Indoor Air Quality

Check your air quality

We are now spending the majority of our time in the home. The best way to solve air quality problems is by treating the source of the problem.

You can hire a professional home inspector, who will use instruments to detect contaminants and make recommendations.
The Lung Association provides detailed instructions on how to conduct your own home audit and how to improve the air in your home. It takes you room by room and is quite easy, not very time-consuming and gives you detailed steps on fixing any problems. Visit www.yourhealthyhome.ca or download the association’s Healthy Home Audit brochure.

Keeping it clean is the best defense

These simple steps can help improve your home’s indoor air quality and keep good air from going bad:

1. Don’t permit smoking in your home.

2. Make sure fuel-burning appliances (such as a gas stove, fireplace or furnace) are well maintained and inspected.

3. Make sure every room has adequate ventilation. For example, is your dryer vent blocked or broken? If so, bad air is escaping into your home rather than outdoors as it should.

4. Monitor humidity levels in your home.

5. Fix leaks and cracks in walls, floors and basements.

6. Practice good housekeeping. Consider a vacuum with a HEPA filter to catch small particles: You want to trap dust rather than make it airborne. Central-vacs, which vent the exhaust to the outside are the best to keep from re-circulating dust.

7. Don’t idle your car in your driveway or garage if fumes can get into your home.

8. Ensure that containers of leftover paint are kept tightly sealed and safely stored. As well, try to use unscented and fragrance-free products, or make your own cleaners with baking soda or vinegar.

9. Make sure any furniture made out of particleboard or medium-density fibreboard is sealed or coated. These items may contain adhesives made with urea-formaldehyde resins.
As the Canadian Lung Association reminds us, “When you can’t breathe, nothing else matters.”

Filters are no catch-all

Air filters are an increasingly popular way to remove contaminants and odours from the home. But it still makes sense to eliminate the root causes of poor air quality wherever possible.
If you want to try an air filter or have been advised by your doctor that one could help resolve particular health problems, do your homework. Before you buy, check out the Canadian Lung Association’s recommendations on air-cleaning devices.