Why Clean Air?

Can Poor Air Quality Trigger and Worsen Allergies?

Allergenic particles such as pollen, dust, mold spores, fungi spores, tobacco smoke, dust mites, pet hair, and pet dander equally contribute to poor indoor air quality, which have a direct link to allergy suffering.  The dust mite is a common known allergenic irritant that feeds upon dead skin flakes shed by humans and pets.  About 42,000 dust mites can thrive in only one ounce of dust, so just imagine how many dust mites can live in the cleanest of environments.  Approximately 10%-15% of the population suffers at times from severe allergies related to dust mites “feces,”… which are airborne, very breathable, and astronomic in quantity.

Can Poor Air Quality Trigger and Worsen Asthma?

According to the 2009 National Health Interview Survey, the number of adults who currently have asthma is a staggering 17.5 million and the number of children who currently have asthma is 7.1 million.  Since most Americans spend about 90% of their time indoors with poor air quality, it’s no wonder that asthma suffering continues to be on the rise.  Yes indeed; research has often authentically linked asthma to the on-going inhalation of possible indoor air pollutants.

Do Dirty Air Ducts Affect My Home Air Quality?

Heating and air conditioning ducts which are dark, damp, and dirty offer an excellent breeding ground for mold, fungi, and dust mites which can spread rapidly when these ducts are in use to either heat or cool your home.  Poor ventilation and dirty filters are also major contributors to unhealthy air quality.  Mold and fungi can cause discomfort, infections, and commonly trigger allergic reactions.  A Mayo Clinic study once found that ‘Allergic Fungal Sinusitis’ was diagnosed in 93% of 101 consecutive surgical cases with CRS/Chronic Rhinosinusitis.  Cleaner air ducts and efficiency of airflow always lead to better air quality.

Are my Children Affected by Poor Air Quality?

According to information from the American Academy of Pediatrics, children are more vulnerable than adults to many airborne contaminants.  The reasoning here is that the cellular immaturity of children and their ongoing growth process account for this elevated risk.  Since children breathe more rapidly and inhale more pollutant per pound of body weight than adults do, even minor irritation caused by air pollution, which would produce only a slight response in an adult, can result in a dangerous level of swelling in the lining of the narrow airways of a child.  Increased exposure to air pollutants during childhood magnifies the risk of long-term damage to a child’s lungs.  Air quality does matter.

Air Quality – Get The Facts

Why is Indoor Air Quality Such a Big Issue Now?

Indoor air quality has substantially deteriorated over the past 30-40 years.  Changes in new home construction practices that evolved out of the 1970’s energy crisis created “tight home syndrome” and industry standards which promote tightly sealed, heavily insulated, very energy-efficient homes.  While these new construction practices helped and continue to help conserve energy, they also are notorious for locking in allergenic particles, infectious agents, and toxic compounds which are negative for the health and well-being of us, our families, our co-workers/employees, our pets, etc.  Our very own environments may alarmingly be a major source of airborne contaminates that could prevent us from feeling healthy and energetic.  It may come as no surprise for you to learn that many Americans indicate they generally feel less well today when compared to several years ago.

The Statistics Will Alarm You

It has been suggested that we consume approximately 2 quarts of what we hope is “clean” water each day to maintain optimum body conditions.  By striking comparison, we inhale approximately 15,000+ quarts of air each day.  Although drinking clean water is becoming increasingly more and more important, shouldn’t it be equally, or possibly more important, to then also consume clean air?  Did you realize that you actually spend about 90% of your time indoors – 90 percent!  And, that our own United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has ranked indoor air pollution among the top five environmental dangers to the public?  Their studies have indicated that air pollution is often likely to be 2-5 higher inside your home or office rather than outdoors.  And to make matters worse, the city of Pittsburgh ranks #7 out of the top 25 cities that are most polluted by short-term particle pollution, with Allegheny County ranking #3 out of the top 25 counties.  (According to the American Lung Association State of The Air 2011 Report.)  Our indoor air is derived from outdoors, so this pollution is ultimately being inhaled by you every single day.

You Are What You Breathe

Our homes are tightly sealed and insulated; designed to conserve energy.  Therefore, the air that we breath indoors has been recycled over and over, trapping in and circulating unwanted elements including – allergens and particulates like dust, pollen, mold, and fungi – infectious agents like bacteria and viruses – and toxic compounds like carbon monoxide and pesticides.  These can worsen chronic health conditions, lead to new health risks and infections, and potentially cause grave illness and disease.  The Silent Spring Institute has studied and associated poor indoor air quality with cancer.  Are you concerned yet?  You should be.   Gillece trained technicians help to improve the air quality in your home or office.  We can remove the unwanted, potentially dangerous characteristics of the very air you breathe 90% of the time.

What Happens if we Inhale Too Much “Bad Air?”

Too much “bad air” is indeed a problem.  As humans, when our bodies build up with too many bad elements commonly found in indoor air, our immune systems simply can not handle them and in defense, we start to create what’s known as “histamines.”  Histamines can cause us to have itchy and watery eyes, runny nose, coughing, and wheezing symptoms… all the way up to allergy and asthma flares and worse.  So, what do we do?  We purchase “antihistamines” to relieve these symptoms, right?  Now, let’s say you have a driveway full of sharp nails and you continue to drive over and over it, getting flat tire after flat tire… would you then continue to repair and replace your tires? Or, take the time to remove the nails from your driveway?  Of course you would remove the nails!  Gillece will work to remove the problem of poor quality indoor air so that related symptoms are reduced or completely diminished.

Should I be Concerned About “Off-Gas” Toxic Fumes?

Many compounds known as Volatile Organic Compounds, or VOCs, in building materials such as vinyl, pressboard, paint, and polyvinyl chloride have chemical sources that do indeed become detrimental indoor air contaminants.  You may recall that at one point, lead paint was actually banned for this very reason.  Additionally, common household furnishings such as draperies, carpeting, wallpaper, paints, stains, and furniture may continue to “off-gas” potentially toxic fumes for a long period of time after initial application or installation.  You should concern yourself with these chemical fumes, as all of these elements lower the standard of the air quality in your home in a negative way including acting as a contributor to some forms of cancer.

Stand-Alone Room /vs/ Whole-House Air Cleaning Systems

Today’s “portable room air cleaners” that claim to clean one room at a time may or may not honestly have the ability to move air.  The popularity of individual room filtration cleaners was recently brought to the attention of several consumer advocate groups.  One highly advertised room air-cleaning product claimed to be extremely efficient at removing particulates and also advocated that customers were 100% satisfied with its highly quiet operation.  A major consumer testing organization analyzed these claims and determined that while customers were satisfied with the noise level, it was because the product had no fan or moving parts.  Therefore, no noise! However, when tested for efficiency (particulates, smoke, pet dander), the product did not perform according to its advertised claims.  Ironically, this company touted the weakest part of their product (i.e. the fact that it does not move air with a fan) as the most exemplary aspect of their product (the fact that it was quiet).

Stand-alone room air cleaners cannot possibly match the effectiveness and efficiency of whole-house systems.  They simply do not move the large volume of air required to remove indoor air pollution.  By using your existing forced-air whole-house system in conjunction with the right whole-house air cleaning product, you can indeed have measurably cleaner indoor air.  Whole-house or whole-office systems are devices installed within a forced-air heating and/or cooling system inside the existing ductwork.  These systems range from a Humidification Unit to a High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) Filter to a Germicidal UVC Energy Lamp system, and more.

Gillece’s products are designed to work in sync with your existing heating and air conditioning system.  And, the high efficiency filters are easily replaced by the homeowner.  The whole-house system is installed by a professionally trained Gillece technician in order to convert your current heating and cooling system into a whole-house air treatment center.  You see, to effectively remove particulates, pollen, dander, and smoke, etc. from the air in your environment, multiple, successful passes through a filter are required.  The air in your home passes through the whole-house system several times an hour, unlike passive, individual room cleaners.  The end result is cleaner, quality indoor air.

What Exactly is a Micron Anyway?

A micron is a metric measurement used to analyze very small particles.  One micron is equal to 1/25,400 of an inch or one millionth of a meter.  What’s particularly important when discussing indoor air quality solutions is how effective a filtering/cleaning product is at capturing and controlling contaminants that are small in size.  Any particles less than 2.5 microns are classified as “Respirable Suspended Particles” (RSP) and the health hazards associated with these small particles is quite great.  RSPs are particles that are small enough to evade mucosal capture by the protective cilia and mucosa of the human upper respiratory system and can invade the deeper reaches of the lungs causing serious health consequences.  In fact, any particles equal to 5 microns or less are considered a definite inhalation hazard because of the inability of the human body to effectively filter these particles from the lungs.

Allergenic particles, infectious agents, and toxic gases can cause allergic reactions, headaches, sickness, and many other illnesses.  Gillece knows that since 98% of airborne contaminants are actually less than 1 micron in size, knowing the true effectiveness of any product at controlling submicron particles is very important when making a decision on an air purification system for your home.  Check your own air filter’s M.E.R.V. rating (Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value) – you may be surprised to discover that it does not even tackle micron less than 2.5 or even 5!

Criteria for Air Filters

There are many airflow filters available on the market today.  The most common filters are found in supermarkets, hardware stores, and home supply retailers.  All of these filters guarantee a percentage of effectiveness, but that can be misleading. The real question is, “At what micron size is the filter effective?”  For example, a filter that is rated 98% at 20 microns and 0% below 1 micron, is not really cleaning the air, since 98% of all airborne particles measure below 1 micron in size.  You need to read the fine print in order to determine the true effectiveness of any filter. Another consideration is that a filled, dirty filter impedes the flow of air.  Here, we have a double-edged sword – the more effective a filter is at grabbing smaller particles, the sooner it will certainly clog up with these particles and cause impeded flow, which is something you also want to avoid.

General Filter Choices

Filters from retail outlets are generally designed to protect the furnace only.  They typically have no true capability of collecting sub-micronic particles.  Also, be aware of the air flow restriction of the more expensive brands.  Permanent and Washable Electrostatic Filters have very restrictive airflow as they are difficult to clean thoroughly and the inner filter never truly gets cleaned. They do a fairly good job at collecting the larger particles, but fall short at removing the sub-micronic allergens. And, the static charge on these filters is not strong enough to hold onto and remove particles below 1 micron (or below) in size.

Large (4”-5”) Media Filters require professional installation.  They have a large amount of filter surface that allows for good air flow and they do a good job at protecting the furnace and keeping it clean.  They can collect a large amount of dust and particles above 1 micron in size, but have no capability at collecting the 98% of particles and allergens that measure below 1 micron. Electronic Air Cleaners also require professional installation.  They are 95% efficient at .3 microns when new or clean.  They provide excellent control on sub-micronic allergens when first installed, but they reduce in efficiency very quickly as they fill and are difficult to thoroughly clean and maintain.  Many home owners do not take time to clean these types of filters on a regular basis, thus they rarely reach their full designed efficiency.  An unmaintained electronic air cleaner is worse than having no air cleaner at all!