Indoor Air Quality: What It Is, What Affects It, and How to Improve It
The air inside your home may look perfectly clean, but appearance alone doesn’t tell you much about its quality. Dust and other particles, moisture, mold, pet allergens, smoke, cooking, household products, building materials, ventilation, outdoor pollution, and even everyday activities can all influence the air inside a building.
Indoor air quality (IAQ) refers to characteristics of the air inside buildings and structures that can affect the health, comfort, performance, and productivity of the people inside. EPA identifies a wide range of factors that can influence IAQ, including occupants and their activities, consumer products, building materials, furnishings, moisture and humidity, building systems, outdoor air, and the design and condition of the building itself.
Improving indoor air quality usually isn’t about finding one product that magically “cleans the air.” A more complete approach involves identifying and controlling pollution sources, providing appropriate ventilation, using filtration or air cleaning where useful, controlling moisture, and maintaining the indoor environment.
Cleaning can be part of that process, particularly when dealing with dust and other materials that accumulate on household surfaces. But cleaning alone cannot correct every indoor air-quality problem.
About This Guide
Indoor air quality is a broad subject, so we’ve divided this guide into seven parts. We’ll begin with the basics, then explore common causes and pollutants, testing and improvement strategies, the role of cleaning, room-by-room concerns, and frequently asked questions.
You can follow the guide from beginning to end or jump directly to the subject most relevant to your home.
Indoor Air Quality Guide
Part 1: What Is Indoor Air Quality? – You are here
Part 2: What Causes Poor Indoor Air Quality?
Part 3: What Are the Most Common Indoor Air Pollutants?
Part 4: Can You Test Indoor Air Quality?
Part 5: Can Cleaning Improve Indoor Air Quality?
Part 6: Indoor Air Quality Around the Home
Part 7: Frequently Asked Questions About Indoor Air Quality
What Is Indoor Air Quality?
Indoor air quality is commonly shortened to IAQ.
When people talk about “good” or “poor” indoor air quality, they’re really talking about a complex indoor environment. There isn’t just one substance called indoor air pollution. Instead, indoor air can contain different particles, gases, biological contaminants, odors, moisture, and pollutants originating both inside and outside a building.
EPA identifies common indoor pollutants including particulate matter, mold, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), smoke, carbon monoxide, and radon.
Why does indoor air quality matter?
Most people spend a substantial amount of their lives indoors. EPA estimates that Americans spend approximately 90% of their time indoors, making indoor environments an important part of overall pollutant exposure.
Indoor conditions also vary considerably from one building, or even one room, to another.
A basement with a moisture problem presents different concerns from a kitchen where cooking produces particles. A recently remodeled bedroom may have different sources than a living room shared with several pets. An office building introduces still another combination of occupants, equipment, ventilation, cleaning, and building systems.
That’s why understanding where indoor pollutants come from is an important first step.
A Cleaner Home Is One Part of a Better-Maintained Indoor Environment
Indoor air quality involves much more than cleaning alone, but keeping up with dust and everyday buildup can be one part of maintaining your home. Sweep N Glow provides professional residential cleaning services throughout Connecticut, from recurring cleaning to more detailed cleaning when your home needs additional attention.
Explore Residential Cleaning →
Continue the Indoor Air Quality Guide
Now that we’ve covered what indoor air quality means and why it matters, the next step is understanding where indoor air-quality problems can come from.