How to Detox the Air in Your Home
By Sara Butler
Indoor air quality is notoriously poor. When pollutants are released outside they are dispersed over a large area, but when pollutants enter the relatively small space of your home they get trapped there. That means the concentration of pollutants in your home may actually be higher than outside, and it takes longer for them to dissipate, too. Here are a few ways you can work to improve the air quality in your home in order to improve your health and wellness!
What’s Wrong with Poor Air Quality?
When you have poor indoor air quality you open yourself up to many short-term health events, such as headaches. But it also increases your risk of developing long-term conditions, such as asthma. There are many items in your home that release toxic chemicals into the air, so it’s important to understand how to mitigate this threat to your health.
Be Choosy
Choose wisely when you bring things into your home, especially products that can be toxic such as cleaning or beauty products. Use the smallest amounts of these items that you can in your daily life to limit your exposure to them. When you do use things with a lot of chemicals in them, such as paint, make sure you throw open some windows in order to get proper ventilation; you must air out the house. You may also want to consider switching out mass-produced cleaning products for homemade ones so you can control what goes into them.
Utilize Fans
When you cook at home it can pollute your indoor air, and you need to combat the release of small particles that are toxic to your health with your fan. If you don’t have a hood fan or one that vents to the outdoors, don’t worry too much. Just throw open some windows and run a fan somewhere (even the bathroom) to get air circulating.
Get Rid of Synthetic Air Fresheners
People don’t want to live in a house that’s stinky, for sure, but it’s not a good trade off to use synthetic air fresheners, either. Many air fresheners contain chemicals that have been known to cause cancer, such as phthalates. You can use essential oil diffusers or aromatherapy mists in your home to help it smell nice. You can also make your own air fresheners without toxic products.
To learn more about your health and wellness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic.