Your Indoor Air Quality? Worse Than You Think

Let’s face it, air quality on this earth isn’t getting any better. Every single minute, roughly 36 football fields’ worth of trees are lost due to urban development, harvesting trees for wood and wood products, agricultural use, etc.… Fewer trees on earth means air isn’t getting “cleaned” like it used to. According to Sciencing, “one acre of trees in urban forests can remove 188 pounds of carbon dioxide from the air”. That’s a lot of filtering.

 

 

Biology 101

Let’s revisit a simple yet vital process that occurs on this planet, photosynthesis. Keeping it short, photosynthesis is the process a plant uses to provide energy for itself by intaking light, water, and carbon dioxide while breathing out oxygen.

Occurring since the industrial revolution, greenhouse gasses are being pumped into the air at a greater rate than they’re being removed (no Bueno). With trees being cut down at an alarming rate, less carbon dioxide is being naturally removed from our atmosphere.

Back to math class

Let’s do a simple equation; if you add fewer trees and increasing levels of carbon dioxide, it equals to an increase in temperature. And as you probably guessed, this increase in temperature is called “global warming”.

We told you that it was going to be simple.

Little acronym, big impact

While we love pointing our virtual spotlight on topics that require immediate attention, this is NOT a blog about deforestation.

Often air quality is thought of as a metric to measure the number of pollutants in the air outside, but have you ever stopped to think about the air quality inside of your home?

Acronym of the day: VOC; it stands for Volatile Organic Compound. VOC’s are emitted as gases from certain solids or liquids. These little gasses account for the majority of everyday chemical exposure in humans. We would like to share a disturbing fact with you, according to the EPA, “concentrations of VOC’s are consistently higher indoors, up to 10 times higher, as compared to outdoors”.

The article goes on to list sources of VOC’s, shared below

• paints, paint strippers, and other solvents
• wood preservatives
• aerosol sprays
• cleansers and disinfectants
• moth repellents and air fresheners
• stored fuels and automotive products
• hobby supplies
• dry-cleaned clothing
• pesticide

Health effects

No, you’re not going to wake up tomorrow with spidey senses.

Exposure to VOC’s might include eye/nose/throat irritation, nausea, damage to the liver/kidney/central nervous system, and in extreme cases, cancer. VOC’s cause more than just health effects, they can lead to discomfort, headaches, allergic reactions, fatigue, dizziness, etc.

Children are at a higher risk when exposed to VOC’s; since they weigh significantly less than adults, children breathe more per body weight, meaning they get a bigger dose of whatever is in the air.

 

 

A breath of fresh air

The EPA states humans spend 90% of their time indoors, estimating that 72% of peoples’ chemical exposure comes from their home. The EPA goes on to say that source control is the best strategy to reduce indoor air pollution.

Total Restore uses GreenGuard Gold certified paint to create a healthier indoor environment while limiting chemical exposure; our paint is scientifically proven to meet some of the world’s most rigorous, third-party chemical emissions standards.

 

 

How safe is our paint? Since it is GreenGuard Gold certified, recognized in a plethora of building programs/standards/specifications around the world, we can paint surfaces in environments like schools and healthcare facilities.

Want even fresher air? Consider renting a commercial air scrubber for your home or workplace. Air scrubbers are portable filtration systems which suck in air and pass them through a series of filters, removing contaminants in the air like particles/gasses/chemicals

Recap

Your indoor air quality is more polluted than the air outside, usually, 2-5 times more polluted.

VOC’s, emitting a slight odor or even odorless, account for most of your daily chemical exposure. These range from causing slight discomfort to causing serious health effects. Important to think about since we spend most of our time indoors.

Total Restore uses GreenGuard Gold certified paint to increase indoor air quality while lowering indoor air pollution.

Consider renting a commercial air scrubber, especially if you have children or elderly members of your home. Our commercial air scrubbers, also containing a large HEPA filter, are available for rent. Contact info@totalrestorepro.com for details and pricing!

Thank you for reading our weekly blogs. Please reach out with topics you would like us to tackle in our future blogs!