Air Safety

The air quality we breathe is vital to our health!

By stepping outside, more often than not, we can smell pollutants in the air we are breathing. For example, lawnmower gasoline, car exhaust fumes, fires that may be burning emitting carbon monoxide, tobacco carcinogens and diesel fuels are just a few of the pollutants that engulf the air that we breath outside; but what about indoors?
Current environmental research on the quality of our indoor air is revealing disturbing factors regarding out health safety. Since we spend so much time indoors, we sleep indoors, eat indoors and work indoors; the quality of the air we are breathing is critical. We must not dismiss or take for granted anymore that the indoor air we are breathing is free of bacteria, mold spores, pollutants, smog and viruses.

In fact, as of June 2007, The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) studies have found that for many pollutants, levels inside are two to five times higher than outside. Additionally, the EPA has found and reported that indoor air can be up to 1,000 times as dirty as outside air quality. Given that the majority of us spend 90% of our time indoors, 65% of this time in our homes, this is a serious health concern.

Clearly we must take and use safety precautions to prevent inhaling toxins that are not safe for us and will negatively contribute to our well-being, quality of life and overall health. The good news is that there are products and tips available to significantly improve the quality of air we breathe.

Safety Tips

• Use Air Purifiers in your home. This is a simple, portable way to tremendously improve the quality of air being breathed.

• Place a Tabletop Air Purifier on your desk at work. These are extremely inexpensive, use very little electricity and are virtually silent when running.

• Change your air conditioning filters regularly, depending on the type you purchase.

• Use fans that are capable of reducing the ozone smog pollution inside your home as well as in small spaces. Depending on the type you choose, some produce a cool refreshing breeze and are temperature controlled so that the room stays not only full of clean air, but also the temperature you prefer.

• Use air fresheners and air sanitizers

• Place an air ionizer in your vehicle

• Place a humidifier in your bedroom or in any other area you spend much time. Humidifiers make the air dryer and thus healthier. Some models also emit cool, soothing mist vapors of eucalyptus, which is a safe and pleasant form of aromatherapy.

• Make sure you provide ample outdoor ventilation for your dryer as well as your lawn equipment.

~ Staff writer for SafetyIssues.com