Good air quality is vital to human health. Many factors can affect particulates in the air, including fumes from cars, pollen, smoke from wildfires, and many other things in our lives. This is especially true for those who have health conditions that make them susceptible to poor air quality. Here are a few of the reasons why you might want to consider an air quality monitor that measures particulates in and around your own home.
6 Reasons Why Monitoring Air Quality Is Important
The number one reason why you should be concerned about the cleanliness of the air around your home is your health. Knowing when the air quality begins to reach certain levels allows you to take appropriate actions for your health and the health of your loved ones. Read on below to learn about several other reasons why you might want to consider a home air quality monitor.
1. AQI Around Your Home
You might have heard the air quality index (AQI) mentioned on weather forecasts. This is a measure of the amount of air pollution that is floating around in the air in your region. For the most part, an AQI of zero to 50 is considered good. When it starts going above 50, those with severe health conditions may start to be affected.
As the AQI rises, more categories of healthier people may begin to be affected. Various levels have been assigned colors to indicate the precautions that should be taken. Most notably, everyone should take precautions when the AQI reaches 301, including those that are otherwise healthy. An air quality monitor in your home or business allows you to know how the AQI outside is affecting your indoor space.
2. Local Results
Depending on your local weather service, the reported AQI might not be an accurate reflection of what is going on inside or outside of your home. Many factors can affect the AQI around your home including geography, local weather conditions, and other factors that could make the AQI around your home higher or lower than that reported by local weather stations.
Having your own air quality monitor lets you know exactly what is going on in your backyard. Also, if you place an air quality monitor inside your home, then you know whether poor air quality outside is coming in. This can also be a critical health tool when you or a loved one suffers from allergies, or a chronic lung condition affected by poor air quality. Help keep everyone healthy and safe in your family.
3. Develop an Action Plan
Knowing the air quality in and around your home allows you to develop an action plan and respond when the AQI begins to rise. For instance, you might know to keep extra oxygen around or make plans to move to a safe location until the air quality improves.
4. Feel Better and Be More Productive
Even for those who do not have significant health issues affected by air quality, the environment inside our buildings has a significant effect on how we feel and our productivity. We know that buildings with poor air quality affect the health of the occupants. In fact, studies have shown that “sick” buildings lead to higher rates of absenteeism and lower levels of productivity.
For instance, if you have a commercial building, monitoring indoor air quality can help improve your productivity and possibly help you avoid litigation over health-related issues. In addition, when it comes to the air quality in a residential home, taking measures to improve it can help you get better sleep, so you have more energy during the day. Perhaps some of these are the best reasons to invest in an air quality monitor for your home or business.
5. Real-time Results
The best reason to have your own air quality monitor for your home, business, or outdoor area is that it gives you continuous monitoring and real-time results. Meanwhile, your local news only gives you results that are accurate for the exact location where their monitor is located, and the readings reported are several hours old by the time you get them. Air quality levels can change quickly, so it is important to have accurate, timely results that are relevant to your local area.
6. Make Changes to Your Home
Knowing how the air quality outside affects the indoor spaces of your home allows you to take measures to make your home healthier. For instance, based on data taken from an air quality monitor, you can:
- Caulk air leaks
- Repair or adjust HVAC systems
- Install HEPA filters
- Install an air filtration system
The worst threat is the one that you cannot see or know exists. Once you have identified the problem, then you can take action to correct it and improve your quality of life and the quality of life of those around you.
The poor quality air severely affects the lungs of 2.2 million or 50 percent of all children In Delhi.
It also prevents the oxidative damage that is caused by the dust particles.
Its deficiency leads to a reduced level of antioxidants in the body, so to overcome the effect of dangerously affected environment one is advised to consume lots and lots of Vitamin C. Vitamin C rich foods are citrus fruits, guavas, kale, broccoli, bell peppers, amla, tomato, etc.
If the body cannot process and remove toxins efficiently then it results in oxidative stress.
Oxidative stress has been linked to heart disease, cancer, arthritis, stroke, respiratory diseases, immune deficiency, emphysema, Parkinson’s disease, and other inflammatory or ischemic conditions.
Other foods with a higher amount of omega-3 fatty acids are walnuts, eggs, fish and soybeans, microalgae, vegetable oils (Olive oil, rice bran oil), etc.
