How Air Quality Affects Our Health

Short-Term

If you live in or have ever spent time in a heavily polluted city or town, you know the acute negative effects of breathing dirty air. It can make your eyes and nose burn, and can irritate your throat and make breathing difficult. If you have a pre-existing issue such as asthma, pollutants and ground level ozone can increase respiratory problems.

Long-Term

Breathing on-going polluted air can have negative effects on our health from some of the toxic chemicals in the air. For example, pollutants such as benzene or vinyl chloride are highly toxic and have been linked to cancer, birth defects, and long-term injury to the lungs, as well as brain and nerve damage.

It’s not just the quality of air outside our home that is affecting our health but the quality of air inside our home, too! According to the American Lung Association, "Poor indoor air quality can cause or contribute to the development of infections, lung cancer, and chronic lung diseases such as asthma. In addition, it can cause headaches, dry eyes, nasal congestion, nausea and fatigue. People who already have lung disease are at greater risk."

Air Purifier

Purchasing an air purifier for the home and/or office is a great step towards improving our air quality. One example of a great air purifier is the Lightair IonFlow 50. This air purifier is so silent you’ll barely know it’s there! It works great, creates no ozone (which many ion producing purifiers do) and uses very little energy. Lightair also have a beautiful design that looks like art!

Diffuser

In addition to purifying our air, we can also enhance the air we breathe. Essential oils have been used for years for their health benefits and have been become even more popular in recent years. Essentials oils are commonly believed to help with sleep, colds/flu, mental sharpness, and mood improvement. You can use essential oils in different ways. One of my favorite ways is in a diffuser, like this one from Stadler Form, to freshen and enhance the health of the air we breathe.