Rules that will help keep the air clean. Let's save clean air
Did you know that the air in almost any urban room contains book and concrete dust, exhaust fumes, bacteria and viruses, particles of skin and hair, exhaust fumes and dust mites? All this has a detrimental effect on your health.
Surprisingly, indoor air is much more polluted than outdoor air! It is no coincidence that 90% of respiratory infections occur indoors.
Let's consider the situation in the apartment. Dirt and dust penetrate the room and are absorbed by walls, curtains, wallpaper, and upholstered furniture. The porous structure of wood, fiberglass, and the materials from which the ceiling, walls and floors of rooms are made are an excellent place for the accumulation of harmful substances.
Our bedrooms are ideal condition for dust mites that feed on skin particles, a strong allergen.
Detergents leave toxic fumes in the air that are thousands of times higher than their concentration in the open air. Mold and fungi are present in the air of any room, as they are found everywhere: in damp places on the ceiling, carpeting, walls, cooling and heating systems, and so on.
How can we rid the air we breathe of all these harmful pollutants?
We offer you effective tips that will help you achieve maximum air purity in any room.
1. Try to eliminate sources of air pollution and keep the room clean
To keep the air clean, avoid dust accumulation (including in hard-to-reach places). Research has shown that 12 grams of dust contains about 42 thousand dust mites. Their waste flies into the air and leads to irritation of the mucous membranes of the eyes and nose, causing various infections and asthma attacks.
Also try to get rid of all kinds of “dust collectors”: soft toys, shaggy carpets, pillows. If you still have such things in your apartment, you should regularly remove dust from them.
2. Organize good ventilation premises
Be sure to ventilate rooms every day. Clean air is especially important for good sleep - it is better to cover yourself with a warmer blanket, but sleep with the window open.
Even the best ventilation system can only renew a third of the air volume.
3. Use an air purifier and humidifier
In order to achieve truly clean air in an apartment or office, you cannot do without its direct purification and humidification.
Insufficiently humidified air has a detrimental effect on skin, furniture, indoor plants and human mucous membranes, making them more susceptible to infections.
The purifier passes air through several filters. The presence of a HEPA filter is of particular importance - it allows you to cope with fine dust floating in the air and penetrating into the respiratory tract.
The air purifier is designed to “nail” all harmful substances and air pollutants to the floor and prevent them from entering the nose and bronchi.
How to keep the air clean?
Remember that clean indoor air is the key to the health and well-being of your family. A great solution to maintain an environmentally friendly environment in the house is.
This system cleaning, equipped with a HEPA filter, will allow you to carry out maximum effective cleaning premises and clean and humidify the air every day!
Rainbow is the only vacuum cleaner in the world that is also an air purifier. This is confirmed by the AHAM certificate, an international organization that evaluates and licenses industrial air purifiers.
It purifies and humidifies the air both during cleaning and in low-speed mode - just turn on the humidification and purification function and leave the vacuum cleaner in the room.
Clean air with Rainbow is easy and effective.
Breathe clean air - and be healthy!
The quality of air in homes and living spaces, just like the air outside, affects our health. You can keep your indoor air clean and healthy by following these guidelines.
— Sweep the floors in the rooms
By using vacuum cleaners that contain HEPA filter attachments, which are high-quality dust and particulate absorbers, you can effectively clean and remove toxic substances and allergens from surfaces that can accumulate along with dust for years; particles containing lead and inhibitor chemicals used in household appliances, hair and fur left over from pets, as well as microorganisms that can cause allergies.
HEPA filters ensure that dust and solids absorbed by the vacuum cleaner do not re-enter the environment through the outlet of the device.
Using vacuum cleaners with filters of this brand, you can remove both dust and dirt remaining on the floor surface from the floor. Cleaning with water and preferably a microfiber cloth can also be effective.
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Before entering the apartment, place a mat, preferably so that it absorbs dirt that sticks to shoes and can be brought into the house. It would be best if you ask those entering the house to immediately take off their shoes and place them on a special shelf or shoe box.
— Maintain a sufficient level of indoor air humidity
If the air in the room is excessively humid, this can cause the proliferation of microorganisms, small harmful insects(ticks and bedbugs), as well as the appearance of mold. The most favorable level of relative indoor air humidity is in the range of 30-50%, which special measuring instruments or air conditioners will help you determine.
— It is advisable to prevent cigarette smoke from entering homes and living quarters
Prolonged exposure to harmful substances contained in cigarette smoke is associated with many diseases, ranging from various ear infections or respiratory diseases, asthma, and ending with cancer. It is especially dangerous if there is a newborn in the room - cigarette smoke can cause his sudden death. To quit smoking, you can join special groups that promote and fight smoking, take a course of nicotine replacement therapy, or use special medicines, removing the addiction to smoking. If you still can't quit smoking, at least don't smoke indoors.
— Beware of radon gas
Radon gas is a colorless and odorless radioactive substance that increases the risk of acquiring dangerous diseases, such as lung cancer. This gas occurs as a result of the natural decay of uranium, which is contained in the soil, and can accumulate in rooms and residential buildings, penetrating through construction seams and cracks in walls.
The level of radon or its occurrence in the soil varies depending on the region; in some regions it is higher, in others it is lower. If you live in a region with high levels of radon in the soil, you need to apply for a special test to measure the level of radon in the air of your living space. This is quite easy to do. If the level of radon in the room is high, then using in various ways you can reduce it.
— Be careful with artificial flavors and avoid overusing them
Ingredients contained in detergents and creating artificial aromas, as well as air fresheners, also add a lot of harmful chemicals to the air environment of your home. Typically, the labels of household chemicals intended to add additional fragrance to the air or clothing contain only the word “fragrance” (fragrance), but do not list such chemicals.
For example, a typical substance used to produce artificial fragrances is phthalate, commonly used in the production of soft plastics. Laboratory studies on animals show that phthalates disrupt the body's hormonal system.
- Indoor plants are also very effective at purifying indoor air.
InoSMI materials contain assessments exclusively of foreign media and do not reflect the position of the InoSMI editorial staff.
Everyone has long known a simple truth: the air we breathe must be clean. This is important for maintaining good health and well-being. Of course, it is impossible to filter it out in large cities, where traffic flows through the streets, and in the vicinity the chimneys of factories or factories smoke. But every person can keep the house fresh. You just need to listen to the advice of experts and make some adjustments to your life. So, we offer you 10 ways to always breathe clean air in your home.
Method No. 1: Fighting allergenic substances
All more people are faced with the problem of allergies to household dust or animal hair. A severe reaction in the body is caused by microscopic mites that live in house dust, carpets and mattresses. Of course, everyone knows how to deal with the first one - wet cleaning of the room will help, which is recommended to be done at least 2-3 times a week. With carpet cleaning, everything is also clear, but for mattresses it is good to use special covers that must be washed at least once every three months. And don't forget to change your bed linen every week!
Animal fur itself does not cause allergies in humans. It's all about pet dander, which is found on their bristles. In order to minimize the risk of air pollution in the house from allergens, bathe your cat or dog frequently, brush your pet regularly, and after these procedures, be sure to vacuum the room.
Method No. 2: Preventing the appearance of mold and fungi
Mold and fungi, which are common inhabitants of the bathroom, produce special toxins. Under their influence, a person can develop respiratory diseases, and a decrease in the body’s defenses is observed. To prevent the appearance of these pathogenic microorganisms, ensure good ventilation in the bathroom. If uninvited guests have already settled on your territory, use household chemicals to destroy them.
Method number 3: Ban on cigarette smoke
Not only adults, but also children know about the dangers of smoking. However, many people cannot get rid of this bad habit. Even if you don’t smoke, you should know that passive smoking is no less harmful than active smoking. Therefore, if your household smokes, agree that they do it outside the home. Please note that the kitchen and bathroom are also part of the apartment, and smoking is not allowed in these rooms.
Method number 4: Taking the fireplace seriously
A place to relax near the fireplace is a favorite place for many of us. But you need to understand that wood fireplaces emit combustion products that contain harmful gases. Naturally, this is not yet a reason to refuse such a heat source. It is better to clean its pipe in a timely manner and do not forget about high-quality hood.
Method No. 5: Pay attention to the gas stove
Just like the fireplace gas stove during operation, it emits toxic combustion products. How to minimize it negative impact to the air in the house? First of all, install a good hood above the stove; you cannot skimp on this device. In addition, when cooking, make sure that the window is open and the door to the kitchen is closed.
Method number 6: Safe paints for walls
Experts note that in a house where people with allergies live, walls should not be painted with oil or polymer paints. And for that matter, it is not advisable for others to use such materials, since they emit harmful fumes into the air. Give preference acrylic paints or water-based paints.
Method No. 7: Be careful with household chemicals
Most housewives are already so accustomed to various detergents and cleaning products that they cannot imagine cleaning the house without them. At the same time, doctors are increasingly sounding the alarm: almost all household chemicals are harmful and can cause serious illness. Try to start using proven “grandmother’s” methods of washing dishes, stoves and sinks, and you will see that they are no less effective than widely advertised products, but are completely safe.
Method number 8: Growing indoor plants
Home flowers can significantly improve the microclimate of an apartment. Experienced gardeners advise planting sansevieria for intensive oxygen production ( pike tail). If you have furniture made of chipboard, take a closer look at dracaena, philodendron and yucca, which perfectly neutralize the formaldehyde released by this material. But plants with large, wide leaves (spathiphyllum, calathea, arrowroot) cope well with microscopic dust that constantly floats in the air.
Method number 9: Avoid frequent dry cleaning
Some people abuse dry cleaning of items such as curtains, carpets, bedspreads and outerwear. But you need to know that after chemical treatment they often emit perchlorethylene, which is a dangerous carcinogen. This substance is used as a solvent, so it is advisable to choose dry cleaners that do not use such reagents, and, if possible, refuse their services altogether. But if it is impossible to remove contaminants in any other way, the cleaned product at home should be immediately freed from bags and packaging.
Method #10: Air purifiers
There are three groups of devices used to filter indoor air: air purifiers, humidifiers and ionizers. To do right choice, the following factors should be taken into account. First, you need to know the area of the room in which the device will be located. Secondly, you need to decide exactly what you want to clean the air from (odors, dust, animal hair, etc.). Thirdly, you must figure out how the device will work (the level of noise produced, the desired set of functions).
Residents of the metropolis know the value of fresh air
We are used to it - in order to “get some air” we need to go somewhere. But this does not always work out, and in the city you have to spend most of time: work, study, business. But it turns out to breathe fresh air Can. Without leaving the metropolis...
If you ask any person what he thinks about the air of the metropolis that he breathes every second, the answers will be of the same type: “poison”, “poison”, “carcinogen”. In a modern big city, one can only dream of truly clean air... Street air in a metropolis carries a whole cocktail of pollution: dust, exhaust gases, emissions from enterprises, harmful substances. A particular health hazard is posed by the so-called man-made dust - a mixture of tiny particles of asphalt and car tires. Sometimes this is mixed with road reagent left over from the winter and not washed off by the rains. Buses, utility vehicles and construction equipment drive along the city streets, emitting terrible clouds of exhaust that are diesel aerosols. Experts from the World Health Organization, based on research in 2012, classified diesel exhaust as a substance that causes cancer.
Unfortunately, the air in the room where we spend 90% of our time cannot be called clean. To the street ingredients of the “harmful cocktail” are added their indoor counterparts - substances released from the floor, walls, windows, furniture, tobacco smoke coming from smoking neighbors through exhaust ventilation, combustion products from cooking. The air in an apartment is usually stagnant, and bacteria and viruses thrive and multiply in it. That's why we get sick so often, precisely while indoors - at home and at work.
We try to ventilate the rooms, but if you open the window... - this has already been said above. And there is simply no constant supply ventilation in most Russian homes and offices.
Children suffer the most from air pollution. They breathe more frequently than adults, and their immunity is significantly weaker. Therefore, polluted air causes more harm to them. Street dust and particulate matter entering the room through slightly open windows injure the sensitive respiratory tract and provoke infectious diseases and decreased immunity in children. Hence problems with lung functioning, a tendency to develop asthma, bronchitis and acute respiratory infections.
Most home installations are powerless
When Moscow was literally in hell from the smoke of forest fires and peat bogs in the summer of 2010, residents swept all air conditioners off the shelves in an attempt to save themselves. Many people still think that an air conditioner cleans the outside air and then cools it to a comfortable temperature. However, this is not true. The air conditioner cools only the air that is in the room, and does not take it from the street. Those expensive models that are capable of supplying at least a little air from the street retain dust and large particles, while exhaust gases and other combustion products enter the room. You can draw an analogy with water: no one puts water in the refrigerator to purify it - everyone uses filters.
The air purifier and air washer also do not cope with the problem. This device will clean the dust that is in the room. But new dust is constantly flying into the room through the windows. And you have already inhaled the harmful substances and exhaust gases that have already entered the room, even if the room appliance neutralized some of them.
What to do with dirty air?
The answer is simple - clean. Moreover, it should retain all contaminants at the entrance, preventing them from entering the room. After all, it is completely obvious to us that, for example, the air filter in a car engine needs to be changed regularly, otherwise the engine will break down. In exactly the same way, everyone knows that you need to pass tap water through a special filter - without this it is simply unsafe to drink. We drink 2-3 liters of water a day, and inhale 15 liters of air - and it is mostly polluted.
If we are unlikely to be able to influence the street air in the foreseeable future, then a constant flow of clean air into the room can be ensured. For this purpose, there is a special class of devices called breathers.
Breezer is a supply unit with an air purification function. Sometimes such devices are called ventilators or supply air purifiers.
The breather creates a constant flow of air into the apartment. The air is renewed, ceases to be stagnant and will no longer be a favorable environment for the proliferation of bacteria and viruses. Due to the constant influx, all “household” harmful substances and unpleasant odors will be removed through exhaust ventilation in the kitchen and bathroom. Since the windows can be kept closed with such a device, there will be no drafts in the apartment and no one in the household will catch a cold.
The most important thing is the characteristics of the device. And among them the most important is the cleaning class. Often such installations are equipped with dust filters of class F5, F7 or F9. This means that they retain large dust, and small particles pass through such a filter unhindered. The lungs have alveoli, sacs at the end of branching tubes. This fine dust gets clogged there, settles and harms health, causing pulmonary diseases.
Thus, when choosing a device, you need to look for a device with the highest filtration class. Today on the market there are breathers with medical filtration class, up to H11 and even H12. Such filters are used in clean rooms medical institutions, for example, in operating rooms. The presence of such a filter ensures that even the smallest dust, viruses, bacteria, mold spores and pollen will remain outside the walls of your home.
Another necessary function of a breather is climate control. In our climate, the air needs to be heated most of the year, and the device should allow this to be done as conveniently as possible. If the breather does not have the function of maintaining a set temperature, then in the best case, the adjustment will have to be selected according to sensations, and in the worst case, if it gets sharply cold on a winter night, you can easily catch a cold by the morning.
Breezer will provide you and your family with an environmentally friendly, comfortable and healthy stay in the apartment. The main rule is not to skimp on your health and change filters regularly.
The main ways to reduce and completely eliminate air pollution are as follows: development and implementation of purification filters, use of environmentally friendly energy sources, waste-free production technology, control of vehicle exhaust gases, landscaping, architectural and planning measures, establishment of sanitary protection zones.
Cleaning filters are the main means of combating industrial air pollution. Purification of emissions into the atmosphere is carried out by passing them through various filters (mechanical, electrical, magnetic, sound and others), water and chemically active liquids. All of them are designed to capture dust, vapors and gases.
Work efficiency treatment facilities is different and depends both on the physicochemical properties of the pollutants and on the perfection of the methods and apparatus used. Coarse purification of emissions eliminates from 70 to 84% of pollutants, medium purification - up to 95-98%, and fine purification - up to 99% and higher.
Purification of industrial waste not only protects the atmosphere from pollution, but also provides additional raw materials and profits to enterprises. Collecting sulfur from gas waste from the Magnitogorsk plant provides sanitary cleaning and produces additional many thousands of tons of cheap sulfuric acid. At the Angarsk cement plant, treatment facilities capture up to 98% of cement dust emissions, and the filters of one aluminum plant capture 98% of previously lost fluorine, which gives a profit of $300 thousand per year.
It is impossible to solve the problem of atmospheric protection only with the help of treatment facilities. It is necessary to apply a set of measures, and above all, the introduction of waste-free technologies.
Waste-free technology It is effective if it is built by analogy with the processes occurring in the biosphere: waste from one link in the ecosystem is used by other links. Cyclic, waste-free production, comparable to cyclical processes in the biosphere, is the future of industry, an ideal way to maintain cleanliness environment.
One of the ways to protect the atmosphere from pollution is transition to the use of new environmentally friendly energy sources. For example, the construction of stations that use the energy of tides, the use of solar power plants and wind engines. In the 1980s, nuclear power plants (NPPs) were considered a promising source of energy. After the Chernobyl disaster, the number of supporters of wider use of nuclear energy decreased. This accident showed that nuclear energy sources require increased attention to their safety systems. Academician A.L. Yanshin, for example, considers gas to be an alternative source of energy, of which about 300 trillion can be produced in Russia in the future. m3/year.
As private solutions air protection from car exhaust gases You can point to the installation of filters and afterburning devices, replacement of additives containing lead, organization of traffic, which will reduce and eliminate frequent changes in engine operating modes (road junctions, widening of the roadway, construction of crossings, and so on). The problem can be radically solved by replacing internal combustion engines with electric ones. To reduce toxic substances in car exhaust gases, it is proposed to replace gasoline with other types of fuel, for example, a mixture of various alcohols. Gas-cylinder cars are promising.
Greening cities and industrial centers: green spaces, through photosynthesis, free the air from carbon dioxide and enrich it with oxygen. Up to 72% of suspended dust particles and up to 60% of sulfur dioxide settle on the leaves of trees and shrubs. Therefore, in parks, squares and gardens the air contains tens of times less dust than in open streets and squares. Many types of trees and shrubs produce phytoncides that kill bacteria. Green spaces largely regulate the microclimate of the city, “damping” city noise, which causes enormous harm to people’s health.
To maintain clean air, it is important city layout. Factories and plants, transport routes should be separated from residential areas by a buffer zone consisting of green spaces. It is necessary to take into account the direction of the main winds (wind rose), the terrain and the presence of reservoirs, and locate residential areas on the leeward side and on elevated areas. Industrial zones are best located away from residential areas or outside the city.
Legal protection of the atmosphere- the implementation of the constitutional rights of the population and norms in the environmental sphere has led to a significant expansion of the base of legislative regulation in the field of protection atmospheric air. The main legislative and other regulatory legal acts regulating environmental issues are as follows.
* Law on Environmental Protection (January 10, 2002). Basic law of environmental legislation.
* Law on Atmospheric Air Protection (April 2, 1999). Its objectives are to regulate public relations in this area in order to maintain cleanliness and improve the condition of the atmospheric air, prevent and reduce harmful chemical, physical, biological and other effects on the atmosphere.
* Air Code of the Russian Federation (February 19, 1997). It imposes special requirements on the condition of flight equipment and regulation of engine operation to reduce air pollution.
The Federal Law “On the Destruction of Chemical Weapons” (April 25, 1997) establishes the legal basis for carrying out a range of works to ensure environmental protection.
The Criminal Code (July 24, 2007) has a number of articles relating to the nuclear industry and contains a definition of “environmental crimes”.
Federal Law “On Radiation Safety of the Population” (January 9, 1996). In order to implement it, the Government of the Russian Federation adopted a number of resolutions that relate to the rules for the placement of radioactive substances and radioactive waste, their storage and transportation.
Federal Law “On the Use of Atomic Energy” (October 20, 1995; amendments and additions were made in February 1997).
The State Committee for Ecology of Russia has reviewed and approved several regulatory documents related to the protection of the atmosphere, in particular on the methodology for calculating emissions of pollutants into the atmosphere.
GOST (1986) “Nature conservation. Atmosphere. Rules for monitoring air quality in populated areas.”
