Three pollutants in your Twin Cities metro area home can compromise your indoor air quality and pose a serious health concern to you and your family. Mold, carbon monoxide, and radon are three potentially dangerous pollutants that may be lurking in your home without your knowledge. Fortunately, homeowners can take steps to prevent and/or detect these three pollutants with proper testing and precautions.
Mold
Most homes are no stranger to mold growth, which can develop in just about any area where conditions are favorable. This annoying and potentially harmful problem spreads via spores it releases into the air. Not only can mold eat away at wood and stain walls and fixtures, it can also lead to nausea, fatigue, headaches and other respiratory complications. Keeping your home dry by removing moisture, repairing leaks, and using dehumidifiers – and regularly cleaning any mold you find with a diluted solution of bleach or ammonia – will help address mold issues.
Carbon Monoxide
This invisible, odorless gas poses a serious threat to the health of anyone in the home and is, unfortunately, a common hazard in homes with heating equipment and other appliances that burn fuel. Carbon monoxide occurs when the combustion produced by fireplaces, furnaces, exhausts, stoves and heaters is incomplete, and can get into the home when equipment is malfunctioning or not venting properly. The only way to determine if unsafe levels of carbon monoxide are in your home is with CO detectors. These lifesaving devices will alert you when carbon monoxide levels begin to rise in your home.
Radon
Like CO, radon is an invisible, odorless gas that poses a risk to you and your family’s health. This radioactive gas occurs as uranium begins to break down in the soil. It will seep into homes through dirt floors in basements, cracks and drainage systems. According to the federal EPA, 20,000 lung cancer deaths annually are associated with radon exposure. Radon detection kits are the only way to determine whether your home is compromised by this dangerous gas.
For more information about air pollutants, please contact Marsh Heating & Air Conditioning. We’ve been serving the Twin Cities metro area since 1974.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about indoor air quality and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.
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