You may believe that your loved ones are safe from pollution in your Piedmont, SC, home. However, air pollution indoors, where people spend 90% of their time, is often two to five times higher than outside. Read on to learn about volatile organic compounds and how they impact your indoor air quality.
What are VOCs?
VOCs are chemicals containing carbon, and you can find them in many products you use every day. Some VOCs have short-term health effects, while others can cause long-term issues or even death.
Type of VOCs
You can find VOCs that impact your indoor air quality in household items you may encounter daily, such as wood-burning stoves, gasoline, tobacco smoke, permanent markers, pesticides and hairspray. Carbon monoxide and radon gas are other examples of VOCs.
What’s Radon?
Radon is a naturally occurring inert gas that’s both odorless and colorless. As a radioactive gas, it’s the number one cause of lung cancer among nonsmokers and the number two cause overall. Radon gas enters houses and other buildings through holes and cracks in the foundation and becomes trapped inside.
How to Improve Indoor Air Quality
For carbon monoxide and radon, install detectors for both in your home. Another way to prevent radon buildup in your home is to caulk and seal all the holes and cracks in the walls and foundation. You also need to make sure your HVAC system provides adequate ventilation and to clean the filters regularly.
Other steps to take include reducing the sources of VOCs in your home and investing in a Trane CleanEffects Whole-House Air Cleaner. Heat recovery ventilators and natural ventilation also help to rid your home of VOCs and improve air quality.
Don’t let VOCs impact your indoor air quality and endanger your health. Contact Complete Heat and Air today to ask how we can help you improve your indoor air quality to keep your home safe and healthy.
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