The importance of indoor air quality and how it can impact your health and wellbeing - By Dariush Zand, Founder of KIKI Pure.
Ever think about how much of our lives we spend indoors? I'll be honest with you, until March 12th 2020, I didn't give it a second thought! Then Covid-19 happened and we went into lockdown. I was one of the many that took the pandemic seriously having seen the impact of SARS and also because I had Swine flu many years ago when on a business trip in South Africa. I was adamant that I didn't want to get sick.
Still, not one serious consideration before then about air quality. I'm an ex-smoker and I had asthma as a child. I've been around polluted air all my life, having grown up in London in the early 1980s and having traveled to developing nations around the world. Like many, it wasn't until the pandemic, that my perceptions change. Quite possibly this was in no small part due to the fact I had turned 40 only two years prior and was starting to take health matters more seriously.
I was fortunate enough to find an article in Scientific American written by Tanya Lewis, highlighting the need to improve indoor quality. Sharing some of Tanya's exceptional points, it resonated with the very reasons why I founded KIKI Pure and why I launched my own range of portable air purifiers.
"90% of our lives are spent indoors." – Tanya Lewis, Scientific American, June 2022
That was one of the jaw dropping statistics that caught my eye! Upon reflection, it sounded plausible! We live indoors, go to work or school, sleep indoors. Nearly every aspect of our daily lives is predominantly spent indoors. So, when considering the amount of time we spend indoors, what bearing does indoor air quality have on our health and wellbeing?
The scientific community has concluded that SARS-CoV-2 and other respiratory viruses such as Influenza, spread through the air. If contained within an indoor space, increased saturation can increase the chances of contracting those viruses. Pollution, airborne allergens can also manifest indoors and in the absence of good ventilation can lead to health issues such as illness and allergies. There are many studies that indicate cognitive performance may also be impacted by the quality of the air we breathe.
"We don’t rely on people in the U.S. to filter their water individually; we provide clean, safe drinking water,” - Linsey Marr, Virginia Tech
Linsey Marr, a leading expert on aerosol transmission at Virginia Tech, argues that it's time to start thinking about indoor air the same way we think about the water we drink. I couldn't agree more with this viewpoint! The challenge, however, is that we rely upon elected officials and governments to regulate this such a number of ways, such as by setting quality standards. This can be a very long and drawn out process.
Mindsets also need to change. For example, one of the main roles of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the United States is to enforce these protections, but they are much more focussed on outdoor air as opposed to indoor air quality.
We need to take control of the air we breath
There's so much we can do right now to ensure the air we breathe indoors is clean. Schools need to invest more in ventilation systems for their students. Companies need to do the same for the workplace. There's plenty of acceptable solutions in the market to support these endeavors that are designed to monitor the air quality and filter the air,
High-efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters are the gold standard for air purifiers and have around for years. Ionizers and Electrostatic technologies are becoming more and more commonplace in Air Purifiers on the market and provide similar levels of protection from airborne particulates, without the need to replace the actual filter.
Conclusion: Air Purifiers work and can help maintain the quality of air you breathe when indoors
- Use an Air Purifier
- HVAC systems are very effective, but if you don't have one, make sure you invest in an air purifier that is appropriate for the size of room where it is being used
- Portable air purifiers are ideal when you're traveling, at the office, in the car, etc.
KIKI Pure is all about point 3. We're on a mission to give you affordable and highly efficient tools to keep the air you breathe on the move, as clean as possible.
Learn more about our product line and reach out to our team if you have any questions. Thank you for reading!
Dariush Zand
Founder, KIKI Pure
