Your Basement and Indoor Air Quality
What Affects the Indoor Air Quality in Your Southern New Hampshire and Northern Massachusetts Home?
All kinds of activities contribute to polluting the indoor air we breathe. In addition to industrial causes of pollution, day-to-day activities such as driving, filling your car with gas, dry cleaning, and using household paint can release gases and particles to the air and affect your indoor air quality.
Surprisingly, mold spores & radon gases can be found in your own home, including your basement. In high enough concentrations, these pollutants can seriously harm us.
Basements Air Contribution
The average adult breathes over 3,000 gallons of air, 40%-50% of which comes from the basement, every day. Children breathe even more air per pound of body weight and are more susceptible to air pollution. The elderly are also more sensitive to air pollution because they often have heart or lung disease.
People exposed to high enough levels of certain air pollutants may experience burning in their eyes, an irritated throat, or breathing difficulties. Long-term exposure to air pollution, such as Radon, can cause cancer and long-term damage to the human immune, neurological, reproductive, and respiratory systems. In extreme cases, radon gas and molds can even cause death.
