Your Indoor Air Quality Impacts Your Health: How Can You Improve It?

People spend as much as 90% of their time inside their homes, offices, schools, and cars. And indoor air can be two to five times more polluted than outdoor air. 

Air quality is the measure of gases and small particles in the air that can be harmful to your lungs. For people with asthma and allergies, managing indoor air quality is especially important because poor indoor air quality can trigger asthma and allergy symptoms.

October is National Indoor Air Quality Month. It’s a great time to think about your indoor air, how it can affect your asthma and allergies, and how to manage your indoor air quality to make your home healthier. 

Sources of Air Pollution in Your Home

It’s important to understand the sources of indoor air pollution because the health risks from poor indoor air can be worse than outdoor air. There are many sources of indoor air pollution:

• Allergens like animal dander, pollen, mold, and dust mites can impact your air quality and trigger your asthma. 
• Fumes released by cooking, fuel-burning heat sources, and smoke from candles, fireplaces, or tobacco contribute to air pollution into your home.
• Items in your home can release gases called volatile organic compounds (VOCs). VOCs can be two to five times higher indoors than outdoors. Building materials such as paints, solvents, and varnishes, are a big source of VOCs. Electronic equipment, cleaning products, new furniture, and many other household products can be sources of VOCs. 
• Outdoor air pollution can enter your home through open doors and windows. Wood-burning smoke, dust, ozone, and emissions from cars and factories can find their way into your home. 

Managing indoor air quality may seem overwhelming. You can use the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America’s (AAFA) Healthier Home Checklist to help you learn ways to improve the quality of your indoor air and make your home healthier.

Managing Your Indoor Air with Ventilation and Filtration

Good ventilation and indoor air flow can improve the quality of air in your home or other indoor spaces. It can also reduce the spread of illnesses that spread through the air, like COVID-19.

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Improve your indoor air flow by leaving interior doors open and running exhaust fans in kitchens and bathrooms. Always use the vents for ovens and stoves when cooking to send fumes and humidity outside. Use the fans in your bathroom to help remove moisture. Humid areas can be a breeding ground for mold, a common allergen. 

Maintaining your heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) unit or central furnace system is important.  Replace or clean your system’s air filters as recommended by the manufacturer. Be sure to use high-energy particulate air (HEPA) filters. 

Air Cleaners

Another tool you can use to manage indoor air quality is an air cleaner. Air cleaners are designed to remove particles from the air we breathe. When selecting an air cleaner, it is important to understand the CADR and MERV ratings.

CADR (clean air delivery rate) rates the effectiveness of an air cleaner for your room size. If you purchase an air cleaner with a CADR rating too low for your room, it will be ineffective.  

MERV (minimum efficiency reporting value) is important for selecting the right filter. The MERV rating is a measure of the size of particles a filter removes. HEPA filters, for example, are typically rated 13. To help trap allergens and other small particles like viruses, look for MERV 13 or higher.

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Using a CERTIFIED asthma & allergy friendly® air cleaner can help improve your indoor air quality. They are tested to ensure they meet strict standards for reducing asthma and allergy triggers from the air. 

Be Aware, Have Cleaner Air

Improving indoor air quality and reducing exposure to asthma and allergy triggers is an important part of managing asthma and allergies. Take steps during National Indoor Air Quality Month – and all year long – to improve your indoor air quality and help your home have cleaner air.

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This content was developed in partnership with the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA). AAFA is the oldest and largest non-profit patient organization dedicated to saving lives and reducing the burden of disease for people with asthma, allergies and related conditions through research, education, advocacy, and support. Learn more about AAFA at: aafa.org

AAFA offers extensive support for individuals and families affected by asthma and allergic diseases, such as food allergies and atopic dermatitis (eczema). You can join our online patient support community at: aafa.org/join