Cleaner is mopping floors at home with a mop.
There are a lot of cool things about living in Florida, but for many, the high humidity is not one of them.
For those who prefer the sun’s caress in the form of dry heat, humidity is a curse. But it can cause certain problems inside of your home as well.
Humidity can affect the air and the materials inside of your home.
In so many cases, people just don’t understand how this works, until they experience it for themselves. Humidity compounds the effects of the off-gassing of chemicals from household items, and can trigger health emergencies or higher risks for long-term conditions like COPD and lung irritation.
Where to Look
So what kind of things contribute to harmful off-gassing?
You could separate into three main categories – building materials, consumer goods, and furniture.
In the case of furniture, you have all sorts of materials, including the upholstery, interior foam, treated wood, and other elements of the sofa, loveseat, bed, or other piece of furniture that you put into your home.
A lot of these you can notice by smell – as they are letting off volatile organic compounds or VOCs, like benzene and formaldehyde, or even more complex molecular structures that can have an impact on your health without a high-quality air purifier to help cycle out these toxins.
In terms of consumer products, all sorts of things are made with the same kinds of potential toxins. Anything with vinyl or fabric, or plastic, or treated wood, can give off these kinds of chemicals, sometimes for a significant period of time after they’re manufactured. One rule of thumb is that it takes 2-3 years for the off-gassing to be complete, which leads homeowners to buy air purifiers to help with the problem in the meantime. Actually, though, the process can take a lot longer – up to 10 years or more in certain situations like smaller spaces, or those with less ventilation.
And then there are building materials – laminate floors, vinyl products, some types of wood and drywall, etc.
Old Homes Versus New Homes
Old homes may have certain kinds of problems – they might have dust or lead particles, or even harmful asbestos from decades ago, when this carcinogenic substance wasn’t regulated.
What they have less of is brand new materials containing VOCs and harsh chemicals like those mentioned above. This can have a significant impact on your health and the health of your family. When people talk about VOCs, they often focus on new homes or renovations for this reason.
Warning Signs of VOC Off-Gassing
Indoor Air Quality Solutions, a Florida company, suggests you look out for these four types of symptoms that can be linked to off-gassing:
- Respiratory problems – trouble breathing, itchy, throat, etc.
- Neurological problems, dizziness, or lethargy, etc.
- Skin, eye and sinus reactions
- Symptoms that decrease when a person leaves the home for a period of time
All of these can indicate that you have higher levels of contaminants in your indoor air.
Look Out for Sick Building Syndrome
Reading up on all of this, you might come across the term “sick building syndrome”.
Sick building syndrome (SBS) is a condition where people develop symptoms of illness by being inside of a building which they work or reside in. It also goes by other names like building-related illness (BRI), building-related symptoms (BRS), or idiopathic environmental intolerance (IEI). Regardless of the name, it can be scary!
What to do about Off-Gassing
More than a few shoppers we have seen posting from the state of Florida on Reddit found that the dampness of that climate was leading items in their home to give off more of these harmful chemicals.
More than a few of them voiced concerns about fertility and reproductive health. Some were just worried that what they were breathing in contained carcinogens. They had read about the “knock-off effect” of humidity making these particles more persistent in an indoor space.
The solution is often to run high-quality air purifiers on a medium setting, in addition to proper ventilation. You may also want to consider adding a dehumidifier to cut down on moisture in the air!
The air purifiers can scrub the VOCs out of the air, particularly those that have activated carbon.
It is not unusual for our clients to have more than one unit in their prime spaces, such as bedrooms and living rooms. On the other hand, we have seen people under-buy in terms of activated carbon, and not get the same results. There’s also maintenance to consider, where you need to replace filters periodically. Beyond that, some who don’t run their machines frequently enough, or at a high enough level, might not get the results that they would like.
Cleaning Your Air
With the right solutions in place, you can rest a little better about the off-gassing of chemicals from items in your home. It might take a little research, even a little trial and error – but it’s worth it!
The Lulay Team at USAirPurifiers is a family and veteran owned U.S. business, and we are truly here to help with your best interests in mind. Our team will help you to purify your indoor air and get a better result with modern technology that fights air pollution where it lives – and where you live, too! Make an investment in your health and the health of your family, to breathe easier all day and all night.