Air filters are an integral part of the air circulatory systems of your home or office. These are in place to maintain a desirable IAQ (indoor air quality). However, why is there much concern regarding IAQ? IAQ has triggered a race among manufacturers to build air filters that can give the best possible result. Now, this must mean IAQ is a big deal, but why is that, and how does it affect your life?
What Does IAQ Means?
IAQ refers to the quality of air within buildings and structures that host human activities. It’s a qualitative measure of the pollutants present in the air that pose health risks. Understanding this can help us control indoor air pollution and minimize health problems.
Some observable signs of low IAQ in some areas include musty odor, odors condensation, or ceiling condensation. Nonetheless, these signs don’t give a detailed and comprehensive overview of IAQ. Hence, we use monitoring equipment for better guidance. Sensitive equipment can pick up signs of pollutants in the surrounding that were otherwise invisible to naked eyes.
Health Effects Of Low IAQ:
Now that we know what IAQ means and what information it can give us. Let’s turn our attention to the health effects of low IAQ.
Short Term Effect Of Low IAQ:
At times our body responds sensitively to exposure to pollutants. This can be either after a first-time exposure or due to repeated exposure. Nonetheless, short-term symptoms abate when the affected person leaves the vicinity.
Symptoms like irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat, headaches, dizziness, and fatigue can arise after exposure. Interestingly, a majority of these symptoms are similar to the common cold. Hence, it’s difficult to determine whether these are because of an infection or due to pollution. However, if your condition gets better as you move away from a certain place, you can confidently blame pollutants. Now, all the exposed individuals won’t respond equally to the presence of pollutants. This is because everyone has a different level of sensitivity to particular elements. Low sensitivity can save you from nasty short-term effects but sets you up for long-term effects.
Long Term Effects:
Continuous exposure to pollutants will inevitably have some gruesome effect on your body. These effects begin to manifest years later and often result in a grave situation. Thus, years later, what kind of diseases are we talking about? We are referring to diseases that can be fatal, such as:
- Cancer
- Respiratory Disease
- Heart Diseases.
Therefore, such an ugly long-term picture is quite ugly makes IAQ more important than ever.
A Few Common Sources Of Indoor Pollution:
Pollutants can be organic or artificial; here is a list of common ones:
- mold and mildew
- tobacco products
- asbestos
- faulty devices
- outdoor sources such as radon or pesticides.
Now that we know the potential health risk low IAQ poses, we should try to improve it. One way to do that is by choosing quality air filters for your home and offices. Clean Liquid can help you make an impeccable choice. You can call us at 713-253-0100 to find out how we can help.