These Pollutants May Be Ruining the Air in Your Monrovia Home: What to Do?

Even in beautiful Pasadena, contaminated air in your home can make you sick and uncomfortable. Take a look at this overview of common pollutants, and find out what you can do about them.

Dander, pollen and dust pollutants

• Dander is the animal equivalent of dandruff. While your own dandruff might cause an inconvenience, pet dander is small enough to move through the air. And once it’s in the air, it can enter your body and cause an allergic reaction.
• If you have allergies, you’re familiar with pollen. It’s a dust-like substance released into the air during a plant’s reproductive cycle. Once it’s airborne, it causes seasonal allergies in many people.
• Dust includes pollen, dander, particles of soil, paper fibers, hair and any other particles that make their way into your home’s air. It can clog your sinuses and your HVAC system’s air filter.

Odors and gases

• Cleaning chemicals, unpleasant pet smells and VOC outgassing can make your home unlivable.
• Obvious pollutants like bleach and ammonia linger in the air for hours.
• Volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, are released during the curing process of plastics and adhesives. New furniture and new cars exhale VOCs.

Bioaerosols

• Spores, bacteria, fungi, viruses, and other microorganisms are called bioaerosols. These living creatures are so small they float around in the air.
• Mold and fungi can grow in warm, humid areas and spread through your ductwork into the rest of your home where they can cause damage and illness.

What to Do About These Pollutants

• Dust can be removed from the air with a normal air filter, but you may need a portable HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) filter to remove viruses and spores.
• Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation systems kill micro-organisms like viruses and mold.
• Gases and odors are removed with a carbon-activated filter, which are usually found in air purifiers.

These devices can be installed as part of your home’s HVAC system or bought as a standalone device, although installing HEPA filtration requires significant changes to an HVAC system because of airflow issues.
For more professional advice about your home’s air quality, contact Air-Tro.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in the greater Monrovia, California area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).

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