Did you know that living in the city could be harming your health? City air quality is notoriously poor, especially in large cities. Environmental pollutants play a huge role in a person’s health, and can lead to breathing issues, allergies, and even asthma. In fact, some health professional equate spending time outdoors in polluted air to smoking.
Outdoor city pollutants
Outdoors, you are exposed to a variety of pollutants. In the city, these can include car exhaust, pollen, factory smoke, smog, chemical solvents, ozone, gasoline vapors, and other common lung irritants. Higher temperatures and humidity can also contribute to additional outdoor air pollution.
The worst time for air pollution
The worst time for air pollution is in the late afternoon when temperatures are the highest. This causes pollutants to hover near the ground at breathing level. Summer days have stronger pollutants than fall or winter days. Spring pollens can also lead to breathing difficulties during that season.
Indoor air pollution
You might think you can just go inside to avoid city air pollution, but that is not the case. The inside of your home may have just as many air quality problems. Dust, radon, chemicals, plastics, formaldehyde, fire-retardant substances, radon, pets, paint, and chemicals from products can all lead to the reduction of indoor air quality. Many people are unaware that indoor air quality is so low in the modern city home.
The danger of air pollution
Air pollution can cause serious risk to people living in dirty air. Children are especially at risk for air pollution, because their lungs are not fully developed until adolescence. Individuals with asthma may find city pollutants make their asthma worse. Air pollution can contribute to breathing problems, allergies, respiratory issues, and even delayed development in children.
What you can do to reverse city air pollution
While most people cannot simply pack up and leave the city, there are things you can do to improve your symptoms and improve the quality of air inside your home. Try these tactics to improve your city air quality inside your home:
Keep your home free of dust as much as possible: A vacuum with a beater brush, strong suction, and a HEPA filter will do a better job than standard vacuum systems. Always vacuum walls, floors, carpet edges, upholstered furniture, and curtains in your quest to remove dust. Place mats across every exterior door to block chemicals, dirt, dust, and other pollutants from the outside.
Improve your HVAC filtration system with a HEPA filter
If you don’t already have the above features in your home, adding them will be helpful. You can replace your system with a HEPA air conditioning system to ensure that you are removing as many pollutants from your home as possible. When it is not peak pollutant time in the city, open your doors and windows to allow new air to circulate through your home.
It is easy to see why air quality is important. To truly benefit your health and reduce air pollution even in the city, a functional filtration system is essential. The better your air filter, the better your health and the better you will feel. You will soon find that the right filter can make all the difference in your breathing problems.