We Spend 90% of Our Time Inside — What Does That Mean for Our Health?
Recent research has shown that the average person spends 90% of their time inside. I checked, and I spend at least 92% of my time inside at work or at home. Long gone are the days where people spent most of their time outside; the era of the shut-in is here. If you have pets, their time spent inside is probably even more than yours, and kids are going outside far less than they used to too. Given this new indoor-oriented lifestyle, it’s more important than ever to pay attention to how indoor pollution is affecting our health. We need to understand where indoor pollution comes from, how it impacts our health, and what we can do to preserve our health. To spare you from reading all the papers and articles, I’ve created a quick, comprehensive guide on indoor pollutants and how we can reduce their effects on our health.
Sources of Indoor Pollution
You might think the grossest thing in your house is your toilet seat, and you’re probably right, but the reality is we barely touch it, and we tend to be fairly aware of keeping it clean in the first place. The real risk lies in the things we’re constantly touching or which we can’t or don’t clean. In the kitchen, for example, the main concerns are the gasses released into the air while we cook, insect excrement hidden in places we can’t see, and fungal and bacterial growth in damp, unclean areas. Furniture is a huge concern too — sofas and beds can be a source of dust mites and fibres that fly into the air whenever we sit down, and if you’re anything like me, your mattress and sofa haven’t been cleaned since you moved in.
The problems are even more insidious than you might think though. You can’t have a house without walls (I think?), but walls are also a potential pollution source as they can easily grow mold and shed tiny amounts of paint into the air. With how ill paint fumes alone can make you feel, constantly breathing in tiny amounts of paint can’t be ideal for your health. The floors beneath our feet can also cause trouble, as carpets and rugs can trap tons of pet dander, dust, and potential allergens that are released into the air as we walk. Even trying to clean your house might cause more pollution; the chemicals you use to clean ultimately end up in the air and on all of your household surfaces. Worst yet, kids and pets will suffer more from pollutants due to their small size.
Effects of Different Pollutants
You might, like me, assume that these things will only cause minor health concerns — and it’s true, some indoor pollutants only have minor but annoying affects on our health. Dust mites, for example, make their homes in our household fabrics and can irritate your eyes and respiratory system, resulting in watery eyes and coughing or sneezing. But things like mold might start off as only an annoyance, triggering asthma and making your nose itch, but over time symptoms can become more severe, leading to asthma in children, fatigue, and even organ damage or Legionnaire’s disease. Your cleaning products might initially cause headaches or eye irritations, but if they contain volatile organic compounds, they can cause respiratory distress, damage organs, and even lead to cancer.
I could, of course, go on and on about all the problems pollutants can cause us, but to avoid being that depressing, let’s just focus on the obvious takeaway from all this : pollutants in the short-term might only cause minor discomfort, but the long-term effects are serious. But don’t panic! Awareness of the problem means that we can take real steps to reduce indoor pollution and related health problems.
How to Protect Your Health
The obvious first step is to reduce pollution sources where possible. Since household fabrics can trap a lot of particulates, you can get rid of carpets, pillows, blankets, and other textiles you don’t need. For any remaining fabrics you can’t get rid of, you can increase how often you clean them and . To avoid the risks caused by chemical cleaning solutions, you can make your own natural, DIY cleaners. If you’re worried about chemical pollutants that might be lingering in the air, plants are the perfect solution that not only takes care of the problem for you, but which liven up any living space — just be sure they get the water and sunlight they need! And of course, the most important thing of all is just to keep your house clean and fresh in general. Clean at regular and frequent intervals, and when the weather is pleasant, open your windows to replace your home’s stagnant air with some that’s a bit fresher.
This might sound boring and tiring, but it doesn’t have to be. Removing fabrics in your house is a great time for a makeover, or you can make your kids “cleaning wizards” and make cleaning “potions” with them. Even I don’t like the idea of cleaning more, but involving your family and pets can make it fun, or you can buy cool gadgets to make it an easier process, like my company’s vacuum and mop robot which cleans itself, meaning your hands are (shameless self-promotion, sorry). However you do it, the most important thing is getting it done, not only for your health, but also for the health of any kids, pets, or others in your house.
Were you aware of just how much time you were spending inside? Have you experienced any of the negative side-effects linked to indoor pollution? Do you have any hacks for how to clean more efficiently? Leave a comment to let me know!
If you’re interested in my company’s product, a 2-in-1 robot vacuum and mop that not only keeps your floors clean and pollutant free, but also cleans itself so you don’t have to come into contact with dirty mops, you can find out more about it on my blog, on our official website, or our Facebook group (where you can see reviews from real users). Thanks for reading!
