Twin Cities Air Quality Testing Company

When it comes to poor air quality, many people only think about the heavy pollution present in the air outside their homes. They know that the air quality on the streets of the busier cities can be extremely harmful to human health. However, not everyone is aware that the air quality inside the home can sometimes turn out to be even more polluted.

As a matter of fact, poor indoor air quality can also lead to a whole range of different respiratory health problems, including asthma and allergy symptoms. That’s why it is absolutely critical to have your home’s air quality tested before you move into a new house and on a regular basis, once you have settled in at home.

Let us take a quick look at the main indoor air quality concerns that professional air testing can help diagnose:

Allergens

Experiencing symptoms of allergies and asthma can be very stressful. This is why no one would like to come home to a home full of allergens. Some of the more common culprits that prove detrimental to our health include the following:

• Offensive odors
• Molds and bacteria resulting from dampness
• Asbestos and dust
• Vehicle exhaust
• Diesel particulates
• Solvents and other chemicals
• Cleaning products
• Gas and fumes
• Pesticides

Volatile Organic Compounds

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are extremely harmful chemicals that can be the causative factors for migraines or even more severe health issues. If you are in the market for a new house, it is imperative that you get its air quality professionally tested for VOCs.

Sometimes, owners of old homes remodel their properties to increase their curb value. If they have done so using any harmful products, you will have to face the consequences. In this case, an accurate test of the air quality in your home can easily help detect VOCs so that you would be in a better position to determine which steps to take next.

Radon

Radon is a hazardous colorless and odorless gas that has the potential to lead to the development of lung cancer. Professional indoor air quality testing can help pinpoint the excess levels of radon present in your home.

Asbestos

If you are considering moving into an older house, you will definitely want to have the air quality tested for asbestos. This product was very commonly used as a form of insulation in apartments and houses built before the 1980s.

However, its usage is banned now due to its carcinogenic nature and the high levels of lung cancer that asbestos can cause amongst people living in close proximity to this product.

You might consider looking at some other property if the professionals detect high traces of asbestos in your home.

Pesticides

Pesticides are a form of poison, and their purpose is to kill pests such as mice, termites and roaches. Pesticides can prove to be harmful to humans, but people continue to use them to get rid of unwelcome guests. An indoor air quality test can help you ascertain if you have dangerous quantities of pesticides floating around in your home.

A professional indoor air quality test typically only takes about an hour or so to perform. It does not matter if you live in a house or an apartment, you should still schedule periodic air quality testing on a regular basis. Such testing is particularly important in case you are purchasing a new house or if you are unfamiliar with the various types of chemicals that might have been used indoors beforehand.

The Many Hidden Dangers of Untreated Mold in Your Home

Mold is now widely considered to be amongst the most insidious dangers you may face due to low air quality in your home. As per the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), molds are part of the natural environmental cycle. Outdoors, molds play a critical role in nature since they help break down dead organic matter such as fallen leaves, branches, and trees.

However, they can wreak havoc on your health in case they pop up inside.

Mold looks like a fuzzy patch or stain spreading across the walls and damp surfaces. The more it grows, the more it stains the objects on which it lies. If it is left to its own devices, it is very likely that it would cause serious damage to clothes, walls, furniture, and other objects. However, one of the worst things about mold is the impact it has on the air quality on your property.

It can also cause health problems for people who are allergic to it. Such people may suffer massive asthma attacks or even severe lung infections if they continuously breath air that contains large quantities of mold. This holds particularly true where there are old and infirm people with severely weakened immune systems. In such cases, excessive mold can prove to be life threatening and should be aggressively controlled as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, most people don’t take any notice of mold until and unless it can no longer be ignored. This means that you might end up inhaling lethal quantities of mold without any appropriate medical assistance.

Mold Can Affect Your Health

Here, it is pertinent to note that just about anyone could be critically affected by mold in an apartment, house or any other indoor location. The preliminary symptoms of mold-related exposure include eye irritation, sneezing and fits of coughing.

While many people typically dismiss these symptoms as seasonal allergies or catching the common cold, or other simple everyday illnesses, that is not always the case.

Mold, if left untreated, will almost certainly get progressively worse and in the long run, lead to respiratory infections. This is why it is very important to make sure that you listen to what your body is telling you. Apart from that, you should also familiarize yourself with the condition of the areas and rooms where you suspect mold growth to have taken place.

Many people are more sensitive and susceptible to different kinds of mold exposure. The common symptoms of mold exposure can start with nasal congestion, wheezing, coughing, and similar symptoms involving discomfort of the upper respiratory tract.

If you feel that you might have inadvertently been exposed to mold and are now experiencing any of these symptoms, you will need to see your doctor as soon as possible. Only health care professionals can provide appropriate treatment for your illness.

This can be anything as seemingly innocuous as general ‘over the counter’ medicine, or even targeted prescription-only medicine to fight off a mold-induced infection. Infants and young children are particularly susceptible to mold in the air due to the immaturity of their autoimmune systems.

If that is the case, you should follow standard best practices for making sure that you have effectively minimized your risk of exposure. You should lock the room/s and take immediate remedial action should you come in contact with it.

Sometimes, it may be possible to smell the mold, but not be able to see it. This is the part where air quality testing comes into the picture since it will help pinpoint the exact source of the problem. For example, a very high reading under the floorboards may lead to the discovery of mold due to seepage related issues in your basement.

How Mold Can Damage Your Property

Apart from the serious health issues, mold can also cause a significant amount of damage to your property.

In fact, mold is capable of damaging just about everything that it touches and spreads over. For example, if you allow mold to grow on clothing, furniture or other items and leave it untreated, it will slowly cause them to rot till they disappear. Apart from that, it is fully capable of doing the same thing to tiles, wood, insulation and all the other essential parts of your house.

In the long run it can even compromise the structure of your property. However, you can avoid this fate by getting a mold remedial service to take a look at your property. Let us take a quick look at the many benefits of mold testing in your home:

Excess moisture is one of the most common causes of mold in your home. This can be due to a combination of air conditioning as well as the latent humidity present in the atmosphere. When you decrease the temperature on the thermostat of your Heating, Ventilation and Air conditioning (HVAC) system, it will rapidly try to cool down your home.

Sometimes, when the atmosphere outside is hot and humid, the cold air will condense inside the vents, leading to moisture in the system. In time, it will lead to mold growth. And the more the moisture, the faster will the mold spread all over the place. If this is the case in your house, you will need to discover the source as quickly as possible.

They Can Help Find Untreated Mold and Prevent It’s Rapid Growth 

It is pertinent to note that it is very difficult to find all the trouble spots on your own. Even if you find one source, the odds are that the mold spores in the air will quickly find another moist surface and reappear in that place.

Mold can spread incredibly quickly. It can take just two days or even less for it to form and grow. Once it finds a nice warm, humid spot, it can colonize the area in as little as a day. Your best bet is to locate and permanently ensure that it does not spread throughout your home. A professional mold cleaning company such as AAQC can get the job done.

Proper Mold Remediation Will Actively Help Prevent Future Outbreaks

Proper mold remediation services can minimize and eliminate spreading to prevent any sort of future problems. This way, you will be able to save your precious furniture and other objects for any mold-related damage. Not only will you be able to protect the health of your loved ones, but you won’t have to call the repairman to take care of all the damage.

A seasoned professional mold testing outfit will be able to quickly and accurately identify all of the problem areas in your home and treat them effectively so that the problem does not recur again.

They Will Give You Excellent Tips to Prevent Future Mold-Related Problems

Good mold removal specialists will always be concerned with ensuring that the problem never comes back again. They will give you excellent tips and pointers to help prevent future mold problems. Apart from that, they will guide you so that you will have safe and proper ventilation in your home.

The top-notch professionals in this field have the ability and the experience to do a good job the very first time over. Every home is different and requires its own customized solution. However, it is likely that you will need to have your leaky roofs, pipes and other areas fixed in order to ensure that the mold colonies won’t come back again. These experts will also properly educate you to seek out all the moist areas so that you can eliminate the problem even before it occurs.

No Need for Extensive Repairs 

The thing about mold is that it does not go away on its own but continues to thrive if the conditions are right. If you leave the mold colony untreated, it is likely that you will have to spend a lot on home and furniture repairs. Apart from that, you will also rack up heavy medical bills even as the mold leads to a steady deterioration in the quality of your life. However, your friendly neighborhood mold testing and removal services will take care of the issues for you.

In light of the above, we can safely conclude that it is only professional air and mold testing services that can take care of the air quality and mold-related problems in your home.