One thing I have become very aware of the past few years is indoor air quality! Up until about 4 years ago, I honesty hadn’t given it much thought. But while we were building our current home, we lived in a rental for a year, and during that time, I developed a chronic cough that lasted for 8 months! It was absolutely MISERABLE! I was prescribed so many medications and antibiotics… and was even diagnosed with asthma (something I have never struggled with before). It was a really difficult time for me, because on top of the stress of building a house… I didn’t feel good, wasn’t sleeping very well and had all kinds of doctor’s appointments to try and figure out what was going on. Talk about exhausting!
One day, I was in the guest bathroom at the rent house and I noticed some black spots on the ceiling that looked like mold. I called our landlord and said I thought we might have a mold issue, and asked if someone could come take a look. They sent their handyman, who assured me it was nothing to worry about. In hindsight, I think it was the very thing that was causing the stubborn cough I couldn’t seem to kick! I wish I would have hired an expert to come in and check it out, but I didn’t. I had so many other things on my mind, that I just trusted him and moved on. So part of the reason for this post is to hopefully prevent you from making the same mistake!
I also want to inform you about some of the some of the common sources of indoor air pollution, as well as practical things you can do that will benefit you are your family… and maybe even help with some mysterious symptoms you might be experiencing! Common symptoms of people exposed to poor indoor air include: headache, fatigue, cough, congestion, shortness of breath, itchy eyes/nose/throat, dizziness and nausea. All of these symptoms can be caused by other things, too, which is why it is so important to get to the root! In functional medicine, environment is always taken into consideration, because we know what a positive or negative impact it can have on your overall health!
According to United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA):
“Most people are aware that outdoor air pollution can impact their health, but indoor air pollution can also have significant and harmful health effects. EPA studies of human exposure to air pollutants indicate that indoor levels of pollutants may be two to five times — and occasionally more than 100 times — higher than outdoor levels. These levels of indoor air pollutants are of particular concern, because most people spend about 90 percent of their time indoors.”
I don’t know about you, but this was startling news to me at first! I suddenly felt like my house, my safe place, was not so safe anymore. And that is not a good feeling! So let’s talk about some things we can do to help make our homes the safe havens they should be! Because unlike outdoor air pollution, we actually do have control over a lot of aspects of our indoor air quality.
One of the easiest things you can do to ventilate your home and decrease pollution is open your windows! I know this can be harder to do in the winter, depending where you live. But when you do get a nice day and feel you can handle having the windows open for a while, do it! Let your house breathe! Even 10 minutes is better than nothing. Today in NW Arkansas, we were blessed with temperatures in the low 60’s, and you better believe every window in my house was open this afternoon! I also turned on all the fans to help move the air. It was very refreshing!
Another thing you want to make sure to do is replace the HVAC filters in your ceiling every 3 months. You may even want to consider changing them more frequently if you have pets or if anyone in your home suffers from allergies or asthma. Not only is this good for the air quality in your home, but also helps to keep your HVAC system running smoothly and increase it’s lifespan. This can be a very easy thing to forget, so setting a recurring alarm on your phone or a recurring shipment from a website could be helpful!
Dusting and vacuuming regularly also helps to improve air quality by manually removing some of the particles that are contributing to pollution, such as allergens and pet dander. This reduces the amount of irritants in the air and is especially good for those who struggle with allergies or are sensitive to dust. Also, don’t forget to change your vacuum filters periodically as well! I am admittedly not good at doing this. I actually just went and checked mine and yikes…time to order some replacements!
PLEASE ensure that you have at least one carbon monoxide detector on every level of your home and one near every bedroom! They should be tested monthly and batteries should be replaced every 6 months. Carbon monoxide is odorless and invisible, so the only way to detect it is with a monitor. We and our pups have had our lives saved by one of these little devices, so I am pretty passionate about making sure everyone is protected! We accidentally left one of the burners on our gas stove on after dinner and went to bed, and that was the source of our problem. When the alarm woke us up, I was already feeling lightheaded. If your alarm does go off, immediately get yourself and your family outside and call 911!
Although the extremely persistent cough I had to deal with was frustrating, I am thankful that experience opened my eyes to the importance of paying attention to the air quality in my home! And I hope the information I have shared will help you to think more about the air quality in yours! There is so much more to this topic that I look forward to sharing with you in future blog posts!
P.S. My cough disappeared very soon after moving out of the rental!
Although I am a nurse by trade, I am not a doctor or an expert, and the information I provide on this blog is for educational purposes only. Each person is unique and their needs and circumstances vary, so I always recommend that you consult your medical provider before making any changes.
[…] month, I wrote a broad post about indoor air quality, a topic that is near and dear to my heart! That is because I have personally experienced major […]