Hello World! Welcome Friends! It’s a New Year and time to make changes for our health and the health of our families.
Breathing & Health in the New Year
As we ring in 2020, Americans everywhere are resolving to work for their health in the new year. To enact these resolutions, hard choices are being made about how to improve the components of daily living–what to eat, what to drink, how much to exercise, how much to sleep, how to exercise. But the air we breathe is arguably one of the most crucial components of health–both in the short term and the long term–yet curiously it is often absent from our health-minded considerations. In this article, we will take you through the reasons why the air we breathe should instead be one of our first considerations when pursuing health.
Outdoor Air Pollution
While the quality of living around the world has dwarfed the conditions on previous generations, it is easy to assume that the air around us is not a problem. Quite the contrary is true. The World Health Organization describes the startling reality that outdoor pollution air pollution called ‘ambient air pollution’ is responsible for a whopping 29% of all deaths and disease from lung cancer, 24% of all deaths from stroke, and 43% of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Indoor Air Pollution
This describes problems with outdoor pollution, so indoor air must be much healthier, right? Unfortunately this is not the case either. Research indicates that indoor pollution in America contributes to various forms of cancer (lung cancer being the most common), neuropsychiatric disorders, asthma, musculoskeletal disease, and cardiovascular disease. While the air quality in America is much better than other places in the world, there are 3.8 million deaths attributed to indoor air pollution annually around the world.
Clean Air, Healthy Home
With the doom and gloom of the statistics surrounding air pollution, it is no surprise that engineers have sought the development of apparatuses to improve air quality since the 1800’s. Thankfully, in 2020 the technology of air purifying has reached monumental highs. Air purifying equipment is no longer to simply cleaning air, but research shows the air purifiers can now actually remove allergens to the point of actually alleviating symptoms of those with asthma and those with allergies.
How Do Air Purifiers Work?
Air purifiers employ a system of internal fans to pull in the air of your home and remove dust, pollen, bacteria, mold spores, and other particles. The clean air is then returned to your home with the process repeated several times an hour–more or less depending on your particular unit and the settings input. According to the EPA indoor air in America can be several times dirtier (anywhere from two to five times) than outdoor air in terms of airborne bacteria. This can probably be attributed to Americans spending about 90% of their time indoors where many have pets or belongings which contribute to air pollutants over time. Despite this fact, the EPA believes that air purifiers can kill about 99% of airborne bacteria–making them a crucial component of anyone looking to keep their home as clean and bacteria-free as possible.
Why Air Purifiers are Worth It: Quick Facts
- Neutralize smells: Whether your cooking or cleaning, an air purifier can help to quickly remove smells that might have otherwise lasted a little too long for your liking.
- Remove pet dander: For those of us who love animals despite having allergies, an air purifier might be the perfect way to counteract their presence in our homes.
- Remove smoke: We’ve all been there. Smoke is a very hard smell to remove from your home, but fortunately air purifiers remove the micro particles of soot responsible for the smell.
- Capture airborne dust: Dust is a reality of any home, and as it accumulates over time we can find ourselves with a little too much cleaning to do. An air purifier can radically cut down the amount of dusting you have to do around the house.
- Reduce the risk of transferring sickness: Many air purifiers employ UV bulbs to capture and then new the airborne germs that travel about the house when a member of your family is sick, destroying up to 99.9% so that your family is much less likely to pass around an illness.
- Improve lung health: Long-term exposure to dust particles, airborne bacteria, and allergens can overtime contribute to breathing problems, decreased lung function, and even lung disease. Luckily all of these are removed from the air by air purifiers.
The Takeaways
For anyone looking to improve their health by improving their environment, air purifiers are definitely a worthy investment. Even if you do not suffer from allergies, asthma, or lung disease, the research is clear–keeping clean air is just as important for staying healthy as it is in preventing illness.
The final consideration is which air purifier is right for you. Luckily the product market is one that has consistently developed in robustness of offerings over the years, and so there is quite literally equipment to fit the needs of any situation. With this diversity of product there is a diversity of price ranges, so that you can find the one that fits your needs without breaking your wallet. The best advice here is to take your time in exploring your options. There are plenty of guides that will direct you to the best air purifiers on the market.
As a quick tip, the best method for narrowing your search early and ensuring you get a quality product is to decide whether you want to focus solely on removing air particles, or if you want a unit with a UV bulb that will kill airborne germs as well. While the first option will be much more affordable it will be less likely to prevent the airborne transfer of germs and the risk of illness that entails.
Click the links below for any posts you have missed:
Roasted Cauliflower & Parsnip Soup
Favorites & Highlights – 2019 Top Posts
Favorites & Highlights – 2018 Top Posts
Favorites & Highlights – 2017 Top Posts
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Thanks for stopping by! Have a wonderful day/night depending on where you are in the world! Go with God and remember to be kind to one another!
Toodles,
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