Search Results for: blog clear pollutants out of your home

Protecting Your Home’s Air – Part 1

Did you know that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) believes that Americans spend as much as 90% of their time inside? And, the really bad part is that indoor air quality can be worse than that of the outdoors! How can you make your home air safer? There are certain pollutants, both intentional and unintentional, that we need to worry about. The intentional pollutant is obviously cigarette smoke. Not only is smoking bad for you, but it can also harm those around you. Children of smokers statistically have more respiratory tract infections. It is hard to stop smoking, but consider … Continue reading →

Clear Pollutants Out of Your Home

These tips from the American Lung Association can help keep the air in your home cleaner — which can reduce problems with allergies and asthma and prevent other health problems. Never paint in an unventilated room! The fumes can leave you with permanent damage to your sense of smell and your brain. Don’t forget to clean your dryer’s exhaust pipe. Cleaning the lint trap only removes half the lint from your system! Use a round brush with a long, flexible neck to pull lint from the exhaust pipe. Always vent your dryer to an open outside area. If you vent … Continue reading →

Least Polluted American Cities

The American Lung Association has once again released its yearly Start of the Air report. The report lists the cities with the least amount of pollution, including ozone and air particle pollution. Where are the least polluted cities in which to live? If you are fond of the great western part of the county, you might consider moving to Bismarck, North Dakota. It is #1 for cleanest ozone pollution and also #10 for cleanest year-round particle pollution. Also ranking high (#18) for year-round particle pollution is Fargo-Wahpeton, North Dakota. It is also ranked high for cleanest ozone pollution and short-term … Continue reading →

American Lung Association Releases the State of the Air Report

The American Lung Association (ALA) released its “State of the Air” report yesterday, which looks at the ozone and particle pollution levels across the U.S. for 2006, 2007 and 2008. As with most reports, there is good news and bad news. The year-round, annual particle pollution levels showed improvement. But, there are also more than 175 million Americans that are still breathing polluted air. In case you were wondering, that is about 58 percent of our total population. The ALA released a list of cities that are most polluted, based on ozone, short-term particle spikes, and long-term particle averages. Unfortunately … Continue reading →

Sensitive Eyes

Sensitive Eyes sounds like a good title for a dreamy romance novel… but I was thinking more of your actual eyes being sensitive to things. Maybe I’ll write that romance someday, though! You may already know if you have sensitive eyes. Symptoms can include: Bloodshot eyes Excessive tearing or watering A generally uncomfortable feeling Basically, sensitive eyes are easily irritated by things that don’t bother most other people. You may find your eyes easily irritated by smoke, dry air, wind, chemical fumes, and more. A number of different things can lead to sensitive eyes. A healthy, normal eye has a … Continue reading →

An Unexpected Reaction

I discovered mold underneath the sink in my bathroom last week. Living in a very high humidity area like the Pacific Northwest — that’s not a big surprise. I did some research on how to clean it up and prepared myself to tackle the growth. One important thing to note here: I’m allergic to mold in all forms. If I take penicillin (or any mold-based medication), I break out in hives. If I eat bleu cheese, my mouth burns. Knowing this, I protected myself with a face mask and rubber gloves. I figured I was in danger of ending up … Continue reading →

Stunning in Silver

Be proud of your grey hair, ladies! A recent survey from the beauty experts at L’Oreal found that almost half of all women over forty are choosing to NOT dye the grey out of their hair. The benefits of going grey: You don’t have to worry about dying and re-dying to cover roots. You don’t have to constantly subject your hair to dyes. You save money (not buying dye or going to the salon) and time (not dying your hair at home or sitting in the salon while someone else does it for you). You’ve earned those grey hairs — … Continue reading →

Preparing for a Chemical Disaster

Recently there was a massive fire at hazardous waste disposal plant near my home. Fortunately my family was too far away to be in any danger from the fire, and the pollutants (mainly because it rained, and that took the chemicals out of the air. However, I do know people who were evacuated from their homes as a result of this incident. It is important to be prepared for such an event in your area. Here are four things you should do to prepare for this type of emergency. 1) First you need to find out if this could happen … Continue reading →