How To Understand Indoor Air Quality (I.A.Q.)

The air we breathe directly impacts our health and daily lives, and many of us don’t understand exactly what’s in the air, what dangers they pose, nor how to solve these problems. Many of these issues we might decide to avoid if we had the opportunity to make informed choices. Indoor air pollution is one risk that you can do something about. This is especially important for anyone with health issues and children. According to the CDC and the National Current Asthma Prevalence Study of 2018, 7.7% of adults, and 7.5% of children have asthma.

Why Your Indoor Air Quality Matters

Dust and Particulates Are Dangerous - Exposure to inhalable particles can affect both your lungs and your heart. Many studies directly link the size of particles to their potential for causing health problems. Small particles (less than 10 micrometers in diameter) can get deep into your lungs, and some may even get into your bloodstream.

What Are Volatile Organic Compounds? - Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are emitted as gases from certain solids or liquids. VOCs include a variety of chemicals, some of which may have short- and long-term adverse health effects. The smell associated with new furniture, carpet, paint, etc., these are all VOC’s.

Mold/Viruses/Bacteria – There’s really not much to say here, we all understand that these organisms exist in the air around us.  

We have a saying in the Indoor air quality industry, if you don’t have a product that is cleaning the air in your house, don’t worry, your lungs will clean it! What can we do to address the three categories of pollutants in our home and workplaces? Fortunately, there are ways to address all three.

Dust & Particulates – The Answer: Air filtration

There are two ways to filter the air we breathe.

Filters – These are the filters that go in the ductwork. They require at minimum annual changes as they build up with debris. If they are not regularly replaced, they act as a barrier in your ductwork, interfering and possibly damaging your hvac system. When looking for filters, look at the MERV rating. The higher the number the better. A MERV rating below 8 is not really catching anything other than extremely large particles, the smaller ones, the ones that are more dangerous, pass right through. Look for something that has a MERV rating of at least 10. Higher end filters will even have a carbon coating to help capture some VOC’s.

Ionizers – These products also go into the ductwork. Rather than filtering the particulates out of the system like a filter, an ionizer adds positive and negative ions to the particulates. These charged particles will bond with each other, forming larger particles that eventually fall from the air to the ground.

           VOC’s – The Answer: Oxidation

These products attack VOC’s on a molecular level. There are several products that do this in a variety of ways. One way is photocatalytic-oxidation, another is photohydroionization. The installation of these products require a professional, but when it comes to eliminating VOC’s this is the best way. 

Mold/Viruses/Bacteria - The Answer: UV Lights

Not all UV lights are equal, some are just glorified black-lights, others emit a certain kind of UV light called UVC. These are the lights that are installed in your ductwork and kill any organism that passes by. UVC lights can cause permanent damage to your eyes, so installation is best left to an experienced professional. Some of these lights are so strong that they can “eat” through thin, metal flex duct (like the kind that attaches to dryers).