Know Your Environment With An Indoor Air Quality Test Kit

An indoor air quality test kit is a helpful tool that enables a homeowner to test air quality in the home.

There are different kinds of indoor air quality test kit that are available, depending on the types of contaminants that you need to test for. For example, if you want to test for different varieties of mold, you would get a mold test kit.

If you wanted to test for radon gas you would need a radon gas test kit . A microbial test kit that allows you to test for common molds and allergens is an inexpensive way to test air quality in your home without calling in a professional.

Indoor allergies and sinus infections are most commonly caused by indoor allergens, not outdoor allergens such as pollen as some people believe.

The majority of allergies are caused by poor indoor air quality. Test kit results don’t take long to get, and home test kits are designed for ease of use. It is recommended that most people test the air in their homes for bacteria, mold and yeast if they have concerns about air quality.

A microbial test kit is easy to use. Simply pour the contents of the gel bottle into the kit’s petri dish. Take care to avoid touching the gel or the dish so that it doesn’t become contaminated. Rock the dish gently to evenly distribute the gel across the surface of the entire dish. Leave the dish for one hour in an area that you believe may be contaminated. The petri dish should be uncovered and should not be disturbed for the full hour that it sits there.

When the hour is up, put the cover onto the petri dish and seal it carefully with tape. Place it in a warm spot in the dark for 3-5 days. After the time is up, view the results.

Fuzzy spots colored white to black are mold, bacteria produces spots that are shiny and white and yeast produces spots that are yellow to red and shiny. This inexpensive test can be used by anybody and it can give you an idea of what types of allergens are present in your home.

A radon test kit is a different sort of indoor air quality test kit, but every bit as important to the health of everyone in your household. This is because radon gas is radioactive and a major cause of lung cancer, and it could be accumulating in your home without your knowledge.

Radon test kits are inexpensive but take longer than microbial kits. You may have to leave a radon test kit undisturbed in a room of your house for as little as one month or as long as one year. A one month test can alert you to dangerously high radon levels, but it does not give as clear a picture about your homes overall radon levels as a kit that is put in place for a full year. The longer the kit is in place, the more accurate the readings are.

You do not read a radon test kit yourself. Instead, it is sent to a laboratory for analysis, which will tell you how much radon is present in your home and whether those levels are cause for alarm.