The winter holiday season is here. We have house guests over for the weekend, dinner parties and enjoy family gatherings. All these activities in homes that are sealed tight, not letting cold air in, or heated air out. With such little ventilation from the outside, our indoor air quality suffers and suffers higher pollution levels that can affect our everyday lives.

Bacteria, pet dander, mold spores, formaldehyde, dust, pollen, and tobacco smoke are just a few of the airborne concerns locked in the home with nowhere to go. Reduce these concerns and improve air quality by: managing the sources of airborne pollution, ventilating our homes with outside air when possible and using air purifiers such as Austin Air Purifiers to clean the air. When letting outside air in, we should be careful not to let too much fresh air in,  because our home will get cold and our utility bills will increase. This cold air could make you home uncomfortable and particularly costly if, for example, you live in the North Pole.

Uninvited Holiday Guests

 There is a very long list of sources that can contribute to degrading indoor air quality. They include:

• Personal Care and Household Cleaners: A source of chemical gases can come from normal everyday household products. Detergents, air fresheners, hair sprays, as an example, can generate harmful chemical gases called Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs).
• Biological pollutants - Germs, viruses, and bacteria are present in the home, brought into the home from the outside, or grown within the home.
• Accumulated Water:  Water that may enter the home from rain leaks, leaching basement walls, plumbing leaks or unvented areas where moisture builds up can create mold and mildew which becomes the source of smells and mold spores.
• Fuels: Wood, natural, gas, kerosene, gasoline and coal when burning, emit VOCs and minute particulates. The most dangerous fuels are those used within the home. Gas cooking stoves, hot water gas heaters, wood-burning stoves, fireplaces and dryers are all sources of potential chemical gases. The storage of some of these fuels within the home and garage can become the source of chemical gases, if not properly stored. Appliances without proper maintenance and adjustments can release dangerous levels of pollution.
• Furniture, Cabinets and Building Material: Kitchen cabinets and other house furnishing constructed of particle boards emit gases including formaldehyde. Insulation, carpeting and furniture finishes can also release harmful chemical gases.
• Home Improvement Materials: Wall paint, varnishing and adhesives all release fumes that can be toxic to breathe.
• Outside Sources: Dust, pesticides and pollen can penetrate foundations, enter homes through open doors, attach to clothing or be brought in by pets.
• Animals: Our pets drop hair and release dander which often can be an irritation but also difficult-to-remove allergens.
• Dust Mites: These creatures can float in the air and find refuse in our beds, draperies, carpets or sofas. There can be of heavy concentrations where there is an abundance of shedded human skin.
• Plant Life: House plants and winter-blooming plants generate pollen.
• Tobacco Smoke: Cigars and cigarettes can be a secondhand smoke introducing major indoor air pollutants.
• Other Sources: Airborne asbestos microscopic fibers can be admitted from flooring and roofing materials. Other particulate matter and VOCs from roads, manufacturer exhausts and coal burning plants can also find their way into the home.

Cleaning Up the Holiday Mess

You can improve indoor air quality by: managing the sources, purifying the air with air cleaners and simple ventilation. These actions will reduce the risk to our health and reduce such problems as runny noses, fatigue, itchy eyes, congestion and ever worse, heart disease, respiratory illness and other serious health conditions. Here are a few tips that can help.

Managing The Sources

Sometimes the best way to reduce indoor air pollution is by removing the source. Toxic cleaning solvents, room fresheners and personal health care products that emit VOCs should be reduced and where possible completely removed from the home. When you buy paint, floors finishes and other household products insure that they do not emit chemical gases and are non-toxic. Properly maintain your appliances with regularly scheduled care while insuring proper ventilation of exhausts. Dust and vacuum your furniture, drapes, floors, rugs and walls. If rugs are not critical, remove them. Regularly look for water leaks from you roof, windows and plumbing. Quickly repair problems to insure minimal water built up that can be the basis of mold and mildew. Keep clothes clean. Keep draperies, bed covers and linens clean to prevent dust and dust mite buildup. Always make sure your heating ductwork is cleaned annually.

Purifying the Air With Air Purifiers

Use air purifiers to clean the air within your home. Make sure you select an air purifier capable of capturing the smallest of particulate matter and removing chemical gases and odors. Many air cleaners on the market do not remove all these potential pollutants and if they do, not very effectively. Select air cleaners that contain medical grade HEPA filtering for removal the particulates and activated carbon with mineral additives that can remove the maximum of the harmful chemical gases. The Austin Air Purifiers are a good example of a quality air purifier. These air purifiers need to last long, have low energy consumption, be of  high quality construction and have the ability to exchange the air in the home at least 4 times an hour.

Ventilation

Mixing outside air with indoor air, improves your indoor air quality. When weather permits, open windows and doors for good ventilation that can bring fresh circulating air into the home. Properly exhaust moist air buildup for bathrooms and kitchens. Fresh air brought into the home brings great healthy benefits.

When working around the house, for example, with glues, adhesives, paints and varnishes, be aware of the need for proper ventilation. Without ventilation, VOC pollutants will build up along with an increase of health concerns.

Summary

Managing the sources of indoor pollutants by cleaning the air with air purifiers and proper ventilation are extremely important steps to maintaining a healthy indoor air quality year-around. This is especially true in winter and during the holiday seasons.

Poor indoor air quality exposes us to particulates and VOCs that can get us sick giving us such ailments as  runny noses, headaches, dizziness, itchy eyes, fatigue and worse, heart disease, cancer and respiratory distress. Toxic chemical gases sometimes can have the worst effects on our bodies. Removing these dangers can offer your housebound holiday guests and family, long-term safety.

And for the holidays, you just may want to buy Austin Air Purifiers.

Electric Plant Study Results Just Released

Data comes from a new study recently released by the Natural Resource Defense Council and Physicians for Social Responsibility using public data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The data collected was on the total toxic air pollution found within the U.S. for many industrial sources and separated out for comparison, was the electric power plant sector.

Study Findings

The report starts off by observing that nearly 50% of all reported toxic pollution from industrial sources comes from coal-fired electric generating plants. The introduction notes that these plant emissions include hydrochloric acid, mercy, and other metal known or believed to contribute to health conditions including asthma and respiratory ailments, developmental disorders, neurological damage, birth defects, cancer and, premature mortality. The next closest polluting industry sector is the chemical processing and manufacturing industry, emitting less than one third that of the electric sector.

Almost all states have industrial pollution. However, it is the top 20 states that create over 80% of toxic industrial pollution and of that total close to 50% is from electric sector pollution. These top 20 are mostly on the east coast.

Interesting to note that there are some states that have little to no coal burning electric facilities. Areas like the District of Columbia, Idaho, Maine and Vermont register close to zero electric sector toxic air pollution. These states also register very low total industrial pollution.

Actions To Control Electric Power Plant Emissions

Air quality with enforceable air purification requirements using industry air purifiers is more important than ever. The EPA continues to develop and adopt regulatory action plans to ensure Federal Clean Air Act compliance and the reduction of coal burning facilities pollution. The EPA estimates that the Clean Air Act has saved 160,000 lives in 2010 alone.

Air Pollution Link to Cancer Study Results Released Early This Year

In April 2011, study results were presented by the University at Buffalo at the annual 2011 American Association for Cancer Research conference about a newly discovered set of cancer links. Lead research investigator, Katharine Dobson, MPH, said, "The investigation looked for an association between exposure to pollution and alterations to DNA that influence the presence or absence of key proteins. Such genetic changes are thought to be major contributors to cancer development and progression, including at very early stages."

The study reports on two important findings: altered DNA and a tumor suppression gene.

Study Finding

The study found that high levels of air pollution exposure at birth may alter a DNA chemical process which determines the active genes in a cell. In turn, protein levels may increase, creating an imbalance in the bonding of cells essential in maintaining healthy tissue.

High levels of pollution exposure when giving birth for the first time was linked to a gene modification (changed) critical in the suppression of tumors. This alteration reduced the otherwise normal capacity of the body to defeat tumor growth.

The basis of the University at Buffalo finding was from the Western New York Exposures and Breast Cancer study where information was collected between 1996 and 2001. This study group consisted of over 1000 women diagnosed with breast cancer and over 2000 healthy women living in the Niagara and Erie counties of New York. In this study, a series of data about the lives of these women was collected. Additionally, air pollution levels data was correlated to the homes of these women.

Combining this data, Dobson and her research associates were able to link particulate matter (particle air pollution) to changes in the women bodies.

"We found that decreased E-cadherin promoter methylation was associated with higher exposure at birth, and increased p16 methylation with higher exposure at the time of a first child birth," says Dobson. She further went on to explain, "For breast cancer cases, menopausal status appeared to modify the association between air pollution exposure and E-cadherin promoter methylation, with premenopausal women more susceptible to these early exposures than postmenopausal women."

Dobson concluded that more research and understanding of the role air pollution plays in breast cancer development and progression.

Summary

We continue to learn more every day on the effects high levels air pollution exposures have on our bodies. In this case, exposures changed women body processes essential for maintaining healthy cells and suppressing tumors. More work need to be done to better understand what particulate matter can disrupt in our bodies and how to avoid these exposures.

Benefits of Air Purifiers

An air purifier in the home minimizes health risks by removing air pollution and delivering fresh air to breathe. Having safe, clean air is important for all our health and is particularly important for the very young, those with preexisting health issues, and the elderly. When choosing air purifiers there are many features that must be considered.

Feature Tips To Consider In Air Purifiers

Most important, your air purifier must remove gases as well as particulate matter. Both air pollutants that pose health risks. These airborne concerns can be addressed in many ways.

The following are tips on key feature technologies your purifier should have:

Pre Filter

Normal dust and large floating debris should be removed before reaching the interworkings of your air purifier. Pre filter cotton linings inside the air purification system will remove large airborne elements to ensuring the proper inter-core workings and many years of high performance air flow.

HEPA

Remove as much particulate matter as possible with a pleated particle filter. Choose a filter that removes the smallest of particles. The best choice in these filters is a High Efficiency Particulate Arresting (HEPA) filter that is MEDICAL grade. These are the best because they are designed and tested to remove the finest of particulates. In fact, a medical grade HEPA filter is capable of removing 99.98% of all airborne particles that are as small as 0.3 microns in size and 95% of the minutest particles down to 0.1 micron.

Activated Carbon

Activated carbon is carbon processed at extremely high temperatures to maximize the chemical gases and odors purifying capacity of the medium. Carbon is one of the most efficient natural gas filtration solutions you can find. If possible, along with this feature, the carbon should be infused with mineral additives such as potassium iodine and zeolite. These additives further improve odor absorption and gas cleaning for such gases as benzene, formaldehyde, etc.

Construction

Select air purifiers that have rigidly built steel housings. Make sure the housings are covered with powder coatings that do not emit chemical gases. These purifiers should have low power consumption yet powerful motors for moving the maximum air volume.

Select the Best System and Correct Size

Consider the various types of air purifiers in the market which includes pet air purifiers, machines for baby nurseries, allergy and asthma air purifiers, bedroom air purifiers, general use machines and ultimate machines (for the chemical sensitive). Make sure you chose the system that fits your needs!

Once you have selected the type of air purifier, choose a system that can clean your air effectively. If you have a 1500 sq ft home and the air cleaner you buy is designed for 500 sq ft, your air will never be cleaned to a safe level. You want to make sure your air purifier can rotate air through the purifier at least 4 to 5 times an hour. This is called the exchange rate. Having a system that is undersized may have saved money, but won't deliver the necessary exchange rate necessary to reduce health risks.

Other Considerations

Find air purifiers that are priced well and have manufacturer's guarantees.

Make sure you system is ozone-free. Air purifiers that generate ozone may mask odors and have a room smelling good, but they may also irritate your body. At elevated levels, ozone can be very unhealthy to inhale over long periods of time, can damage lungs, and create many breathing problems.

Summary

Your air purifiers should remove both chemical gases and particulate and be ozone free, have pre-filters, active carbon (with added minerals) and medical grade HEPA filters. There are many very good manufacturers to consider. One manufacturer, among others, is Austin Air with the Austin Air Purifiers product line.

Air purifiers deliver clean air that is important for good health, particularly for young children, those with preexisting health conditions, and the elderly. Chemically sensitive, allergy and asthma sufferers, those with sleeping problems, families with pets (and their odors) benefit from a high quality air purifier in the home that meet key featured tips.

Man-made Air Pollution

The more we have evolved as industrialized nations, the more we added pollution to the atmosphere. Many of the things we build, use and discard pollute our atmosphere. The following lists a few of the man-made air pollution sources:

• Tobacco smoke creates air pollutant that not only harms the smoker, but others around the smoker. Tobacco combusts and releases hundreds of dangerous chemical gases.
• Fossil fuels like gas, coal, and even ethanol emit poisonous gases upon combustion including benzene, formaldehyde, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and carbon monoxide.
• Many of our household cleaning products, beauty supplies, and scented candles emit gases. Building supplies, furniture, kitchen cabinets, and many other home products release chemicals gases, with the worst often being ormaldehyde.
• Our printers, computers and other modern office equipment pollutes indoor air.
• Gas stoves and gas heaters release carbon monoxide. Wood and coal burning indoor stoves release soot and gases if not properly ventilated, causing dizziness or more serious harm.
• Harmful emissions from power generation stations, factories, and industrial operations contain mercury, hydrocarbons and nano-sized particulates. The coal burning facilities alone generate close to half of all U.S. industrial pollution.

Natural Causes of Air Pollution

Nature can release pollutants including:

• Dust storms and gusts of wind churn minute particulates into the air. Some so fine, that when inhaled, can penetrate deep into the lungs passing directly into the cardiovascular system. While others can cause stuffy noses or watery eyes, some can even cause certain forms of cancer.
• Forest fires can release hundreds of harmful gases.
• Droplets of water misted into the air from breaking ocean waves can carry pollutants called aerosols.
• Even plant and tree pollen can be pollution in the form of allergens.
• Organic compounds like Isoprene are naturally produced by plants and pollute the air.
• Crude oil directly out of the ground emits benzene and hydrocarbons.
• Volcanic eruptions and release oxides, sulfur and nitrogen.

Remove Air Pollution With Air Purifiers

Natural and man-made factors cause air pollution. Natural air pollution likely will never be controllable. However, man-made pollution can be controlled. Industries and governments are working to reduce these airborne emissions and, where possible, are eliminating the sources. In the meantime, air purifiers should be used in your home.

What does this mean? It means, over the most formidable 4 years of our children's growth, they lose close to 10% of capacity compared to kids in low-polluted environments. This is a significant deficit in lung function. That means air pollution from diesel vehicles, car and trucks will affect your children. That means exposure to the toxic particles linked to cancer, asthma, and other diseases and conditions does impact your family. Keep your family safe with an Austin Air Purifier that reduces the effect of pollution for your children. It will greatly help to remove the pollution with its high quality Austin Air HEPA Air Filters.

The following is a clip discusses findings of the 1992 Children's Health Study funded by the California Air Resources Board. In the study a team of University of Southern California scientists identified a large population of 5,500 children from 12 communities. They selected a variety of regions within Southern California with differing types and levels of air pollution. Over several years, the scientists kept close contact with all these children in each of these regional communities and measuring, monitoring and comparing their respiratory health. The results describing the air pollution effects on our children can be seen in the video below.

Keep your children safe with Austin Air Purifiers and the family of HealthMate Air Purifiers.

Air Pollution Effects on Our Children