environment.