We typically make an effort to clean our homes at least once a week with activities ranging from heavy-duty chores like cleaning the toilet and mopping all the floors to changing the bed linens and dusting down furniture.

But how often do we clean our air? Perhaps it may seem like a silly question since we can’t manually filter the air in our homes and air is everywhere. However, there are steps that can be taken to improve the quality of your indoor air.

You may be wondering if it’s really necessary because after all, you’re not constantly revving a car inside your home or office. Unfortunately, it is necessary as studies show that indoor air may actually be worse than the outdoor air with concentrations of pollutants possibly being a whopping five times more concentrated than outside air.

Shocked? There’s more to discover, so read on to find out more about indoor air quality and how you can improve it for the sake of your health, and that of your loved ones.

What is indoor air quality?

 

Indoor air quality is the quality of air in a building environment. According to a report by NST, most Malaysians generally spend up to 60% of their time indoors, but statistics vary with children spending up to 90% of their time indoors and infants up to 100%. The amount of time spent indoors has increased even more with the outbreak of the pandemic in recent years.

According to IQAir, Malaysia is currently in the 50^th place in the global rankings of air pollution with an annual average PM2.5 level that’s at least 3.9 times higher than the healthy limit recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Although that places us at only moderate levels of air pollution, it’s a different matter altogether when it comes to indoor air quality.

Why does indoor air quality matter?

 

Given the amount of time we spend indoors, indoor air quality has a huge impact on our lives and overall wellbeing. Poor indoor air quality doesn’t just lead to discomfort, it can often result in a variety of illnesses ranging from allergies to cancers, or even constantly trigger existing health conditions.

In fact, there’s actually a unique condition called Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) which occurs when building occupants experience similar symptoms upon entering a particular building with symptoms disappearing or diminishing upon exiting the building.

Individuals who are more susceptible to indoor air pollution are also most often the ones who need to spend time indoors such as young children, older adults, and individuals with cardiovascular or respiratory diseases.

Hence, it is worrying that they are often denied access to even a breath of fresh air within the safety of their own homes.

To put things into perspective, take a look at how indoor air quality affects the following aspects of our lives:

●     Short-term health

When exposed to air pollution, short-term health issues may present themselves as lung and throat infections, dizziness, headaches, fatigue, irritation of the eyes, rashes, dry skin, nausea and more.

Indoor air pollution may also be the catalyst to more acute asthma attacks as well as triggering asthma in individuals that may have never suffered from it before.

●     Long-term health

In certain cases, young children who are exposed to poor indoor air quality for a prolonged period of time will develop a decrease in overall lung capacity which then affects their growth and causes developmental issues.

Pregnant women may also be at risk of having children with birth defects if overexposed to certain indoor air pollutants. Some other long-term effects of exposure to poor indoor air include neurological defects, genetic damage, and chronic respiratory illnesses.

Exposure to radon, a naturally-occurring radioactive gas that is often found in higher concentrations in indoor environments, can also cause cancer, particularly lung cancer.

In the outdoors, radon typically dilutes to incredibly low concentrations of 5 Bq/m3 to 15 Bq/m3 on its own, but within areas with minimal ventilation such as the indoors, radon can quickly build up to 10 Bq/m3 to more than 10 000 Bq/m3.

That being said, reducing radon in your indoor air is possible with the installation of a reliable air purifier.

●     Productivity

Breathing is important to every living being as every system in the body relies on getting sufficient oxygen. Hence, the quality of the air we breathe directly affects everything from our cognition and digestion to energy levels and immunity.

As mentioned above, poor indoor air quality can lead to illnesses and thus indirectly to absenteeism and lower productivity levels in schools and workplaces. Several studies have also concluded that good indoor air quality can significantly improve the performance of employees and increase productivity by 4% – 10% with lowered rates of sick leave, mistakes and workplace accidents.

 

Factors that affect the cleanliness of your indoor air

The sources that affect the cleanliness of your indoor air can be separate into two categories: indoor sources and outdoor sources. The following table shows the factors that fall under each category:

 

Indoor sources	Outdoor sources
Combustion by-products and particulate matter (Tobacco smoke, carbon monoxide, wood, gas or coal cooking appliances, mosquito coil smoke)	Outdoor climate/ weather conditions (Haze, hot weather)
Volatile organic compounds (Cleaning supplies, paints, insecticides, air fresheners, scented products)	Natural ventilation (Opened doors or windows)
Building materials (Lead, asbestos, formaldehyde, paints)	Vehicular emissions
Natural sources (Radon gas, mold, fungus, pet dander, dust mites, dust, plant material)	Industrial pollutants (Factories, construction sites)

 

What can you do to improve indoor air quality?

Air pollution has undeniably frightening consequences on our health, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing we can do but suffer through it.

Here are some steps you can take to immediately start with that long-overdue air cleanse:

●     Increase ventilation in your indoor space

The majority of city dwellers keep their windows and doors tightly shut all year round to keep the dust out, but what this is actually doing is worsening the indoor air quality.

There is some truth that outdoor air contains by-products of vehicular emissions and industrial pollution, but airing out your house every now and then is necessary to dilute the ratio of air pollutants in your home.

●     Install an air steriliser

Many HVAC products are now able to filter the particles and ducts from the ventilation. Additionally air purifiers these days come with a plethora of functions and add-ons. They’re a great addition to your indoor air cleaning arsenal as they can help filter the air and neutralise allergens, mould, smoke particles, indoor toxins and more. However, with the purifying the air, the indoor air is still fill with harmful airborne particles such as Bacteria, Viruses, and VOCs.

White Umbrella has a sizeable range of air sterilisers that utilise Cold Plasma Technology ranging from the petite but powerful Flesta Portable to bigger ones such as the Flesta Refresh, Flesta Protect and Flesta Purify which are all built to accommodate your space constraints and air purification needs.

Cold plasma technology naturally and effectively kills bacteria, HVOC and other pollutants through the production of positive and negative ions, but that’s not all: it’s also scientifically proven to eliminate up to 99.99% of airborne viruses and bacteria, such as HCoV (coronavirus), H1N1, E.Coli, EV71 and more.

●     Turn on the air conditioner

Image: White Umbrella

Turning on the air conditioning in your house isn’t just a good way to beat the heat. According to this WebMD article, most pollutants are water-soluble and as air conditioners remove water from the atmosphere, it helps to remove these pollutants as well.

Dust mites also thrive in humid air, so keeping the air conditioner on will help dry out the air to levels that are inconducive for dust mites thus keeping dust mite allergens at bay.

Despite air conditioners getting a bad reputation for being huge energy drains and a wrecker of electricity bills, not all air conditioners are built the same. White Umbrella’s GoldAlps Air-Conditioner is a great choice for those who are concerned about electric costs.

Thanks to its thermodynamic properties, it cools and purifies the air efficiently and quickly. The GoldAlps Air-Conditioner is also powered by revolutionary Cold Plasma technology.

Already have an air conditioning system but simply want to upgrade them with Cold Plasma technology? Then perhaps adding White Umbrella’s PureAir Cold Plasma Ioniser or PureAir+ Cold Plasma Ioniser to your air conditioning system would be your best bet to save on costs yet still enjoy the air purification capabilities of cold plasma tech.

●     Choose your cleaning products wisely

It’s a great idea to invest in a vacuum cleaner with a HEPA filter as they can trap up to 99.97% of particles, however, if that’s not in your budget you can also reduce indoor air pollutants by changing your cleaning products.

Consider replacing solvent or alcohol-based surface cleaners with products that are free from volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and avoid aerosols and sprays.

●     Improve your cleaning routine

Dust isn’t just an annoying addition to your furniture – it’s potentially harmful and can contain pollen, microscopic organisms (mould spores, fungus, viruses, plant material, dust mite droppings and dander) that are bad for your health.

On top of that, it may also contain particles of man-made materials, herbicides and diesel fuels that are blown or walked into the building. Feather dusters and dry cloths only serve to move dust from one surface to the other, so to thoroughly and properly remove dust particles, it’s advisable to dust with a damp cloth rather than a feather duster.

All these indoor air quality facts may seem pretty overwhelming, but don’t fret – just take a deep breath then check out White Umbrella’s range of air sterilisers instead. Better indoor air days are just a click away.