How to Sterilize the Air in Your Home?

Harmful substances contribute a lot to our health, which means it's best to eliminate them completely from your home. Individuals with respiratory or cardiovascular conditions, as well as elderly and young children, are at increased risk of health problems associated with subpar indoor air quality. It is important to sterilize the air in your home with air sterilizer.

How to Sterilize the Air in Your Home?

By implementing measures to improve the quality of the air inside your home, you can reduce the likelihood of developing health problems and potentially enhance your overall well-being. The following tips may help you.

• Cutting down on pollutants: Try to learn more about common sources of pollution and avoid adding pollutants as much as possible. For example, avoid smoking indoors, as cigarette smoke contains harmful chemicals that can linger in the air for hours. 
• Keep your home wellventilated: The easiest way to improve the air quality in your home on a daily basis is to allow fresh air from outside to enter, so it is recommended to open windows and doors to let fresh air into your home.Open windows and doors to let fresh air into your home is also a good way.
• Use an air sterilizer: Air sterilizers can remove up to 99% of harmful particles such as dust, pollen, and smoke from the air. A MERV-13 rating or higher with a HEPA filter can capture particles as small as 0.3 microns.
• Use natural cleaning products: Natural cleaning products such as vinegar, baking soda, and lemon juice help a lot to sterilize the air. What’s more, a 2017 research review found that house plants could improve overall indoor air quality, such as Dracaena, Spathiphyllum and Hedera helix.
• Control humidity levels: Keep humidity levels between 30-50% to prevent mold and mildew growth. Use a dehumidifier or air conditioner if needed. Damp conditions can also cause many respiratory symptoms, so a dehumidifier is also helpful.

Sources of Indoor Air Pollution

Indoor air pollution poses a major threat to our health. According to EPA, indoor air can be two to five times higher than outdoor air. At present, indoor air pollution mainly includes the following.

• ETS: Smoking cigarettes or cigars indoors can release harmful chemicals into the air, including carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, and benzene, which causes pneumonia, bronchitis, and bronchiolitis to nearly double.
• Combustion appliances: Gas stoves, fireplaces, and heaters can release carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and other pollutants into the air when not properly vented. Studies have shown that compared to those living in homes without wood stoves, children living in homes with wood stoves have a significant increase in respiratory symptoms.
• Building materials: Some building materials, such as paint, adhesives, formaldehyde and insulation, can release harmful VOCs into the air, which can cause sensitivity, breathing difficulties and even cancer.
• Radon: As a radioactive gas that can seep into homes from the ground and cause lung cancer, indoor radon is mainly from uranium in the soil or rock on which homes are built.
• Household chemicals: Cleaning products, pesticides, and other household chemicals can release volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the air, which can cause respiratory and other health problems.
• Mold and mildew: Usually mold and mildew grow quickly in damp environments, which can cause respiratory and other health problems.
• Pet dander: Pets can shed hair and skin cells to cause allergies and other respiratory problems.
• Dust mites: Dust mites can thrive in carpets, bedding, and upholstered furniture, which can cause allergies and other respiratory problems.

How Concerned Should You Be About Home Air Quality?

The quality of the air you breathe in your home can be affected by a variety of factors, and maintaining a high level of indoor air quality is critical to improving your health and well-being. Adequate indoor air quality can help improve physical comfort, better long-term health, enhanced HVAC efficiency, and even lower utility bills, while poor air quality can cause many health problems, including respiratory problems, allergies, asthma, headaches, fatigue, and even cancer. In addition, indoor air can be up to five times more polluted than outdoor air due to factors such as mold, dust, pet dander, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from cleaning products and building materials. Therefore, it is essential to take steps to improve the air quality in your home, such as ensuring proper ventilation, regular filter changes, and the use of natural cleaning products. 

Benefits of Cleaning the Air in Your Home

As mentioned above, high-quality air can help prevent allergies and respiratory conditions. However, the benefits of clean, healthy air go far beyond the above. In fact, they have many other benefits.

Lower the risk of heart disease: Maintaining clean indoor air is critical to protecting the heart from the harmful effects of airborne pollutants. Research shows that air pollution is strongly linked to cardiovascular disease, but by taking action to improve indoor air quality, the risk of such diseases can be minimized.

Anti-aging: For modern people, toxins in the air are an important cause of skin aging, while cleaner air helps maintain elasticity and prevent wrinkles on the skin. So for those living in dry climates, a humidifier with purified air can also help keep skin moist and glowing.

Better Home Workouts: There is no doubt that quality air promotes better athletic performance. Those who do home workouts require more oxygen than usual and therefore take in more air. Therefore, higher air quality is beneficial for better workouts.

Reduce type 2 diabetes: Research shows that gaseous and particulate air pollution can increase the risk of type 2 diabetes, so clean air can help reduce the risk of this type of disease.

Improve cognitive ability: It 's well known that the brain relies on oxygen to function well, so if the air we breathe is polluted, our brain can also be negatively impacted. So clean air can help maintain the integrity of the brain and protect our cognitive ability.

Reduces stress and anxiety: Fresh, clean air can have a calming effect on the body, further reducing stress and anxiety levels and promoting relaxation.

Enhances sleep quality: Improving the air quality in your bedroom can lead to better sleep, which in turn can improve your overall health and well-being.

Choosing the Right Air Sterilizer

Since we know that clean air is of great importance, choosing the right air sterilizer is of great importance, and usually the following factors need to be taken into account.

Your actual needs: The size of the room, the level of air pollution, the number of people using the space, and any specific concerns such as allergies or asthma. More specific needs will help narrow the options. For example, an air sterilizer performs best when operating in a space that is 20-40% larger than the room.

Look for a HEPA filter: High-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters can capture small particles and microorganisms that cause allergies and respiratory problems.

Check the CADR rating: The CADR (Clean Air Delivery Rate) measures how much air is cleaned over a given amount of time. An air sterilizer with a higher CADR tends to work more efficiently. 

Consider additional features: Some air sterilizers with additional features such as UV-C light, ionizers, and activated carbon filters may be more helpful. However, make sure these features are safe and effective when buying.

After-sales: Usually the use time of an air sterilizer remains 12 to 18 months, so after-service is also a very important factor.

In conclusion, since low-quality air is harmful to our health, we need to take some action to deal with it, which can bring many benefits. Among them, the right air sterilizer is of great help. You can always consult Dida Healthy for advice.