Air quality is arguably just as important as your water quality, yet many people overlook their environment in general. Some people sleep near Wi-Fi routers and electrical outlets by their head. Some individuals are still exposed to high levels of toxic blue light at night, whether from toxic LED bulbs as a source of lighting or from their computer screens. Some people still drink and shower in unfiltered/tap water containing thousands of chemicals they are completely unaware of. Many people still use toxic chemicals and fragrances on their bodies and breathe indoors without even cracking a window.
Cracking a window is one of the most important health habits that you can start doing right now. Always have a fresh flow of outdoor air circulating whether you are working, sleeping, exercising, cooking, or just reading on your recliner. It is best to always have a window cracked where you are, no matter how cold or hot it is, even where you work.
However, some people cannot open a window where they work, thus leaving you with one option, proper air filtration. According to the EPA, “the levels of indoor air pollutants are often 2 to 5 times higher than outdoor levels”, and in many cases, these levels can exceed 100 times that of outdoor levels of the same pollutants. (1)
Spending too much time indoors without proper air filtration can lead to health issues like wheezing, coughing, shortness of breath, asthma attacks, lung cancer, CIRS, and worsened COPD. Air pollution is truly a threat to human health at all ages and can actually shorten one’s lifespan. We will briefly cover long-term and short-term solutions to ensure that you are going in the right direction by bettering indoor air quality.
First, what pollutants are we talking about when it comes to improving poor air quality? Many individuals think it’s just dust and dead skin that these air filters pick up. It is so much more than that. A high-performance air filter will help filter many more pollutants you may be unaware of, like the ones listed below.
Basic Information on Pollutants and Sources of Indoor Air Pollution
- Asbestos
- Biological Pollutants
- Carbon Monoxide (CO)
- Cookstoves (Gas-Burning Appliances)
- Formaldehyde/Pressed Wood Products
- Lead (Pb)
- Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2)
- Pesticides
- Radon (Rn)
- Indoor Particulate Matter
- Secondhand Smoke/ Environmental Tobacco Smoke
- Wood Smoke and smoke from synthetic candles/sources.
- VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds)
- From toxic furniture, home and building materials, paints, finishing liquids, etc.
- Synthetic Fibers/Microplastics (Polyester)
- Household Cleaning Chemicals and Synthetic Fragrances/Scents
- Dander and Dead Skin from Pets and Humans
- Mold and Mildew
- The mold itself isn’t particularly harmful as many think (forests are filled with mold); it is actually what the mold is eating/off-gassing that can become extremely toxic, especially when the indoor air quality is not being filtered and circulated with fresh outdoor air.
Short and Long-Term Solutions
Most people spend upwards of 90% of their time indoors. The long-term solution is to swap most of these toxic pollutants with a more natural alternative; here are some examples:
- If you are using toxic paints, toxic flooring, and other toxic home/building products, try switching to clay paint, wood flooring, and other less harmful alternatives.
- If you are still using toxic cleaning products, synthetic fragrances, soy candles, and other toxic synthetic-scented junk, then switch to natural cleaning products (lemon/vinegar), beeswax candles (without synthetic scents or fragrances), and non-hormone-altering natural scent/fragrance alternatives that are non-toxic such as flower essences or herbs and spices.
- If you use toxic synthetic polyester bedding, clothing, furniture, or even memory foam beds that off-gas for months, switch to organic cotton clothing, leather furniture, and wool bedding.
The short-term solution (This does not replace the long-term solution!) is to immediately add to your spaces a high-quality air filtration system, or multiple, for that matter. We highly recommend AirOasis. We have been using them for years, and after a few filter replacements, they are still going strong and pulling tons of dust/pollutants from our indoor air that we were completely unaware of for quite some time.
We use several of the iAdapt Air Large Filters (they actually just had a Mother’s Day sale for an amazing price, so be on the lookout), which create a whopping 850 square feet of clean air. They also have a few other models, a 250-square-foot model, and a 550-square-foot model. They all come with a 60-day money-back guarantee and a lifetime warranty. Nick’s brother has the 550-square-foot model for his tiny home, which works very well for his place.
These units have proven to be workhorses; we usually run them on the highest setting all day long. Even in our work facility, we purify the air with several iAdapt Air Large Filters. We typically blow the filters out with an electrical blower, but it’s probably best to replace the filters every few months as needed, as AirOasis recommends.
Why AirOasis?
What makes the AirOasis brand so much better than other air filters? Air Oasis has five stages of air purification. Rather than just a simple HEPA filter like most subpar air filters, AirOasis utilizes UV, silver ions, and Bi-Polar ionization on top of using a carbon filter and a medical grade H13 HEPA Filter, all without the production of ozone.
- The Medical Grade H13 HEPA filter traps dust, dander, smoke, and pollen. H13 HEPA Filters are more advanced than traditional HEPA filters. The H13 Filter can filter out particles as small as 0.1 microns.
- The Carbon Filter contains roughly 88 grams of activated carbon pellets that absorb harmful chemicals and odors known as VOCs.
- The Silver Ion Filter efficiently sterilizes by utilizing a special coating that creates silver ions that can pass through the cell membrane of microorganisms such as mold, bacteria, and viruses. This supposedly reduces pathogens by up to 99%. The great thing about this is that the ions recycle, thus ensuring the effects will not reduce over time.
- UV Light, which has been used in medical environments for almost a century, is a 265nm lamp with photons that destroy up to 99.9% of pathogens. Again, this produces no ozone.
- Finally, Bi-Polar Ionization are positive and negative ions, which actively seek out and destroy contaminants throughout the room. Basically, they cluster into contaminants making them heavy enough to fall to the floor so you can vacuum them up. Unlike negative ionizers, their Bi-Polar technology does not increase static electricity and, yet again, will not create ozone.
The filters are fairly inexpensive for their high quality, and the air filtration units themselves take up minimal floor space. They recommend replacing the filters every 6-12 months. On top of regular filter replacements, we recommend you try to blow out your filtration unit (outside) with an electric blower (the entire unit plus the filter itself). The iAdaptAir has been proven to reduce contaminants (Smoke & Dust) by up to 99% after only an hour of use and continues to keep them down.
The AirOasis iAdapt Air Filters come with three fan speeds (the fastest is obviously our favorite), and you can choose to turn off the UV light and Bi-Polar ionizer. You can place a timer on the air filter, which will automatically turn off after 2, 4, or 8 hours. It also comes with a Wi-Fi setup, which we do not use for the sake of unnecessary signals. Finally, it comes with a sensor, which lights up green, orange, or red to notify you of any changes in the air quality. I don’t know how accurate the sensor is, but hey, it’s cool!
On the lowest setting, the Large iAdapt filter is roughly 25 decibels at 75 rpm, and it is 52 decibels at 1200 rpm on the highest setting. It weighs around 20 pounds with 40,000,000 negative and positive ion output.
Save Some Money
Indoor air quality is essential, but proper air filtration is definitely an investment. We’ve collabed with AirOasis to be able to offer you a 10% discount on their products and filters with our code MITIGATESTRESS.
If you have made it this far, we want to thank you for reading through this information on hot baths. Please share this with a friend, family member, or co-worker or on your social media platforms if you have seen value in our content.
Please reach out to us with any questions, and remember to mitigate stress with good indoor air quality!
In Christ,
Nick & Nathan
References:
- Indoor Air vs. Outdoor Air – Medical Associates of Northwest Arkansas. https://www.mana.md/indoor-air-vs-outdoor-air/
- US EPA,OAR. “Indoor Pollutants and Sources | US EPA.” US EPA, 7 Feb. 2019, www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/indoor-pollutants-and-sources.
- Best App-Enabled Indoor HEPA Air Purifier | iAdaptAir® | Air Oasis. www.airoasis.com/mitigatestress
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