Correct and high-quality breathing is the most basic need of human beings. The quality of each breath we take has a significant impact on our health, and it has been demonstrated by many studies by experts. Among the diseases that can be caused by not taking the right and quality breath are respiratory problems such as asthma, cancer, digestive and kidney problems, and even cardiovascular diseases.
While the diseases caused by air quality are already reaching such a serious level, as Dendro, we have prepared our article "Top 5 tips for you to provide better indoor air quality" for you.
What Does Mean of Indoor Air Quality?
Air pollution has become a problem that we have to face as a whole world in today's cities. Many factors such as harmful gases emitted into the environment, daily vehicle use, and even the numerous people in cities reduce the quality of the air we breathe, even in open spaces. Add to that the low air quality in our homes, where we feel the safest, and consider the amount of air pollution, you're exposed to on a standard day.
Pollution of the air, which we breathe in our living spaces with irritants, carcinogens, harmful chemicals, dust mites, and allergens from the products in our homes is called “indoor air pollution”.
Indoor air pollution is caused by the polluted air coming from outside the house, as well as the building materials, clothes, ventilation devices, cleaning materials, and furniture in our house.
What Can We Do for Better Indoor Air Quality?
While we cannot control the air quality in outdoor areas on an individual scale, it is possible to increase the air quality of our homes, offices, or the places we live in daily.
1-Correct Ventilation
Accurate ventilation is one of the most significant solutions to improve air quality. Ventilation is very important in our homes, offices, and environments, especially in a building that has a design error or lack of ventilation, which is also described as the "sick building syndrome", which affects the spread of the disease more rapidly.
Clean air directly affects human health. Especially with the pandemic period, the importance of fresh air in the areas we are in has been well understood by the whole world. For the interior to be healthy and hygienic, an environment with 5 people should be ventilated once in 59 minutes on average. (Atasoy O., Chairman of the Board of ISKID)
In addition to fresh air entering the interior from the outside, ventilation can also be done with ventilation devices. Contrary to popular belief, air conditioners do not help clean the air. For accurate ventilation, high-efficiency air cleaners or HEPA-filtered air cleaners, electrostatic air cleaners, or UV cleaners that work as a mechanical filtration model should be preferred.
2-Add Natural Air Purifiers to Your Home
You can add natural air purifiers to your interiors. Plants, candles, and even lamps…
NASA's Clean Air Study has found that many common indoor plants are a natural way to remove toxic substances such as benzene, formaldehyde, and trichloroethylene from the air, and help improve indoor air quality. The study also recommends having at least one plant per 100 square feet of your home for maximum benefits.
Areca Palm, Hall Ivy, Dracaena marginata, and Pasha Sword are some of the plants that reduce indoor pollution as an economical, sustainable, and environmentally friendly solution. It is claimed that Pasha Sword and Dracaena Marginata, which are also found in many houses in Turkey, clean the Volatile Organic Substances (VOC) from the air, which we examined in detail in our previous article.
By adding a little green to living spaces, you can both contribute to the decoration and create healthier spaces by increasing the quality of the air taken.
In addition to being a peaceful and decorative object to look at, Himalayan salt lamps clean the indoor air by attracting water molecules to which various harmful substances adhere. Some of the reported benefits include balancing electromagnetic radiation, calming allergies, reducing asthma, purifying and deodorizing the air, increasing blood flow, and promoting relaxation.
On the other hand, beeswax candles are obtained from the honeycomb made by the bees to make honey in the hives, therefore it is 100% natural. They are used to reduce allergy and asthma symptoms by neutralizing air pollutants.
3-Be Saved from Allergens
Biological particles are one of the factors that reduce air quality and cause respiratory problems such as asthma, colds, or allergies. These biological particles, consisting of pollens, bacteria, viruses, and fungi, can be found in many areas inside your home. The most important of these are our beds, clothes, closets, heating-ventilation-air conditioning installations, flooring, humid areas, and carpets with a bag of high dust and dirt-holding capacity, which is the most important gathering area.
These areas should be cleaned frequently with the right machines. The filters in the machines and fans we clean should be kept clean and regularly maintained. Otherwise, they may fail to function and reverse their good work by releasing dirt, allergens, and toxins back into the environment.
4-Be Saved By VOCs
VOCs, which are also the main topic of our previous blog post, are 'Chemical Volatile Organic Compounds' that we are exposed to every day in our living spaces.
Considering that the VOC level of the paints, furniture, and floor renovation works to be done in our living spaces can be up to 1000 times the outdoor levels, we should take measures to reduce the VOC rate we are exposed to.
During the renovation and spraying operations in your home, ensure active ventilation and prevent the VOC concentration in the environment from increasing.
Choose the right storage methods. When using materials that can release harmful substances such as paint containers, cleaning fluids, and solvents, read the safety instructions on them and pay attention to them during application. Store the remaining materials with the lids closed and securely.
In order not to encounter VOCs in cleaning, use organic/natural cleaning products. In addition to the obvious aesthetic benefits of cleanliness, maintaining a healthy indoor environment is crucial, according to the EPA. Using green cleaning products helps reduce human health and environmental concerns.
5-Choosing the Right Material
One of the most critical factors that directly contribute to the air quality in living spaces is the choice of building materials preferred in the space. Architects, interior designers, and people related to decoration aim to obtain healthy, reliable, and hygienic spaces and spaces with carefully designed interior designs. For this reason, they prefer products that are cost-effective, durable, efficient, and do not harm human health.
The most important sources that pollute the air in the places we are our interior building materials and furniture. All interior building materials, including floor coverings, paints on walls, floor and ceiling tiles, cabinets, and wood products, may contain harmful substances that gradually spread.
Floor coverings are among the building materials that have a high share in air pollution, considering the area they cover in the space and the product range that we are in constant interaction with and can be used because a certain number of people pass through it every day.
Laminated parquets are distinguished from other floor coverings with their 100% natural structure between floor coverings. By being obtained from wood, it allows you to create much healthier, safer, and hygienic living spaces compared to other options such as laminate flooring.
Established by ASPEN in 2004 to offer the world-building industry the products and application methods required by modern architecture, DENDRO produces by European Standards. In addition to its sectoral experience since the day it was founded, it has become a world brand with an annual production capacity of 1 million m² of laminated parquet, ready-to-use 190.000 m² of products, and 320.000 m² of raw material stock, and also has the E1 Competency Certificate. Dendro offers healthy, reliable, and hygienic flooring solutions with its wide product range in all areas of architecture, from homes to schools, from offices to mixed-use mega projects.
References:
https://www.epa.gov/
https://www.archdaily.com/916314/how-designing-for-air-quality-may-determine-the-outcome-of-your-meeting
https://iskid.org.tr
