Indoor Air Quality: Lowering VOC’s

Recently studies have shown that volatile chemical products such as pesticides, printing inks, adhesives, cleaning products, personal care products, etc, make up half of the fossil fuel VOC (volatile organic compounds) emissions today.  This is becoming a big deal because VOC’s are found in higher concentrations indoors and have short-and long-term effects on your health.  Some of these effects can be:

• irritation to the eyes, nose, and throat
• headaches, nausea, and loss of coordination
• liver, kidney and central nervous system damage

We feel that helping you strive for better indoor air quality is our duty as an HVAC company.  In this effort, we have put together the following 5 tips to help you lower VOC’s in your home.

Buy Only What You Need

This is not because we don’t want you to have what you need when you need it.  However, buying home cleaning supplies in bulk can still allow VOC’s to permeate the air inside of your home even if it is still sealed.  It is best to only buy what you need and strive to not store them inside of your home.  If it is necessary to keep products that are high in VOC content such as furniture polish, we suggest that you store them outside in an unattached shed when possible.

Go Natural

This is easier said than done.  With price in mind as well as the effectiveness of the products that fall into the natural category, we suggest the following: try to purchase Seventh Generation or similar products.  These are proven to be safe to use and a reasonable price point.  But at the end of the day, try to choose products that are low in ammonia, chlorine, formaldehyde, bleach, lye or sulfate.

Add House Plants for Air Purification

Of course, the most natural way to purify the air inside your home is to add plants.  The plants that you add to your home will help to filter out the VOC’s and add humidity to your home in the winter.

Properly Ventilate Your Home

Those warnings on many labels are not just there to look nice.  They are the best way to be sure that your home is not filling with VOC’s that can be harmful to your health.  From time to time, you can also open a window or door to allow for air exchange to take place in your home.  Alternately, you can have a heat or energy recovery ventilator in your home.  This will remove the stale air from your home while pulling fresh air in.

Get an Air Quality Test

If you find that you are just not sure if you are the victim of high VOC’s, you can always order an air quality test to be done in your home.  This can help to pinpoint exactly where your issue is coming from and will also help us to formulate a plan of action to help you.  This is the very best option that you have to help us to find the best possible solution for you and your family.

If you are not sure what to do, we can help you.  If you are ready to start eliminating indoor air pollutants and VOC’s, be sure to contact us today so that we can start to help you!