Breathe More Easily With Home Air Quality Testing

Home air quality testing is more important than a lot of people realize.

There are a lot of toxic materials that can accumulate in the air of your home, and you may have no idea that they are even there. There can be anything from toxic gases to mold and other hazardous particles present in the air and you might not even be aware of it.

Is it really necessary to bother with home air quality testing? If you are in doubt, consider this for a moment: nearly 335,000 people die each year from lung disease, according to findings by the American Lung Association . Lung disease is also one of the leading causes of death in the United States; third, as a matter of fact. The number of deaths related to lung disease have increased at a faster rate than nearly any other major disease in the past ten years.

What is the cause of this increase in lung disease-related deaths? All indications are that it is the air that we are breathing that is responsible.

Most people automatically think of atmospheric pollution when the topic of poor air quality comes up, but indoor air quality is often overlooked. It makes sense, though. After all, if the air outside is polluted, then how bad is the air that is trapped indoors? Mold, carpets, fabrics, pesticides and a plethora of other pollutants can become trapped indoors due to inadequate ventilation and reach dangerous concentrations, which are inhaled by unsuspecting people on a daily basis.

How do you know exactly what is in the air that you are breathing? It’s hard to know anything without conducting home air quality testing.

Mold is a common concern for a lot of people, but they may not know just how many different types of hazardous mold there are that could potentially be present in the home. Black mold is the one that is often heard about, but it is not the only type of harmful mold that could be lurking behind walls and in cool damp areas of the home.

The only way to properly detect harmful mold is with a mold test kit. But mold testing is just one type of home air quality testing that you can do.

Other common hazards that can be present inside your home are radon gas and carbon monoxide. Carbon monoxide, the silent killer, can originate from a variety of common sources, such as furnaces, wood stoves and car exhaust. It is undetectable by taste or smell and is deadly in high concentrations.

Radon gas is a radioactive gas that occurs naturally in soil and can seep into basements and ground floors through drains, foundation cracks and unfinished basement floors. Radon gas is known to be a major cause of lung cancer, and it can reach dangerous levels in poorly ventilated areas.

Other contaminants such as lead, germs and allergens can be lurking in the air of your home as well. By testing your home’s air quality, you can identify and remove hazards and then you will be able to breathe easier.