We usually think that air pollution only occurs in outdoor environment. But the air in our house and office could also be polluted. There are many sources for indoor pollution such as biological contaminants like mold and pollen, tobacco smoke, house hold products, pesticides and gases such as radon and carbon monoxide, etc.
Here under are some strategies for improving the indoor air quality. There are three basic strategies for improving, source control, improved ventilation and air cleaners.
Source control: Usually the most effective way to improve the indoor air quality is by eliminating the individual sources of pollutants or reduce the emission. For instance, gas stoves can be adjusted to control the emission. Source controlling is the most cost saving way to increase the indoor air quality than ventilation because increasing the ventilation increases the energy cost.
Improved ventilation: Another approach is to lower the concentration of indoor air pollutants in your home by increasing the amount of outdoor air coming inside. Most home heating and cooling systems, including forced air heating systems, do not mechanically bring fresh air into the house. Opening windows and doors, operating window or attic fans when the weather permits, or running a window air conditioner with the vent control open increases the outdoor ventilation rate.
Implementing the above steps is particularly important if you are involved in short term activities that can generate high level of pollutants, like painting, paint stripping, heating with kerosene etc. Advanced designs of new homes are making use of mechanical systems that bring outdoor air into the home. For example, energy-efficient heat recovery ventilators.
Air cleaners: There are many types of air cleaners available in the market. Some air cleaners are highly effective at particle removal, while others, including most table-top models, are comparatively less. Air cleaners are generally not designed to remove gaseous pollutants. The effectiveness of air cleaner depends on how well it collects the pollutants from the indoor and how much air is draws through the cleaning or the filtering elements.
Like this we can easily improve our indoor air quality and can control the dangerous pollutants from our indoor air.
