8 Tips For Healthier Air in Your Home

1. Don’t let your vacuum bag ever become more than half full. This will reduce the amount of particles, activated from vacuuming, to be released into the air.

2. Change your vacuum bag at least once a month.

3. Avoid dust, mold, and bacteria build-up by wiping down surfaces in bathrooms, bedrooms, and the kitchen with a diluted bleach solution.

4. Decrease the amount of surface area where dust particles can collect by eliminating as much clutter as possible.

5. Remind yourself to change your air cleaner filter by marking the date on your calendar.

6. Check your smoke alarm at the same time.

7. If you have a fireplace, get the chimney checked once a year.

8. Get an annual radon check.

The Air Study That “Stunned” Researchers

Researchers comparing air quality in six U.S. cities were “stunned” to learn “that people living in cities with the dirtiest air died on average two years earlier than residents of cities with the cleanest air. The difference in death rates was linked to elevated levels of fine-particle pollution.”

The tiniest air-born pollution particles are the most dangerous

Lung diseases like cancer, emphysema, fibrosis, and asthma are almost all initiated or aggravated by the inhalation of particles and gases, reports Joseph Brain, Drinker professor of environmental physiology at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH).

Children are the most vulnerable

The smallest air-borne particles are the ones that our lungs are least able to defend against. Infants and children are especially vulnerable. To describe the difference in an unforgettable way, imagine this scene, according to Rick Rogers, senior research scientist at HSPH:

“If a mom and her seven-year-old at a bus stop, stand in the wake of a departing bus’ burst of diesel exhaust, the child’s lungs will take in two and a half times the dose of particles as the mother’s. That startling effect is because of differences in surface to lung volume, metabolic rate, and activity.

Of course, any air pollution in the home will also have a much greater effect on children.

Fine particles in the air cause lung problems and heart attacks.

15 years into the six-city study researchers were surprised again. People were losing lung function, but what was killing them were cardiovascular events such as heart attacks and dysrhythmias. And it was fine particles from power plants and other combustion sources such as automobiles and home heating that showed the strongest associations with these deaths. This study is the most cited air-pollution paper in existence.


Prevent your children from losing lung capacity as they age.

The fine-particle lung damage to children worsens their lungs as they age. At first these fine particles cause “only” a small, yet permanent reduction in lung function. That's not so bad when they are young and have plenty of reserve lung capacity. But as they age, they will lose about 1 percent of their lung function per year (1.5 percent for smokers). After 50 years, in their early seventies, that’s a 50 percent reduction in lung capacity (75 percent in smokers).

Hint: It is never too soon to make the air cleaner where you have control over it – in your home. Look for air cleaning systems that also capture the most dangerous airborne particles – the tiniest ones.

Green building is the “bright spot” in home building

… during these uncertain economic times, according to David Gottfried. That means taking some steps to make your home more green - and a healthier place in which to live – may be a smart move, even now.

While at U.S. Green Building Council and the World Green Building Council (USGBC), Gottfried helped develop the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system.

Says Gottfried, in an interview at Sustainable Industries, “The market’s been growing about 30 percent a year for green building, whereas it’s decreasing for the industry in general.

The LEED rating system has some 15,000 projects that have registered for certification. Over 100 cities mandated green requirements for their own buildings.

Some of the homebuilders who are building are starting to move over and embrace green. Why is all that doing well? Because new construction is slowing down, but there’s existing buildings which are being rehabbed green.

Perhaps the green building market can rely on remodeling to keep it afloat during this downturn. He also acknowledges that “because of the recession that becomes a more important market, because it’s hard to get financing for new construction.”

“I think owners are rehabbing their homes. They’re going to rehab their office buildings and retool them for the next generation; and that’s a good business. It also saves money because it brings your energy bill down by 30 percent to 50 percent and your water bill down by 30 percent. All of that enhances the value of the asset that you own in the marketplace.

In January, among other activities, Gottfriend is going to help grow GreenHomeGuide.com, an Internet community for green homebuilding and remodeling that I helped start. Check it out.