8 Do’s and Don’ts to Improve Air Quality at Home

8 Do’s and Don’ts to Improve Air Quality at Home
Dec 14, 2013 By Louie Cheng , eChinacities.com

Breathing in clean air sounds like a very basic right, but unfortunately it is not something we can take for granted living in China’s smoggy metropolises. With China’s air pollution frequently surpassing international standards and even partially shooting off all existing air pollution charts, as well as the drastic rise of respiratory illnesses in recent years, there has never been a greater need for tips on how to make your living experience in China that much healthier. While our individual actions for combating the air pollution outside may seem small, there are a number of measures you can take to significantly improve air quality at home. Here are eight essential do’s and don’ts for improving air quality at home and hopefully surviving China’s miserable winter. 

The Do’s:

1) Do replace the filters in your air filter regularly and install filters in your air conditioner  
The filters in air purifiers collect dust, pollen, dead skin cells, dust mite droppings and other allergens. If they are not cleaned regularly, all of this can buildup, making your machine work harder and pushing less air through. Most home air conditioners have very rudimentary filters that only catch large particles, but can be replaced with finer mesh ones (ie. 3M’s Filtrete) that clean your air much more effectively. Follow your air purifier manufacturer’s guidance on filter changes and depending on your location in China, replacing air conditioner filters should be done about once every six months. 


Source: OiMax

2) Do add indoor plants to produce clean air, remove toxins, and increase humidity
NASA research has found that certain species of plants are an excellent way to improve air quality at home because they excel in removing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that build up at dangerous levels indoors, especially during the winter, when we keep windows closed. The plants absorb pollutants such as formaldehyde, benzene and carbon monoxide, where microbes in their root system convert this into food. Meanwhile, they improve air quality by producing oxygen and adding humidity for comfort. According to a NASA study some of the best house plants for improving air quality include the Peace Lily (Spathiphyllum), the English Ivy (Hedera helix), the  Devils Ivy (Scindapsus aures), the Bamboo palm (Chamaedorea sefritzii), and the Spider Plant (Chlorophytum comosum).

3) Do use a HEPA vacuum and wet wipe surfaces that collect dust frequently
All surfaces can collect dust, particles and other air pollutants, so if they are left they can become airborne again leading to asthma and allergies. Wipe everything with water or use a high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter, which filters out particles down to .3 microns, about 150x smaller than the diameter of a human hair. Without HEPA filters, vacuums just spray the particles back out into the air where they can be inhaled.

4) Do open the windows for ventilation, but not during rush hour
Even in winter, ventilation with outdoor air is important to dilute stuffy, polluted indoor air. It’s best to do this when levels of outdoor pollution are lowest. Shanghai’s Environmental Monitoring Center (SEMC) publishes hourly reports and forecasts on air quality on its website. In general, the best times are early morning or evening. It is also generally a good idea to run an air purifier for an hour or so after ventilating to remove outdoor pollutants common in China’s air.

The Don’ts:

1) Don’t use a humidifier without cleaning it frequently
If you must use a humidifier, make sure that you clean it frequently with several drops of vinegar or a baking soda solution. Bacteria and mold can grow in the reservoirs and then become aerosolized and spread into the air you breathe.

2) Don’t take long, hot showers without a chlorine filter
No better way to warm up in winter than with a nice hot shower, right?  Chlorine, when absorbed through the skin or inhaled is thought to cause certain types of cancer as well as asthma. The higher the heat and length, the greater the vaporization and inhalation.  Although you can take quicker, colder showers, inexpensive shower filters (as little as 400 RMB) are a better choice.

3) Do not use portable combustion heaters indoors
As the temperature drops, it’s tempting to use portable space heaters to keep warm.  Electric ones are fine (assuming there’s no fire hazard), but any running on butane, propane, gas or otherwise using some sort of combustion should never be used indoors.  These are silent, annual killers, and tragically, carbon monoxide poisoning is responsible for thousands of deaths each year. Even if you don’t have this in your home, be aware of your surroundings, as charcoal and coal are used to heat many Chinese stores and restaurants, exposing you to the same noxious fumes.

4) Don’t allow condensation and wetness to form indoors
During the winter, the temperature difference between the outside and inside air leads to condensation forming. In the same way that your eyeglasses will fog up when you come indoors on a cold day, water will form on cold objects such as windows or the concrete walls commonly found in China. Dampness leads to mold and insect growth. The best way to avoid this is to reduce indoor air humidity, increase indoor air temperature, increase ventilation with fans where water condenses and wipe up around window frames.

This is a guest post by Louie Cheng, founder of PureLiving China (http://purelivingchina.com).  PureLiving China is an indoor environmental services company that is focused on helping Shanghai residents assess and improve the quality of their air and water.

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Keywords: filtering air; China’s air pollution air purifiers; air filters Improve air quality at home

3 Comments

All comments are subject to moderation by eChinacities.com staff. Because we wish to encourage healthy and productive dialogue we ask that all comments remain polite, free of profanity or name calling, and relevant to the original post and subsequent discussion. Comments will not be deleted because of the viewpoints they express, only if the mode of expression itself is inappropriate.

leod85

I have heard some of these tips before but I have no idea where to even buy an air conditioning filter let alone a shower filter. We clean the air conditioning filters with some air conditioner cleaner from Carrefour every so often, but does anyone actually know where to buy the actual filters in Shanghai (not off the web?)

Dec 15, 2013 13:54 Report Abuse

coineineagh

It appears to be professional advice, but a lot of it is impractical. What the heck is a shower filter anyway?

Dec 14, 2013 11:49 Report Abuse