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“I look forward to the new issue of Healthy Beginnings Magazine each month because it has a nice variety of health-related articles from children to pets to water and foods. It's so diverse and excellent! I pick it up at Tahoe Forest Center.”

-Nancy Swarty,
Reader from Truckee, California

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All I Need Is The Air That I Breathe

By Scott W. Albrecht, IAQS, AOS, CMI, NTP

Stop for a moment and consider all the stuff you've seen coming out of the exhaust pipes of semi-trucks and factories. Well, according to studies done by the EPA, "Indoor air pollution is up to 5 times worse than outdoor air." According to the American College of Allergists, "50% of all illnesses are either caused or aggravated by polluted indoor air."

Sick Building Syndrome has been around for years. Ever since the energy crisis of the 70's we have built our homes and offices as air-tight as possible to save energy and, in so doing, have adversely affected indoor air quality. According to the Wall Street Journal "Carpeting, poorly ventilated fireplaces, mold, bacterial toxins, dust mites … an almost endless collection of highly allergenic products has invaded our homes and we have sealed them in with deadly precision."

Our homes have become a virtual incubator and breeding ground for dust, dust mites, bacteria, mold, mildew, odors, spores, pollen, pet dander, tobacco smoke, and many other harmful contaminants that fill the air that we breathe. And therefore, is it should be no surprise that the U.S. House of Representatives calls indoor air pollution "… the number one environmental health problem in America today."

It follows when USA Today carried the following headline: The Mighty Dust Mite Can Make Us Miserable and Sick. Speaking of dust mites and their by-products, did you know that when you look through the window on a sunshiny day and see dust floating, most of that dust is dead skin cells with dust mites "riding on it"? And, YOU are sucking IN this 'stuff' as you breathe. A single ounce of dust (or dead skin) supports up to Forty-Two Thousand mites! Up to 12% or more of a pillow's weight after 3 to 6 years could consist of dust mites, dust mite feces and dust mite carcasses. Wow! Well the point here is that dust mites are becoming a serious problem and people are being educated on this problem on a daily basis by the media. Still, the worst part — the reason most people do nothing about this problem — is because if they can't see it, hear it, feel it of smell it, there IS no problem. Dust mites and their feces are a contributing source to some allergy and asthma attacks and can trigger ongoing allergy and asthma symptoms. All across the nation, people are now scrambling to find a solution to help reduce the dust mite populations from their homes. The good news is, that now there has emerged a new technology that actually helps reduce the dust mite's food supply. How does it do this? Simply by reducing the mold and mildew that's attached to dead skin which the dust mite eats. Reduce the dust mite's food supply — you'll reduce the dust mites.

With the spring allergy season upon us, many people will go to their doctor who typically prescribes some sort of drug (or drugs) to treat respiratory symptoms while the actual irritants and sources of the problem are ignored. However, expect to see an increasing number of air filter infomercials on the tube from now through early summer. From gadget-store and vacuum cleaner retailers to heating and air conditioning contractors and so many other spin-off businesses, marketers across the country realize that poor indoor air quality is a trend that's here to stay. Even furnace and air conditioning manufacturers have finally warmed up to the problem and are adding electrostatic filter components to their systems. Unfortunately, just as with your cold air return filter, know that such filters function primarily to keep your heating and air conditioning units reasonably clean and easier to maintain - rather than significantly purify the air you breathe. In fact, when Googled, you'll find more and more companies that have gotten on the air quality bandwagon. And should you begin such a search, note that there is a significant difference between an air filter or electrostatic precipitator with "passive technology" and an actual air purifier with "active technology".

What is Passive? What is Active? Passive technologies require a relatively small amount of the total air and pollution in a room to come to it and be collected. Active technologies go out into the entire air space dropping the dust from the air, neutralizing odors at their source and killing germs and pathogens in the air and on surfaces, thus "purifying" the indoor environment. This writer believes in the Active approach.

When it comes to filters, the High-Efficiency Particulate Air filter or HEPA is the gold standard. HEPA filters are very efficient in the filtering of air that passes through the filter and they can filter down to 0.3 microns. Paradoxically, more than 97% of typical household particulate is smaller than .5 microns and may pass right through a HEPA. In fact, very small particulate is NOT effectively transported by air movement. So an air filter may be great at collecting "rocks and bowling balls," but filters and plates have no real chance of removing the dangerous submicron particles. It is these submicron particles that are the real health threat. For the general health of your family, take some action to try and control the quality of your indoor air at home as well as at the office. But be careful. An "anything is better than nothing" attitude may get you nowhere. Rather, Caveat emptor. (Let the buyer beware!) Just because the package on the store shelf or product website claims to reduce dust by 99%, don't accept such a claim on face value. Seek specifics. How much air is 99% clean? All the air in the room or house? Or only the air that passes through the unit? If the product makes a broad claim like: "All germs are killed" or "odors are eliminated," don't be "suckered." Before you invest, call the manufacturer or sales representative and insist on seeing independent, peer-reviewed and published scientific validation to claims about a given air filter's effectiveness. That kind of real proof is hard to come by, but it does exist with credible companies. And when you get it - read it.

Lastly, ask whomever you buy an air purifier from if they will let you TRY if for several days RISK FREE. Ask them exactly how to set the dials, and do make certain that YOU read the operating instructions. Air purifiers like snowflakes are different. YOU make the choice that suits your particular needs. Especially with air purifiers, it's just common sense to try a machine BEFORE you buy it. If you find a company that will loan you one to see if it "works on your problems," of course TRY it.

Amazingly, even after reading what I just shared with you, many will still ask: "Is Indoor Air Pollution really a serious problem and is breathing clean air really all that important?" Well, stop and think about this for a moment. You can live for approximately 1 week without water, 5 weeks without food, but if you stop breathing for only 4 minutes - you're dead. Doesn't it make sense to breathe the cleanest air possible if only after 4 minutes, you're dead? Of course it does! Remember, if you don't have an air purification system, you and your family ARE the air purification system.

References:

• www.epa.gov
• Fresh Air For Life, Somersall, Allan C., PhD, MD. The Natural Wellness Group, 2006.
• The Silent Killers, Billac, Pete. Swan Publishing, 2005.

For more info call Preferred EcoSystems at (775) 626-6800.