Occasionally Air pollution is the problem, not dirty air ducts & vents
The AirNow App Shows Air Pollution Levels In Your Area
If you’re a person with sensitive lungs, you can recognize even slight changes in the quality of the air around you.
Fortunately, the EPA has an air quality app called the AIRnow mobile app that can help you monitor air pollution in your neighborhood.
Breathing Issues Aren’t Always The Result Of Dirty Ducts & Vents
In Arizona, due to poor construction practices breathing problems often come from dirty air ducts or dryer vents.
But, often a thorough air duct or dryer vent cleaning in the Phoenix and Scottsdale area doesn’t do the trick.
So, what’s the problem? Why can’t you breathe?
Well, your lungs are telling you the problem is much larger than what’s in your house.
Your Lungs Are An Early Warning System
Often, your lungs give you an early warning of more difficult breathing and other problems that will be happening if you don’t find an environment with clean air.
It starts with a small twinge of concern, a feeling that everything is not okay. Sometimes you want to turn and run away from wherever you are, back to a “cleaner” place.
After that, you experience slight shortness of breathe. Within a matter of minutes to hours, your in the midst of a full blown asthma attack and feel lightheaded.
Often these reactions come from hidden mold, dirty air ducts, musty furniture, etc. The list goes on and on. If you have these problems, you know these things.
But, what about when you can’t escape your breathing problems? Sometimes, no matter what you do, that feeling of restricted breathing follows you like a curse.
The feeling of an impending asthma attack is not a good one. Furthermore, it’s even worse when you can’t identify the cause, and changing your environment doesn’t help.
Suppose you find yourself in a situation where you cannot breathe and changing your immediate environment does not help. In that case, if it’s not allergy season, then the cause of your breathing problems is air pollution.
Thankfully, the EPA has an app you can download to your phone that will help you identify the cause of your breathing problems and get a head-up before they happen.
AIRnow Mobile App
The EPAs pollution monitoring app is called the AIRnow mobile app.
It is available for download here the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store.
The app is a mobile interface for the EPA’s popular www.airnow.gov website.
What kind of pollution information is on the AIRnow app?
The AIRnow app publishes real-time pollution levels in the following categories.
Ozone Levels
Ozone in the stratosphere protects us from the sun’s harmful UV rays. But, ground-level ozone is a powerful pollutant that will irritate your lungs and inhibit your ability to breathe.
It is a byproduct of the combination of vehicle exhaust, sunlight, and heat. Consequently, you typically react to ozone if you are in a metropolitan area on a hot, sunny day with no wind.
As the day progresses, the increase of heat and vehicle exhaust increases the ozone level.
By the time the late afternoon and evening come around, ozone levels are high enough to cause breathing problems for people with sensitive lungs.
Usually, when the sun goes down and people stop driving ozone will drop to safe levels and the whole process starts over again the next day.
While every city in the US has ozone pollution, Phoenix and Las Vegas are the worst cities for ozone pollution because they are hot, have lots of sunlight, and are located in valley’s.
As a result, ozone levels will build up in Phoenix and Las Vegas during the day, but then take a long time to dissipate at night because the air is trapped over the city by nearby mountain ranges.
Essentially, the city functions as the bottom of a bowl where the ozone settles.
Particle Levels
PM 2.5 Air Quality Levels
“PM” stands for particulate matter and 2.5 stands for micrometer.
So, PM 2.5 is composed of small particles that build up in the air. Like ozone, PM 2.5 levels are highest in metropolitan areas. Although, during wildfire season in the western United States, PM 2.5 levels can increase in large swaths of the country.
PM 2.5 come from industrial processes, vehicle exhaust, and fires.
PM 10 Dust Levels
PM 10 is a larger particulate matter that comes from dust, agriculture, and construction processes. PM 10 levels vary widely based on weather and human activity.
What can high pollution levels do to you?
High levels of ozone, PM 2.5, and PM 10 can cause wheezing, coughing, and severe asthma attacks. Long-term exposure can lead to heart attacks, strokes, and early death.
While ozone is the worst pollution culprit, long-term sustained exposure to particulate matter is a close second.
This is why people who live in the city have shorter average lifespans than those who live in the nearby countryside.
What air quality problems persist inside of your home?
While you’ll never generate ozone in your home, it is possible to generate exceedingly high levels of airborne particulate matter in your home if you don’t clean it regularly.
Sources of particulate matter that fall under the PM 10 category are disintegrated cellulose insulation, fine dryer lint, pet dander, and carpet fibers.
Ensuring that your PM 10 levels in your house stay low through air duct cleaning and replacing your air filters regularly will reduce your risk of pollution-caused chronic illnesses.
Final Words
If you deal with breathing issues where you can’t identify the source, download the AIRnow Mobile App and check your local pollution levels when you can sense a problem in your lungs.