OPEN YOUR WINDOWS
Even in winter, invite fresh air in and send the bad stuff out to help refresh a room
Crack open your windows.
It's a powerful, cheap and quick way to clear the air while you're cooped up in a stuffy, stagnant house over the winter months.
Sure it's winter and, baby, it's definitely cold outside, but consider what's trapped alongside you: emissions from cleaning products and personal care products, lots of allergens, possibly airborne viral droplets and more.
Growing evidence suggests that simply allowing fresh air to circulate inside confined spaces can help clear out the lingering dangerous droplets known as aerosols that cause infection. The WHO maintains research is still inconclusive that viral particles floating indoors are infectious.
The American Centers for Disease Control's website says: “Avoid crowded indoor spaces and ensure indoor spaces are properly ventilated by bringing in outdoor air as much as possible.”
An aggregate of studies worldwide shows that the odds of catching COVID-19 are nearly 20 times higher indoors than outside.
“The cleanest air on the planet is in the Arctic, so, sure, while it's cold to open the windows at this time of year, just a few minutes, even every other day, can help refresh the air in your house,” says Luis Anacleto, of cleanfirst.ca in Toronto, which offers indoor air quality testing among other remediation services.
He says he has been getting calls from many homeowners concerned about COVID-19.
Although his company specializes in commercial remediation, they have gone out to disinfect households after a case of COVID-19.
Winter months have considerably less fungal activity and dust than spring and fall, so inviting the air in is always a good idea, says Anacleto.
“The goal is to remove the existing recycled air inside to the outside, so ideally if you open two windows or doors in opposite sides, it will create negative pressure and some of the existing air will be thrown outside and new refreshed air will move in.”
In addition, he recommends running the exhaust fans in your kitchen and bathroom more often than you normally would.
“This will create negative pressure by exhausting the existing air out and forcing the house to bring (in) new air from all cracks and existing openings.”
More than ever we have increased the levels of the invisible pollution inside our homes, he adds, so err on the side of caution.
A recently released global air quality project by Dyson shows an increase in indoor pollutants as a result of lockdown and more time spent at home.
Data show higher PM2.5 levels indoors in 10 of the 14 cities analyzed when compared with the pre-lockdown period.
“Indoor sources of PM2.5 include particles released by the combustion process when cooking, pet dander or disturbance of dust while cleaning,” reports the project.
“In the colder weather, our windows and doors are usually tightly closed, meaning ventilation of the air is limited,” says Sam Railton, senior Dyson engineer.
“By spending more time indoors, particularly during winter or lockdown, we may be increasing the level of indoor pollutants from our day-to-day activities — from cooking and cleaning to using personal care products like deodorant.”
Everyday products like hairspray, air fresheners and colognes and perfumes pollute the air, too.
According to Anacleto, common invisible indoor polluters include emissions from daily-use chemicals and allergens such as skin flakes, dander from pets, mould spores, bacteria, mite proteins and cockroach proteins harbouring in dust.
Many household cleaners include chemicals that release VOCS (volatile organic compounds) into indoor air, which are linked to a broad range of health problems including headaches, nausea and respiratory irritation. Long-term exposure to some VOCS have been linked to cancer, according to the American Lung Association.
Anacleto suggests making your indoor air healthier by switching to clean, green cleaning products.
Consider investing in a whole house air exchange system like an HRV (heat recovery ventilation) or ERV (energy recovery ventilation).
Railton says an air purifier with HEPA filtration can minimize the impact of indoor air pollution. “Look for a machine with fully sealed filters to capture gases and 99.95 per cent of particle pollution.”
No purifiers?
“Refresh the air in your house just like you would in your car,” says Anacleto.
“Open the windows when you can and it's safe to do so.”