Indoor Air Pollution is Impacting Your Mental Health

Did you know, air pollution affects your mental health, just as much as your physical health?

A new study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Psychiatry, has revealed that people living in areas with higher pollution are more likely to suffer episodes of anxiety and depression. 

The research, which tracked almost 500,000 adults in the UK over 11 years, only adds to the bank of evidence to suggest that finding ways to clear the air has never been of greater importance. Getting an air purifier for a room in your home, or a whole home air purifier can make all the difference.

Of course, air pollution isn’t only an issue outside the home – levels of indoor air pollutants have been found to be 2 to 5 times higher than outdoor levels! According to the Environmental Protection Agency, these levels in our indoor environmental air can exceed 100 times that of outdoor levels of the same pollutants. 

So, what exactly is indoor air pollution? 

What is Indoor Air Pollution?

When we’re outside, many of the sources of pollution are obvious. We can see and smell car exhaust fumes in traffic jams, and plumes of smoke spewing out of factory chimneys. In the home, the hot spots for indoor air pollution and VOCs (volatile organic compounds) might come as a surprise.

• Pet Dander

This may be natural and shed from our furry family members, but the truth is pet dander can do as much damage to the human body and mind as man-made chemicals. When these very small, light particles make their way into the air, and we breathe them in, they can cause an immune system reaction, triggering allergies and difficulty breathing.

While having a pet can dramatically improve your mental health, reacting to their dander does not! Recent studies have found that living with allergies can have a significant impact on mental health, potentially making them prone to anxiety and depression.

• Mould 

There are different types of mould (around 300,000!), some are more harmful than others and not all are visible to the naked eye. While the most common symptoms that arise from having a home polluted with mould are often physical (for example, increasing the risk of bronchial and fungal infections headaches, nausea and lower respiratory tract problems), this pollutant can also trigger mental health issues. Research from the City University of New York found that being exposed to mould spores can cause anxiety, brain fog, depression and insomnia. 

• VOCs

VOCs (volatile organic compounds) are human-made chemicals that can often be found off-gassing from paints, pharmaceuticals, cleaning products, household furnishings (such as carpets and upholstery), composite wood, personal care products and, perhaps most alarmingly, children’s toys. Some VOCs detected in environmental air are suspected or proven carcinogens (a substance that causes cancer) and they can cause many adverse health effects, including eye, nose and throat irritation, nausea, liver and kidney damage and central nervous system damage. These types of chemicals are consistently higher indoors than outdoors. VOCs have been associated with mood disorders such as fatigue, irritability, and depression.

• Gases

Carbon monoxide, radon nitrogen oxide, and sulphur dioxide are four of the most common and dangerous gases found polluting the home. Without effective ventilation and air purification, these can attach to dust particles and cause serious lung damage. 

• Particulate Matter

Soot and dust mites and tiny particles of dust and dirt in the air are far more dangerous than they appear. You’re at an increased risk of having this in your environmental air at home if you have a wood-burning stove or open fire, which releases particulate matter into the air. A roaring fife may seem nice, but this produces more particulate matter than road traffic in the UK! The biggest risk here is getting lung cancer or asthma, which can occur from breathing in smoke and particles over time. Long-term exposure to fine and coarse particulate matter has been associated with increased odds of depressive disorder.

How can a home air purifier help?

Now you know the severity of indoor air pollution in your home, and the way air pollution affects your mental health as well as your physical health, you’re probably wondering what to do about it! Fortunately, there’s a very simple solution. 

There are very complicated and expensive ways to try and eliminate toxins from your home (stripping and re-painting walls with VOC-free paints, switching all household and cosmetic products to natural alternatives, keeping your home plastic free). But even then, you wouldn’t be able to completely clear the air, as there will always be some pollution coming in from the outside, and emitting from essential products or fittings. However, kitting out even one room in the house with an air purifier can make an enormous difference to the contaminants you and your loved ones breathe in.

Here at Greentech, we’ve developed the only air purification system in the world which not only captures contaminants in your home but actively seeks out and destroys them. This unique combination of passive and active technologies can help free your home from every form of indoor air pollution mentioned above. Just at the touch of a button!

Want to know more about which pure air purifier would work best for you and your family? Feel free to email us with any questions.