What Triggers Your Allergies? The Big 3 Indoor Allergens To Avoid

If you have airborne allergies, chances are something in the indoor air is causing you to sneeze, cough, become congested, and generally feel poorly. And if you're like most people it's probably a combination of triggers that send your body into overdrive. Here are 5 potent allergens to avoid.

Pet Dander---I've got this under control you might think particularly if you don't have pets. Over 60 million homes have warm-blooded pets that shed dander. And just because you don't happen to be one of them, doesn't mean you don't have dander.

Dander is sticky stuff so if you work with someone or your children go to school with others who have pets; you've got some of it in your home. It sticks to clothes, book bags, and hair and is easily transferred on contact.

Once they are in your home, shaking out clothes or putting them on the bed or with other clothes simply spreads the allergen. If your daily routine brings you in constant contact, its easy to understand how the amounts in your home will increase even though you don't have a pet.

If you do have a pet such as a cat, dog, bird, ferret, bunny or other warm fuzzy friend the production of these dead skin flakes will continue all through your pet's life. So being able to effectively keep the levels low can help lessen the frequency and intensity of allergy and asthma flare-ups.

Dust Mites---Dust mites feed on dead skin cells. They don't really care about the source. Human or pet dander is acceptable.. Their favorite room in the house is the bedroom, and more specifically your bed. They thrive in moist, warm, and dark places which make your bed or your pet's bedding a haven for increasing their population.

It is the protein in their feces (that they drop everywhere) that is such a potent trigger. Being able to minimize their numbers can prevent them from causing respiratory issues and from exacerbating existing ones.

Dust---This is an accumulation of fine particles from many sources. What it contains is slightly different in each home. Taking a piece of it and putting it under a microscopic can tell you volumes about what's in it.

Generally it has fine pieces of textiles from clothing, upholstery, rugs and other fabrics. It also usually contains tiny pieces of paper from magazines, mail, and paper products. Body parts from insects, pet and human hair, small pieces of feces from mites and other insects as well as bug body parts can add to this collection.

Unfortunately these allergens are a permanent fact of indoor living. Making sure that the levels remain consistently low can stabilize your health and provide relief from symptoms that can range from annoying to debilitating. The best way to manage allergies is to avoid the trigger. And the best pro-active yet non-invasive way to do that is to filter the continually. This will decrease the allergens and can increase quality of life for good.

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Indoor Air Quality and Seasonal Allergens

Seasonal allergens cause misery for millions of allergy sufferers each year in the form of sneezing, itchy eyes, runny noses, and scratchy throats. The quality of the air indoors can have a considerable effect on the seasonal allergy symptoms that appear in those that are susceptible and reducing the amount of seasonal allergens in the indoor air is the most effective way to obtain seasonal allergy relief.

Important Indoor Allergen Reduction Tips

While it is impossible to change the amounts of pollen and allergens outdoors, following a few simple tips can improve the indoor air quality of your home and bring relief to the seasonal allergy sufferer.

Keep Pollen Outdoors

During the times of year when seasonal allergens are high, try to keep the pollen outdoors as much as possible. Here are some suggestions:
Keep doors and windows closed to prevent the wind from blowing the pollen indoors.Use the heating and cooling system to regulate the temperature and control the humidity indoors.Use air filters that are capable of removing allergens from the air flowing through the system.If possible, remove exterior clothing near the door when returning to the home from a long period outdoors to prevent the spread of pollen throughout the home.

Vacuum Frequently

Your vacuum cleaner can be your best friend during seasonal allergy season as you use it to remove allergens from your home.
Carpets and rugs should be vacuumed at least once per week.Small rugs and blankets that can be washed should be washed weekly in hot water.Upholstered furniture and large pillows should be vacuumed to remove allergens that could be released back into the air as you and your familyuse your furniture.

Use a Dust-Trapping Duster

When removing dust from hard surfaces, use a duster that traps the dust in the duster instead of brushing it off of the surface and back into the air.

A few things to keep in mind:
Feather dusters and foam dusters merely push the dust around instead of removing it, but many damp cloths and wipes actually trap the dust particles so that they can be thrown away.Sweeping with a broom can also return dust and dirt to the air, so you may want to try using the vacuum for cleaning your hardwood, tile, or laminate floors.

Fewer Indoor Allergens is Good for Your Health

Having good air quality in the home is important for anyone that suffers from seasonal allergies or asthma and ensuring that the indoor air is free of allergy triggers like dust and pollen is one of the best things you can do to reduce allergy symptoms and improve overall health.

Jim Gates, CAFS, is the brand manager for Quality Filters, Inc. ( http://qualityfilters.com/ ), a leading manufacturer and distributor of high quality home and commercial air filters. The company's products are available online at BuyFilters.com ( http://buyfilters.com/ ).

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Indoor Air Quality and Health: Understanding The Relationship

The relationship between indoor air quality and health is a complex one, with the first directly affecting the second. The quality of the air you breathe indoors can have many different effects on your health. That's why improving the air quality inside your home or office can improve your health significantly.

Indoor air that contains harmful particulates or even moderate levels of air pollution can cause numerous health problems, some of which occur soon after exposure and others that do not present themselves until years after the exposure has taken place.

What Causes Poor Indoor Air Quality?

The primary cause of poor indoor air quality is sources of indoor pollution that release particles, gases, or toxins into the air. Ventilation that is inadequate can compound the problem by trapping the pollutants within the interior air and failing to dilute the emissions with fresh air. If the temperature level or humidity level is high, it can cause an increase in the concentration of certain pollutants.

What Are the Effects of Poor Indoor Air Quality?

Health issues related to poor indoor air quality may appear soon after exposure or years later, depending on the types of contaminants the person is exposed to and the quantity that are inhaled.

The immediate effects of breathing poor quality air indoors include headaches, dizziness, fatigue, and irritation of the eyes, nose and throat. These effects are generally short term and will disappear as air quality is improved, typically by increasing ventilation and using high-quality air filters to remove contaminates from the air.

Poor interior quality of air can also exacerbate the symptoms of some common health problems, including asthma and hypersensitivity pneumonitis, causing the affected person's condition to deteriorate soon after exposure. In many cases, the person's condition will improve once the person's exposure to the source of the indoor air pollution is eliminated.

Poor air quality indoors can also result in long-term health problems, with symptoms often showing up years after long or repeated periods of exposure to harmful air pollutants. Many of the long-term health effects related to poor indoor air quality can be severely debilitating or even fatal, including heart disease, some respiratory diseases, and various types of cancers.

Take Steps to Improve Indoor Air Quality

Different people react differently to exposure to indoor airborne pollutants, so it is best to try to improve the overall quality of air to prevent anyone from being affected by harmful contaminants in the air. Identifying the source of the air contamination, hiring a professional to identify and remediate molds and other pollutants, consulting your doctor and choosing an air conditioner filter that is capable of removing contaminants from the air will help ensure that the person will not continue to experience adverse health effects due to indoor pollutants in the air.

Jim Gates, CAFS, is the brand manager for Quality Filters, Inc. ( http://qualityfilters.com/ ), a leading manufacturer and distributor of high quality home and commercial air filters. The company's products are available online at BuyFilters.com ( http://buyfilters.com/ ).

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Indoor Humidity: Can Indoor Humidity Affect Your Life?

The important thing to remember is that the perfect indoor humidity level is not the same depending where you live. If you live in a hot and humid climate such as Florida, it is 40% to 50%. If you live in a cool dry climate, the perfect indoor humidity levels can be 30% to 40%. Some very dry climates such as in desert areas can even be lower so you have to add indoor humidity to the air thru a humidifier. Some people like it humid and some like it dry, it depends on who you are talking to.

Depending upon your body type and gene pool, the human body can adapt to any climate that it needs to. The human body does not do well with constant changes of back and forth. An example is: Hot and humid climate in Florida; going in and out of air conditioning can be harmful to your health.

If the humidity level regularly exceeds 50% for too a long a period, you are likely to experience a rapidly increasing dust mite population, which will affect allergy sufferers also.

A room that has high moisture content in the air will have a strong musty odor. The damp air is a perfect breeding ground for mold, algae, mildew and fungus to grow which can cause health problems such as Asthma and Allergies. The best course of action is to fix the problem because it will not get better over time. A temporary fix is a humidifier till the problem is fixed and remediated.

The latest models of dehumidifiers in the market place have built-in humidity controls to keep the levels below 50%. There are many manufacturers of humidifiers, so go over to the Consumers Reports people and check out their test results for what is the best one to buy for your money.

If you are one of those people who has problems with your sinuses because of low humidity, this will be bad for you also. I know that every winter is a problem for a lot of my clients because of dry skin, itchy eyes and dried out sinus. Some people can also get sick from this condition and think it is an Indoor Air Quality problem when it is just due to low moisture in the air. A good quality Humidifier can help that condition in the winter time for all of us. A humidifier will put moisture back into the air to help out with that condition. They can also be programmed to operate on your furnace, air conditioner or in the bedroom for that room only.

It is also a good idea to have a good quality hygrometer to check out the moisture levels in your home. Like I mentioned in a previous paragraph, check out the Consumers Reports people for their latest test results and which hygrometer is the best one for your dollar. Do not buy a cheap model from your local dealer. The best thing is to go to Google and do an internet search for "best quality hygrometer" for the right one. If you buy one, make sure that the price tag is more than $50. Remember, you get what you pay for in hygrometer.

If you have any question, feel free to call us or visit our website. We specialize in Indoor Air Quality for people with Asthma, Allergies and the Chemically Sensitive.

To learn more about your home, visit our website at http://www.safe-homes.com/ or http://www.air-testing.com/

Mr. Art Emiss is available as a professional speaker to help educate your community or group function on Asthma, Allergies, Mold, Indoor Air Quality and the Chemically Injured. Visit our website and sign up for our Free Air Conditioning Filter Change Reminder Service.

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