Breathe easy: Is your home air quality up to par?

Incorporating an air purifier, plus keeping up with gathering dust and other pollutants, will help improve the air quality at home.

While we can only do so much to protect the air quality outdoors, we can certainly do a lot to keep up our indoor air quality. Smoke, smog, and pollution in general can make the air outside bad for our health, but there are many things that homeowners can do to help protect the air inside.

One of the best ways to keep air clean and well-circulated is to stay on top of changing your furnace filter. This should be done every one to three months (more often if you have a lot of dust or pet fur in your home). The David Suzuki Foundation recommended using a high-end, ultra-allergen furnace filter such as 3M’s Filtrete, with filtration levels of 1900, 2200 or 2800, or other brands of filter with MERV ratings of 13 or up. If you have a forced-air furnace, heat pump system, or central HVAC system, make sure the fan is running continuously, not intermittently, and confirm that the vents are clear and allow air to pass through them easily. For those who have a box fan, they suggested finding a high-end filter that is the same size as your fan, and then taping the two together making sure you get the direction of the filter correct (arrows show which way the air should be pushed through the filter).

Other factors can contribute to a low-quality air rating at home. Products that off-gas, such as mattresses and pillows, release pollutants that has been dissolved, trapped, frozen, or absorbed in the materials, so opt for more eco-friendly options. You could change a gas stove for an induction stove or portable induction cooktop. You should also be aware of what you are bringing into the home on a daily basis, which can accumulate over time. According to an American study by the journal Environmental Science & Technology, dust is a chemical soup with low levels of flame retardants, phthalates, pesticides and metals like lead, mercury, and arsenic, and appear most often in dryer lint and vacuum cleaner bags. So, dust your home often with a damp cloth as well as a wet mop. It’s imperative for our wellbeing and overall health to keep dust particles at bay.

A wide range of compact air purifiers are currently on the market, and depending on space availability and price point, these can help drastically transform the air quality at home. These handy devices not only remove contaminants from the air, but they can also be very beneficial for those who suffer from asthma and allergies.

Houseplants are a natural way to help improve the air quality indoors, and can be used in every room of the home.

Other easy ways to help keep the inside air cleaner is by bringing in houseplants. Thanks in part to a 1980s NASA study, which looked at the effects of plants in closed environments, different plant varieties can cleanse the air of everything from volatile organic compounds to ozone to dust and spores. Having a lush array of trees and plants outside your home can also have positive effects on the surrounding air quality, thereby decreasing the amount of toxins and chemicals you bring into your home. You should also avoid using chemicals in the house, and this includes chemical-based cleaners.

With environmental factors like fires, smog, and unpredictable weather patterns, it’s more important than ever to try and improve the conditions of our air quality inside our living spaces. From being aware of where the toxins are and come from, as well as regularly cleaning, to incorporating air purifiers and even houseplants into our living quarters, there are many ways you can enhance the quality of the air in your home and breathe easier.

Log In

Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,racist or sexually-oriented language.PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.Don't Threaten. Threats of harming anotherperson will not be tolerated.Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyoneor anything.Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ismthat is degrading to another person.Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link oneach comment to let us know of abusive posts.Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitnessaccounts, the history behind an article.

Sign up for The Suburban e-Mail lists.

Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.

Error! There was an error processing your request.