February is National Care About Your Indoor Air Month, which makes this a great time to talk about the importance of indoor air quality testing. But you really should care about the indoor air quality of your home and workplace as well as your child’s school every day of the year.

“Over the last several decades concern over indoor air quality has grown and with good reason,” the folks at the National Air Duct Cleaners Association say. “On average, Americans spend 90 percent of their time indoors where, according to the EPA, the air can be 2 to 5 times more polluted than outdoor air.

Yes, you read that right – the air you breathe inside your home can be more hazardous to your health than the air you breathe in the great outdoors.

Most people think car fumes and the smoke billowing out of factory smokestacks are the biggest drivers of air pollution, but you probably have products inside your home that are releasing volatile organic compounds into the air.

“Things like burning candles, spraying hair spray, and using cleaning products can negatively impact your indoor air quality. Over time these contaminants, plus dust, dirt, and pet dander, can build up inside your air ducts where they can be recirculated through the air 5 – 7 times per day,” officials at the National Air Duct Cleaners Association say.

Threats To Your Indoor Air Quality

To protect yourself and your family from indoor contaminants, it is best to understand what the threats are. As the experts at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency say, “Understanding and controlling common pollutants indoors can help reduce your risk of indoor health concerns.”

According to the experts at the EPA, the primary causes of indoor air problems include:

• Building materials and furnishings, such as flooring, upholstery or carpet as well as kitchen or bathroom cabinets and furniture made of certain pressed wood products
• Paints, resins, paint thinners and other chemicals
• Cleaning products
• Mold
• Certain personal care products
• Supplies related to particular hobbies
• Excess moisture
• Inadequate ventilation
• Radon
• Pesticides
• If you live in an older home, insulation made with asbestos may be a concern
• Smoking cigarettes or other tobacco products

If you have concerns about the air your family is breathing – at home, at school or at work –contact the indoor air quality testing experts at AirMD! From asbestos testing and mold inspections to volatile organic compound testing and comprehensive wellness testing, our services will allow you to breathe easy!

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If you are a business owner, we don’t have to tell you how much you depend on your employees – especially these days! In turn, your employees depend on you to provide a healthy and safe work environment. Indoor air quality testing and mold inspections are important steps you can take to ensure that you are living up to your end of the bargain.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, “Americans, on average, spend approximately 90 percent of their time indoors,1 where the concentrations of some pollutants are often 2 to 5 times higher than typical outdoor concentrations.2” A big chunk of that time is spent at work, so testing the indoor air quality at your business can have a big impact on the health and wellness of your workforce.

Lots of people make New Year’s resolutions at the start of every year. And lots of people abandon those resolutions by the time February rolls around. (Not all of our environmental testing experts make resolutions, but most of those that made resolutions this year are still going strong!)

Threats to Indoor Air Quality

As the EPA explains, “Indoor concentrations of some pollutants have increased in recent decades due to such factors as energy-efficient building construction (when it lacks sufficient mechanical ventilation to ensure adequate air exchange) and increased use of synthetic building materials, furnishings, personal care products, pesticides, and household cleaners.”

In other words, the carpeting you walk on every day at work might be emitting volatile organic compounds. The desks where your employees work might be releasing formaldehyde into the air. The supplies your cleaning crew uses could also be releasing VOCs.

Typical pollutants of concern, according to the EPA, include:

• Various volatile organic compounds
• Combustion byproducts such as carbon monoxide, particulate matter and tobacco smoke
• Mold
• Pesticides
• Asbestos and lead contained in older buildings and materials
• Ozone (from some air cleaners)
• Naturally occurring radon
• Pet dander (You don’t have to have a pet-friendly facility for this to be a concern. Pet-loving employees and guests coming to your building could bring dander in on their clothes and footwear.)

Resolve to Protect Your Workforce

You don’t have to limit New Year’s resolutions to your personal life. Businesses large and small can also benefit from making resolutions. And, according to the calendar keepers at BrownieLocks, January just happens to be International New Year’s Resolutions Month for Businesses.

If you have made a resolution to protect your employees – and yourself! – from threats to the indoor air you breathe all day, contact the indoor air quality testing experts at AirMD for information about our commercial services, including asbestos testing and surveys, lead testing, mold assessments, volatile organic compound (VOC) testing and comprehensive environmental air testing.

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When AirMD’s consultants conduct residential indoor air quality testing, one of the things we are always testing for is VOCs – volatile organic compounds.

Many homeowners are surprised to learn how prevalent VOCs are. Others are surprised to learn about the risk these compounds present.

What are volatile organic compounds?

As the American Lung Association explains, “Volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, are gases that are emitted into the air from products or processes. Some are harmful by themselves, including some that cause cancer. In addition, they can react with other gases and form other air pollutants after they are in the air.”

What threats do VOCs present to you and your family?

With “organic” as their middle name, volatile organic compounds may not sound very dangerous. We are accustomed to think of anything that is organic as being good for us. But that is definitely not the case when it comes to VOCs.

“Breathing VOCs can irritate the eyes, nose and throat, can cause difficulty breathing and nausea, and can damage the central nervous system as well as other organs,” the American Lung Association reports. “Some VOCs can cause cancer.”

How do VOCs get into your home?

Volatile organic compounds may be produced by the materials used to build and furnish your house. Common sources include:

• Paints, stains and varnishes
• Caulk
• Adhesives
• Flooring
• Carpeting
• Products made from pressed wood
• Furniture

VOCs can also be found in a variety of cleaning and maintenance products you have around the house, ranging from household cleaning products to air fresheners, cosmetics and deodorants.

Other sources of volatile organic compounds may include:

• Your dry cleaning
• Home office printers
• Tobacco smoke
• Glue, permanent markers and other crafting supplies
• Fuel oil and gasoline
• Wood burning stoves and fireplaces

If you have questions or concerns regarding the presence of potentially hazardous volatile organic compounds in your home or business or would like more information about VOC testing, please contact the environmental testing scientists at AirMD. Or to schedule an appointment call 1-888-462-4763 or 1-888-GO-AIRMD.

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Like you, most of the indoor air quality testing experts here at AirMD have been spending significantly more time at home over the past year.

When you were rushing around from work to the kids’ soccer games, the piano recital, the meeting with prospective clients, dinner with the girls, the networking event, picking up the dry cleaning, shopping for a dress for the gala, you probably didn’t have a whole lot of time to kick back on the couch and think. But, since Covid-19 hit, the couch has become all too familiar for most of us.

If you are lucky, you might have seen the time you have been spending at home as an opportunity to slow down, to think about the little things we might normally take for granted and to breathe.

For many of us, it has been an opportunity to remind ourselves of what is really important. For most of us, especially in these challenging times, that is health and wellness – our own as well as our family’s.

That refocusing and concerns about indoor air quality testing and water quality testing has brought a lot of folks to our door.

Wellness Testing

You might not have realized that some of the things you do all the time – like cleaning the kitchen or running your air conditioning – can contaminate your environment. Even things like carpeting and furniture can release chemicals and contaminants into the air.

Our comprehensive Residential Wellness Test looks at indoor air quality in your home and takes all of that into account. One of our environmental testing pros will come to your home with scientific equipment designed to detect things like:

• Airborne particles
• Moisture levels that could facilitate the growth of mold
• Electromagnetic radiation
• VOCs

If you would like more information about our environmental testing services, please contact us. And if you have noticed that you have been feeling better since you stopped going into the office to work, you might want to tell your employer that we also offer Commercial Wellness Testing for indoor air quality.

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Here at AirMD, an innovative environmental testing company with expertise in indoor air quality testing, every month is Care About Your Indoor Air Month. But in February, we have found out, the whole country gets on board with a celebration of National Care About Your Indoor Air Month.

According to Buildings.com, a community of facility managers and building owners responsible for the operation of commercial and public buildings, “The EPA lists poor indoor air quality among the top 5 environmental risks in the U.S. Poor IAQ is often blamed for poor concentration in school children and can trigger asthma, which accounts for three million lost work days for adults and a staggering 10 million lost school days for children.”

On top of that, “Asthma costs the U.S. Approximately $16 billion annually, with approximately 160 million Americans breathing in unhealthy air during the course of any given day,” the pros at Buildings.com add.

That should give you an idea of why we care about the quality of your indoor air and test to make sure it isn’t harming you or your family or your employees throughout the year. It’s always a good time to be concerned about the air you are breathing.

How Should You Celebrate National Care About Your Indoor Air Quality Month?

You don’t necessarily need to call in the experts to improve the indoor air quality of your home or business. There are simple steps you can take to create a healthier environment.

Among other things, the folks at Southern Trust Home Services, an HVAC and plumbing company in Virginia, suggest that you check for leaking pipes and damp spots in cabinets and throughout your home. “When thinking of IAQ, one would not think that plumbing could be a factor,” they say. “Damp spots can quickly turn into mildew or mold, creating potential breathing hazards inside the home. Condensation is also a sign of poor ventilation, which can contribute to mold and mildew as well.”

Other tips include:

• Changing your air conditioning filters regularly
• Getting rid of harsh household products that could release VOCs into the air
• Replacing wall-to-wall carpeting with hard flooring
• Add houseplants to your décor

For more tips on improving your home’s indoor air quality or for environmental air testing services, including VOC testing, contact the indoor air quality testing experts at AirMD.

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Here at AirMD, a science-based environmental testing company based in Boca Raton, Florida, when we think about indoor air quality, we are usually thinking about things like home allergen tests, VOC testing and mold inspections. But there are other ways to look at the quality of the air in your home.

“Pause a moment from the holiday hustle to take a deep breath. Turns out, the smells you’re taking in could be doing wonders for your body and brain,” the folks at Real Simple say. 

That’s right, some of the scents that we most closely associate with the holidays bring gifts of their very own. 

It’s not just the sight of a sparkling Christmas tree that can lift your spirits. “The scent of pine could help bust some of the stress that goes hand-in-hand with this time of year,” Real Simple reports. “Researchers at Japan’s Kyoto University found that participants who took two 15-minute walks through a pine forest reported improved moods and lower feelings of depression and hostility.” 

You don’t have to invest the time and money to put up a live Christmas tree to get these benefits (if you haven’t been to the tree lots yet, you’ll find the trees are on the pricey side this year). You can enjoy the scent of pine with essential oils and candles. 

Here in South Florida, we are a little short of pine forests, but don’t worry. Nature isn’t stingy when it comes to offering stress relief. 

As the folks at National Geographic report, “Forest bathing is not just for the wilderness-lover; the practice can be as simple as walking in any natural environment and consciously connecting with what’s around you.”

If you live in Boca Raton, you might want to stretch your legs at the Yamato Scrub Natural Area.  You can definitely ease your stress by spending a little time exploring the grounds of the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens in Delray Beach, which offers some beautiful green pathways to explore. 

And, of course, there is Mounts Botanical Garden in West Palm Beach. Mounts is Palm Beach County’s oldest and largest botanical garden. It offers 14 acres of tropical and subtropical plants for you to explore. In the 25 different display gardens, you can find more than 2,000 different types of plants, including Florida native plants, exotic and tropical fruit trees, herbs, palms, roses, cactus, bromeliads and more.

If you would like more information about indoor air quality testing, we hope you will contact us.

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Normally, the environmental testing experts at AirMD are focused on things like VOC testing, mold testing, indoor air quality testing and water quality testing. These days, however, like just about everyone else in the world, we are also concerned with taking the necessary steps to protect ourselves and our families from Covid-19 – and that starts with proper hand hygiene. 

With our scientific background, we have been having friends and family members ask us for advice ever since the pandemic began earlier this year. One of the most common questions we get is about the best type of soap to use when washing your hands. 

Hand Soaps and Sanitizers

When it comes to hand sanitizers, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have a clear recommendation: you should use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60 percent alcohol (which might be listed on the label as either ethanol or ethyl alcohol).

But nothing beats good old soap and water when it comes to cleaning your hands. That much is clear if you read the CDC guidelines. But, unlike with hand sanitizers, there are no recommendations regarding the specific type of soap that might be most effective against the coronavirus. 

There are a lot of people who think that using an antibacterial soap is the best way to go when it comes to keeping themselves and their families safe from Covid-19. For a number of reasons, however, we would advise against it: 

1. Covid-19 – and most of the other things you want to wash away – are viruses, not bacteria. 
2. Not all bacteria are bad. For optimum health, you need good bacteria.
3. The use of antibacterial soaps and cleaners seems to be contributing to the development of antibiotic-resistant bugs. 

“There is currently no evidence that consumer antiseptic wash products (also known as antibacterial soaps) are any more effective at preventing illness than washing with plain soap and water,” the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says. “In fact, some data suggests that antibacterial ingredients could do more harm than good.”

All of us here at AirMD, a leading national environmental testing company based in Boca Raton, Florida, wish you and your family the very best during these challenging times.

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The headquarters of our environmental testing company are located in an area that people all around the world want to visit – sunny South Florida. If you want to narrow it down, we help homeowners and businesses with indoor air quality testing and water quality testing from our offices in beautiful Boca Raton, Florida. 

Whether you are in Boca, Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale or Miami – South Florida is a slice of subtropical paradise. People save up for years to visit our beaches, to shop at our stores, to explore our unique natural environment and to relax and dream. And this is the place we are fortunate enough to call home!

Of course, no place is perfect. It does get uncomfortably hot and humid in South Florida this time of year. And we are keeping our eyes on the tropics as we reach the peak of what has been an incredibly busy hurricane season. And, yes, occasionally someone has to deal with a stray alligator showing up in their backyard pool. 

But we look at those issues the way the folks in Wisconsin look at snowstorms. They just come with the territory. (And on the bright side, if it weren’t for those little glitches, it might be even more crowded down here!)

Trouble in Paradise

On the other hand, there are problems that pop up from time to time that can interfere with our enjoyment of the South Florida. In some cases, they can even negatively impact the health and wellness of our friends and neighbors who live in the area. 

For example, last year, the Palm Beach Post reported on traces of arsenic that were found on land slated for residential development in Palm Beach County. The land had served as the setting for golf courses. It is not uncommon to find arsenic in the soil on land that has been used for golfing. The heavy use of weedkillers and pest killers needed to maintain those pristine greens and fairways can lead to a buildup of arsenic and other toxins in the soil. 

Developers know this going in. As Jonathan Grebow, of Ridgewood Real Estate Partners, which converting golf course property west of Lake Worth Beach, told the Post, “We know going in that we will probably have to spend some money to remediate. The cost can range from a few hundred thousand dollars to a few million dollars. You factor all that in.” In addition to that project, golf course conversions are planned west of Delray Beach.

If you have concerns about contaminants affecting the quality of your home’s water or indoor air, we can help you find answers and peace of mind. Contact us if we can assist you.

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You don’t need an indoor air quality testing expert (like those you’ll find at AirMD, an environmental testing company based in Boca Raton, Florida) to tell you that it is hot out! That is the truth – especially for those of us in South Florida – but if you were told that this time of year is called “the dog days of summer” because your dog seems to struggle with the heat, we regret to tell you that you have been sold a bill of goods.  

Chances are your dog doesn’t like the heat. That part is true. Remember how you felt trying to cross the street in your bare feet? Think about that before you put your four-legged friend on the leash. The pads of a dog’s feet are sensitive, so as much as they love going for a walk with you, walking on a surface that has been baking in the sun all day, may be painful for them. 

It’s not the heat, but the heavens that give this time of year the moniker the “dog days of summer.” In other words, the answer to the question of why we call this really hot stretch of summer the “dog days” is written in the stars.

Sirius, the Dog Star

You might be familiar with Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky. It is often referred to as the Dog Star, not because of its name, which means “glowing,” but because it is part of the constellation Canis Major – and that name translates as “greater dog.” 

As the Farmers’ Almanac explains, “In the summer, Sirius rises and sets with the Sun. On July 23rd, specifically, it is in conjunction with the Sun, and because the star is so bright, the ancient Romans believed it actually gave off heat and added to the Sun’s warmth, accounting for the long stretch of sultry weather…Thus, the term Dog Days of Summer came to mean the 20 days before and 20 days after this alignment of Sirius with the Sun—July 3 to Aug. 11.”

If you – and your four-legged friend – will be spending more time indoors to escape the heat, you might want to make sure the quality of your indoor air and water isn’t going to cause you any problems. Here at AirMD, we offer a range of environmental testing – from asbestos inspections to VOC testing. Contact us if you have questions!

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As an indoor air quality testing company, AirMD is always monitoring different threats that could negatively impact your home or workplace environment as well as the air in our environment. The Covid-19 pandemic is definitely impacting the wellness of families across the world – in more ways than one!

Testing Environmental Air Quality

Have you seen those pictures of heavily polluted cities before and after the pandemic led to widespread lockdowns around the world?

According to The Mercury News, “In Los Angeles, the air quality, which is usually some of the worst in the nation, has turned into one of the cleanest compared to other major cities, according to IQAir. Even more impressive is the fact that the city has enjoyed its longest stretch of ‘good’ air quality since 1995.”

In India, the streets are largely free of traffic. The big black billowing clouds of smoke that various commercial enterprises spew into the air are closed. New Delhi, the country’s capital, usually has some of the dirtiest air in the world. “Delhi residents are used to looking up to see a hazy, gray sky,” NPR reported in April. “Now they’re posting pictures of clear blue horizons on social media.”

Last year NPR says, the Air Quality Index in New Delhi was 160. In March, after the lockdown had gone into effect, the city’s Air Quality Index was recorded at about a quarter of that – a remarkable reading of just 45.

Testing Indoor Air Quality

Of course, not all the news regarding the results of air quality tests is good. As Scientific American reported in June, “Coronavirus lockdowns may raise exposure to indoor air pollution.”

As Simon Hahessy, the Founder and Scientific Director of our air testing company, explains, “According to the Environmental Protection Agency, indoor air quality is a greater health hazard than outdoor air pollution with pollutants being up to two to five times higher indoors.”

And that was before the need to slow the spread of Covid-19 left all of us spending more time – a lot more time – in our homes. (If you want to know how to reduce pollutants in your home, check out our blog on ways to protect your family’s wellness with the way you cleaning and disinfecting your home.

For more information about indoor air quality testing, contact us.

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