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11 ways to improve indoor air quality at home that actually work

Photo credit: Qwart - Getty Images
Photo credit: Qwart - Getty Images

From Country Living

Planes, power stations and smoggy, traffic-clogged cities might be what we picture when we think of air pollution, but few people know that the air quality inside your home can be up to 10 times worse than outside.

In fact, the UK government deems air pollution – both inside and out – to be the largest environmental risk to public health, contributing to nearly 40,000 deaths annually, of which a minimum of 9,000 are attributed to indoor air pollution. The Environmental Audit Committee estimates that NHS and social care costs relating to air pollution add up to more than £20 billion a year.

What defines poor indoor air quality?

Indoor air pollution may be worse in big cities, due to higher levels of outdoor pollution filtering into homes, but it affects those living in the country too.

The British Lung Foundation defines indoor air pollution as “dust, dirt or gases in the air inside a building that harms us if we breathe it in”. It can be caused by many things, from poor ventilation and damp to chemicals in cleaning products and paints. It comprises tiny particles that usually cannot be seen or smelled, ominously branding it ‘the invisible killer’.

The average person spends over 90% of their time indoors, breathing in polluted indoor air for more than 150 hours every week. What's more, our homes are more insulated and less ventilated than ever, which has a positive impact on our energy bills but a negative effect on our air quality, as dry, stale air hangs about for longer.

What is the consequence of indoor air pollution?

The idea of our homes being polluted sounds scary, and it is, but a lot of air pollution is normal and unavoidable, only becoming a problem when it isn’t taken seriously and is allowed to build up.

Some people may not experience symptoms at all but that doesn't mean we shouldn't all take a closer look at our habits in the home, especially when it comes to cleaning, ventilation and the use of aerosols.

Professor Stephen Holgate, medical adviser to the British Lung Foundation, says: “While we have learnt a lot about how outdoor air pollution damages our health and that of our children, we know far too little about the air we breathe inside our homes, cars and schools.

“Everyone is at risk from indoor air pollution, but children and people living with a lung condition are more likely to be affected by poor air quality. If you’ve been breathing in polluted air for days or weeks at a time, you might start to notice a dry throat or a cough. You might also feel short of breath, wheezy or have an itchy or runny nose.

“It is important that a more precautionary approach is taken to chemicals in our homes, that products are labelled like foods so that personal choices can be made and that attention is paid to measuring indoor pollution and ensuring ventilation is adequate.”

The World Health Organisation estimated that indoor air pollution killed a staggering 4.3 million people worldwide in 2012, of which 99,000 were in Europe, with patients suffering from serious respiratory and cardiovascular conditions such as lung cancer and heart disease.

11 EASY WAYS TO IMPROVE THE AIR QUALITY IN YOUR HOME

1. Open the windows

It might sound obvious but keeping your airflow fresh is the cheapest and easiest way to improve the air quality in your home.

Opening the windows during winter may seem counter-intuitive when you’re trying to stay warm and save money on central heating but it’s vital for letting oxygen in and nasties out, as well as reducing the humidity that dust mites need to survive.

Be particularly careful to keep rooms well-ventilated when using chemical-heavy cleaning or decorating products.

2. Buy second-hand furniture over new

That new sofa may be a luxury but it’s secretly releasing chemicals into your living room. Volatile organic compounds, known as VOCs, are the gases given off by many fabrics, glues and paints. They react with sunlight and chemicals in the atmosphere to form particulates that irritate and damage our lungs.

Combat this by digging and delving in a charity shop that sells furniture, such as the British Heart Foundation, or scout out Freecycle or Gumtree for freebies or bargains near you. Items stop emitting VOCs after a few years, meaning they’ll likely have off-gassed into someone else’s home.

The same logic applies to flooring. Ideally, swap carpet for floorboards or concrete, both of which are easier to clean and don’t trap dust and dander.

If you’ve just moved into a new-build home and want to absorb some VOCs, Ikea has just launched its first air-purifying curtains. Developed in collaboration with leading universities and priced at just £25, they are treated with a special mineral-based coating that helps break down odours and chemicals in the air when activated by a light source.

3. Invest in an air purifier

Dust and pollen particles can be microscopic. It’s nigh on impossible to clean something you can’t see. Enter the air purifier. The best air purifying machines trap and remove almost 100% of pollutants by drawing in dirty air, filtering it and releasing it back out into the room, much cleaner and fresher.

Air purifiers can prove particularly helpful during the peak hay fever season from May to July and usually feature LED displays that flash green when the surrounding air is clean. Some release negative ions into the air to help neutralise airborne viruses and bacteria.

Look for air purifiers with a high CADR (clean air delivery rate). The higher the number, the faster the unit will filter the air.

If your budget stretches far enough, invest in an air purifier with a fan so that the newly clean air is circulated around the entire room. Smaller, less expensive air purifiers can still be effective but you will need to move them around if using them in bigger rooms.

Dr Rob Hicks, medical doctor and author of Beat Your Allergies, says: “While it is difficult to control the outdoor environment, taking steps to reduce your contact with allergens indoors is an effective way to help reduce asthma attacks and alleviate allergy symptoms. Removing airborne particles, such as pet dander and pollen, may help reduce the risk of an asthma attack or a flare-up of an allergy, so an air purifier can be a very useful addition to your allergy-controlling armoury.”

4. Don’t forget to dust

Good quailty vacuum cleaners are expensive but they’re a powerful force against dust, pollen and pet hair, all of which can quickly build up and irritate your respiratory system. Vacuum as regularly as you can, including underneath sofas and beds.

Bash cushions, rugs and throws against outside walls to reduce how much dust they’re holding. Change your bedding weekly and wash it at 60 degrees to kill dust mites and germs. Keep surfaces clutter-free for frequent dusting and use a damp cloth to trap those pesky particles.

5. Give your cleaning cupboard a green makeover

Cleaning your home is objectively a good thing. Or at least it would be, were the bleach and other products in your cleaning cupboard not toxic to breathe in. What’s more, when you wash them down the sink, they pollute the waterways and hurt wildlife.

Luckily, you don’t need to use toxic ingredients to cut through grease and grime as plenty of eco-friendly cleaning products work just as well and smell a lot better.

Look for products that contain food-grade ingredients like coconut oil and are fragrance-free or scented with aromatherapy oils. Bonus points if they’re certified organic like Greenscents or approved by a trustworthy organisation such as Allergy UK.

Natural alternatives to consider include castile soap, which is made from vegetable oils and great at removing grease, vinegar for cleaning glass, olive oil for polishing stainless steel and diluted lemon juice for getting tough stains out of chopping boards.

For effective cleaning with nothing but tap water, opt for reusable microfibre cloths that trap tiny dirt particles when wet. They also don’t store bacteria, preventing cross-contamination between bathroom and kitchen surfaces.

If you’re still dubious about the cleaning abilities of eco-friendly products, Professor Holgate recommends swapping your chemical sprays for solid or liquid cleaning products. “Sprays get into the air, which means you can breathe them in more easily and they can get further down into your airways,” he says.

6. Dry out damp

Dust mites, mould and viruses love heat and moisture, making kitchens and bathrooms their havens of choice. Take care to keep the door shut when taking a hot shower, cover cooking pans, turn on the extractor fan to get rid of steam and hang wet clothes up to dry outside.

Open the windows as much as possible to prevent condensation building up, especially while sleeping. If controlling your humidity level proves a struggle, consider investing in a dehumidifier for poorly-insulated rooms with outer walls or single-glazed windows.

7. Keep a smoke-free house

Smoking in enclosed public spaces was made illegal in 2007 to protect non-smokers from the 7,000 plus chemicals found in second-hand smoke. Toxic airborne tobacco particles remain at harmful levels for up to five hours, so it makes sense to designate your home a smoke-free zone.

Remember that incense sticks, candles and anything else that you burn for recreational purposes emit carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide into the air. Incense is more damaging than candles, emitting over 100 times the number of fine particles, according to the BLF.

If you’re concerned, forgo paraffin wax candles made from petroleum waste in favour of candles made from natural waxes such as beeswax and soy, such as those from Neom Organics. Avoid synthetic fragrances or dyes but bear in mind that essential oils can also be irritating for some people with allergies.

8. Banish air fresheners

Air fresheners may help mask bad odours but every squirt sprays a torrent of synthetic chemicals into your home.

Swap the sickly scent of fake vanilla for naturally-fragranced or fragrance-free products. Better still, go fully natural with an organic room diffuser or essential oil burner.

Neutralise cooking smells on a bootstring by leaving a bowl of white vinegar in the kitchen overnight or microwaving slices of lemon in water. You could even make your own air freshener by mixing baking soda and lemon juice with hot water and pouring the mixture into an empty spray bottle.

9. Use non-toxic paint

Hunt out paints that are low in VOCs and don’t have that giveaway fresh paint smell.

Paint brands claiming to be non-toxic should display ingredients lists on their cans or be happy to provide them if asked. They shouldn’t contain any plastic, as this creates a barrier on walls that traps air, leading to the development of mould.

Try to avoid petrochemicals derived from acrylics, formaldehyde, ammonia and oil, as well as synthetic dyes. Ditch oil-based paints in favour of water-based paints but check that this doesn’t just mean they’re watered down.

Government regulations mean that all paints can only have enough VOCs in them to be considered safe. However, some have fewer levels than others.

Little Greene is vegan-friendly and formulated using sustainable vegetable oils or water bases with next to no solvents, while leading paint brand Farrow & Ball makes its entirely water-based paints from china clay, which helps reduce condensation and mildew.

10. Wave goodbye to your wood-burning stove

More than one million of us have a wood-burning stove. Yet studies have suggested that using it once indoors exposes a family to more air pollutants than standing at a traffic-clogged roundabout during rush hour.

Wood-burners, particularly old models, emit smoke that can damage lung tissue and lead to long-term breathing problems. Electric fires or period-style radiators can be atmospheric without the carcinogens but if you can’t bring yourself to give up your wood-burner, bust open those windows as often as possible to refresh the air.

11. Stock up on houseplants (but you’ll need a lot!)

The air-purifying benefits of houseplants have been widely documented but you’d need a jungle to make a noteworthy impact on your air quality.

Last year, researchers for the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology found that it would take between 10 and 1,000 plants per square metre of floor space to compete with the air cleaning power of a couple of open windows in a house.

Houseplants do soak up pollutants, just so slowly that their impact is almost insignificant.

If you’re in the market for a new plant anyway, Nasa’s 1989 Clean Air Study found that peace lillies, ferns, Devil’s ivy and spider plants are among the best at removing chemicals like formaldehyde and carbon monoxide from the air.

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