Indoor air pollution: Is the air you're breathing fresh and clean enough for your wellbeing?

Breathing is an essential activity. It's basic that very often we forget that air is coming inside our lungs all the time. Indeed, on a daily basis we inhale and exhale the equivalence of 60 bathtubs, and definitely the quality of the air is rarely questioned. We are sure that a lot of people haven't even thought about the small and almost invisible particles coming through their nose and interacting with the complete human system. You should no longer neglect the effects of air pollution on your own health As we spend almost all of our time in closed environments, indoor air pollution has a direct impact on our health and productivity. It is not just dust, smoke or odors; but also viruses, bacteria and chemicals coming from materials such as carpets, furniture, household products and plastics that we breath in every day and impact the way we perform. A research done by World Green Building Council has shown that a poor air quality (and elevated temperatures) consistently lowers office workers' performance by up to 10% on measures such as typing speed. The symptoms of poor indoor air quality are becoming more common Are you having regular headaches at the office? Do you feel tired or less happy while working? Do you suddenly have more allergies? If yes, this is what we call the Sick Building Syndrome and it can be fought with a good indoor air quality. These are not the only symptoms noticed: respiratory allergies and disorders, and in the worst case, problems linked to infertility. This topic is a current and important matter when we know that it is affecting offices, schools, hospitals and health centers.   How can we improve the quality of the air we are breathing and as a result, our lives? Simple and sustainable actions such as ventilating our home to eliminate the hidden indoor pollutants might help - 52% of poor indoor air quality can be caused by a lack of ventilation according to the World Green Building Council. And of course, improving indoor air quality is not only about ventilation, we also need to think about topics like the air conditionning systems and its good maintenance service - as pollutants are found in great numbers of poorly maintained ventilation systems - or about choosing non-toxic furniture. It is becoming increasingly urgent to equip our buildings with smart and innovative materials that can help purify the air in an environmentally-responsible way. There are already existing products on the market like coatings and ceilings that are designed to absorb pollutants and offer anribacterial properties. We can also fin solutions that help keep the building itself clean and limit moisture by preventing the proliferation of mold and bacteria onto surfaces. It's also relevant to use products with the lowest emissivity possible for the envelope that will provide superior airtightness. Indeed, according to an experiment on the Effects of pollution from personal computers, we notice that new computers emit more chemical pollutants which degrade the overall air comfort and increase users' text processing time.   Don't let your daily routine be the source of pains and discomfort. The sooner we will start acting about the topic, the better it will be for our health, well-being and productivity.