How Dust Affects Your Indoor Air Quality and Allergies

Between winter ailments and the pollen of spring, this is the time of year when many people start to think about what’s in the air they breathe. With people starting to pull out their dusters and empty closets and garages, the amount of dirt and particles in the air is about to increase significantly.

Even if you don’t plan to do a thorough cleaning of your home, there is a lot of particulate matter (PM) that can irritate your lungs.

Whether or not you suffer from a respiratory issue (considering that both allergies and asthma are prevalent ailments), regularly cleaning the air in your home can help keep your lungs healthy.

It is also important to note that you can develop allergies over time through constant exposure to irritants. However, the most significant concern is germs, particularly viruses, which can make anyone sick, with the flu and common cold being the two most frequent ailments contracted through PM.

PM comes in many different sizes, which is why there are several different types of filters. So to help you make the right choice for your home, office, or other indoor space, this blog will provide details about the different types of indoor PMs, where they come from, and quick solutions that are easy to implement.

Quick Overview of Particulate Matter

PM is a type of air pollution that humans have dealt with throughout our history. It is made up of a combination of solid particles (like hair, skin cells, and dirt) and liquid droplets (like saliva and precipitation). Some of the most common outdoor contributors to PM are soot, pollen, and smoke. Of course, none of these are visible without a microscope. PM is divided into two primary sizes.

PM 10 are particles with a diameter of roughly 10 micrometers and smaller. This is small enough to inhale but is often easier to catch by filters because of its larger size.

PM 2.5 have a diameter of no more than 2.5 micrometers, making it the smaller of the two classifications. To give you an idea of the size of these particles, a hair on your head has an average diameter of 70 micrometers, which is nearly 30 times larger than the PM 2.5 that you inhale every day.

As detailed by the US EPA, PM 2.5 is made of a lot of contributing sources. When a person sneezes or coughs, the droplets stick to other smaller particles in the air, making the PM. Trees release pollen in the spring, and the dying leaves emit different biological debris that contributes to PM in the fall. Construction, road work, dirt trails, fireplaces, and food all contribute to the PM in the air.

All cities and towns have air pollution, but some cities and countries have significantly less healthy outdoor air than others. According to Worldwide Air Quality, the following are the five nations with the lowest air quality (most polluted air):

India
Mali
Nigeria
Thailand
China

Not all regions of the nations have bad air, but in general, the air is less healthy than the air in other nations with stricter air regulations. However, it is essential to monitor the air quality around you. Things like forest fires can substantially change the quality of air. In 2020, Portland, OR, and Seattle, WA, ranked as the top two cities with the worst air quality for over a week because of forest fires.

Most mobile phones allow you to track air quality. It isn’t always apparent because dirty air isn’t always visible. Monitoring your air quality can help you know when you need to take precautions to protect your lungs. You can also check AirNow to get a current reading on the current air quality in your area.

The air quality outside can affect the air indoors, but even if the outdoor air is relatively clean, the air inside can be dirty. The skin cells and hair from you and your family, pet dander, water droplets, and food are just a few things that contribute to PM in your home. Viruses and germs are also more potent inside because you are in closer contact with other people. While outdoor air quality is a concern, indoor air tends to be more hazardous to your lungs.

Health Implications of PM 2.5

Particulate pollution is a problem, even for the healthiest person. Nor do the issues stop at just damage to the lungs; studies show that PM can adversely affect the cardiovascular system. While any PM poses a potential risk, PM 2.5 is the most dangerous because it poses the most significant potential threat to short and long-term health.

Their small size allows them to get deeper into the lungs, and in the worst-case scenario, these particles can reach the bloodstream. Larger particles can damage the lungs, but they are more likely to irritate the eyes, nose, and throat. The hairs in your nose can filter out more of these PMs.

Short-term exposure lasts from hours to a few days and is more detrimental to people with existing conditions. It can cause acute bronchitis and trigger asthma attacks. Healthy people are more likely to contract respiratory infections the longer they are exposed to higher levels of PM 2.5.

People who have a heart condition are more likely to suffer a heart attack during short-term exposure. Overall, adults and children who do not have an existing condition may not suffer any severe symptoms because of short-term exposure. Still, repeated short-term exposure can have more severe repercussions.

Long-term exposure is considered to last for months to years. People who have long-term exposure often live in polluted air or areas with high PM levels. It can reduce the effectiveness of a person’s lungs, even if that person does not initially have any respiratory issues. People are more likely to develop chronic bronchitis. Many years of exposure can also reduce a person’s life expectancy.

Beyond monitoring the air, you can watch for symptoms of PM exposure – it could help to motivate you to spend more time cleaning your home as you are more likely to be exposed to regular PM in your home than outside.

If you don’t have any respiratory or heart conditions, you may suffer from the following symptoms:

Coughing
Excessive drainage
Eye, nose, throat irritation
Shortness of breath
Tightness in your chest

If you already have a respiratory condition, you may suffer from respiratory problems, and you may suffer from the following issues:

Couching
Fatigue
Inability to take deep breaths
Shortness of breath
Tightness in your chess
Wheezing

If you have asthma, you need to have and follow a plan to manage your asthma during periods of high PM outside, and you need to ensure you live in a home with cleaner air. If you have a heart condition, be more aware of your body. Heart attacks often have no warning. You may experience a few symptoms, and you should take them seriously, including the following:

Chest pains
Fatigue
Heart palpitations
Shortness of breath

These are severe symptoms that may proceed to a heart attack. People with heart conditions should immediately visit a doctor if any of these are experienced.

How You Can Start Reducing Inside Exposure

You can’t much about the air outside of your home or other personal spaces, but that doesn’t mean you have to give up. There are filters specifically made to remove the kinds of a small PM that can cause problems in the long term. Efficient Particulate Air (EPA) filters are incredibly effective when it comes to keeping the air in your home clean. After removing roughly 99.64% of all PM from the air, the filter will start the process again. That means it is perpetually removing PM from the air so that you can literally breathe a little easier.

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