Did you know that your indoor air quality could be negatively impacting your health due to living in an environment with things that contribute to indoor air pollution? We actually spend around 90% of our time indoors, so whatever environment you spend the most time will shape your health and longevity for better or worse. Pollutants from smoking (cigarettes or vapes), mold, viruses, off gassing from furniture, cleaning products, candles, food odor, pets, gas appliances, allergens and more can make our indoor air 2-5x more polluted than outdoor air, making our Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) worse than it is outside!
Indoor air pollution can contribute to the development of asthma, decrease lung function, increase risk of pneumonia, impair health and performance, impair cognitive function, increase your risk of developing of lung cancer or the likelihood of developing heart disease, and so much more due to poor home air quality.
Essentially our lungs have to breath in everything that tracks through our house- and without opening the windows to let in fresh air, all of these pollutants accumulate over time, contributing to negative health outcomes and seriously affecting our longevity.
Poor indoor air quality can also cause immediate issues like allergies, fatigue, headaches, trigger inflammatory responses, etc. from spending just a few hours inside of a very polluted indoor air environment.
The good news is that it only takes 5-15 minutes to achieve fresh air exchange by opening your windows wide and letting your house breathe! It’s best to open windows that promote cross-ventilation (windows on opposite sides of the wall) and open them as wide as you can. Depending on the indoor air quality in your home, you could do this several times a day- but in the winter when it’s cold outside, even just 1x per day allows fresh air in, reducing overall indoor pollution. Plus- just 5 minutes a day won’t significantly drop your house temperature (I’ve done myself most days this winter, and it usually drops by 1 or 2 degrees).
There are also several high quality air filters you can use to trap airborne particles and improve indoor air quality on a regular basis, especially if you have pets, light candles, use conventional cleaning and hygiene products (think hair spray, window cleaning spray, etc.) do a lot of cooking, have mold or mildew somewhere in your home, or do really anything that releases harmful substances into the air- which we do daily every time we cook something on the stove. I personally use Air Doctor, and have for years when I learned I was living in a moldy apartment back in 2019 which I believe contributed to the autoimmune condition I was diagnosed with- Eosinophilic Esophagitis around that time. In the winter, when the air is stagnant and more polluted due to cold weather decreasing the amount of times I open my window, my autoimmune condition flares up more compared to months when our window are constantly open like in the summer or spring. Many people with chronic inflammatory or autoimmune conditions have sensitivity to air quality changes. Environmental air exposures increase inflammatory responses- so make sure you are opening your windows, using those air filters (particularly one with a HEPA filter), and getting outside when you can to breathe in some fresh air!
Below is the link below to the air filter I use (I have no affiliate with this company, I just like them)! I like it because it has a little light that turns red if the air is really bad, and turns blue again once the air is clean. Seeing that visual cue reminds me why I have one in the first place! We keep one in our living room and one in our bedroom for cleaning indoor air at night.
Good reminder to open the windows even when it’s cold!! I just did this air out some of that stale winter air and it made a huge difference!
Awe I’m glad it did! I try to do it for 5-10 minutes a day – even fresh air aside, C02 builds up as well during the winter time and can have some real side effects given how much time we spend inside during the winter. Proud of you for taking care of your air 🙂