You may blame your sickliness on a bug you got from a coworker, however the culprit could potentially be your own household.
- If your symptoms are related to being in parts of your home, magically resolve themselves after you leave your home for a while, or if other people in your household experience the same symptoms as you, you may have what the EPA calls “sick building syndrome”! Three things that contribute to sick building syndrome are brutal air ventilation, chemical contaminants, and biological contaminants growing in your household.
Ventilation refers to the exchange of indoor and outdoor air, poor ventilation permits harmful gases and excessive moisture to build up in your household, however certain carpets, paints, solvents, wood based furniture, and air fresheners can emit volatile organic compounds. Their harmful effects include eye, nose, and throat irritation, headaches, loss of coordination, nausea, and damage to liver, kidney, and central nervous system. If your household is poorly ventilated, you are more likely to be affected by VOC’s since they are not ventilated out of your household… According to the EPA, contaminants such as mold, pollen, and viruses may breed in stagnant water that has accumulated in ducts, humidifiers, and drain pans, or where water has collected on ceiling tiles, carpeting, or insulation. Sometimes mold grows in your household because the humidity level in your home is too high. Properly ventilating your home can help with this. To solve sick building syndrome, be sure to remove sources of pollution, increase ventilation rates and air distribution, and get an air cleaner also. Removing the sources of pollution actually includes always replacing your air filters and limiting the use of paints, adhesives, solvents, and pesticides to well ventilated areas, but you can increase ventilation rates and air distribution by opening up a window, turning on your kitchen or bathroom exhaust fans, and maintaining furnaces, chimneys, and heating devices so that carbon monoxide is ventilated out the household. Your proper fiberglass air filter only catches larger dust particles. You will need a nice air purification system with a high MERV rating to catch small particles that can hurt your indoor air quality levels.