Believe it or not, the air within modern houses can be upwards of five times more contaminated than outside air. When you also take into account that we can spend up to ninety percent of our lives indoors, the term sick building syndrome should need little explanation.

Unlike outside air, indoor air is recycled over and over with pollutants such as tobacco smoke, pollen, mold, dust and pet dander all adding towards asthma attacks and allergies.

Some Other symptoms of sick building syndrome include dizziness, headaches, tickly throats, sinus congestion, itchy or watery eyes, sickness, sluggishness and an inability to concentrate.  However, because several of these symptoms are similar to those of a common cold, it is not always easy to to decide if indoor pollution is the reason or if it is down to some type of viral infection.

If you notice that the symptoms fade when you are in the open air, you should try to discover indoor air sources that might be possible causes and endeavour to get rid of them. Fortunately, inside air pollution is one health hazard that you can do something about.

Here are several easy measures you can take to improve the air quality in your house.

Banish Smoking Inside the House

Even though this may sound obvious, you should in effect ban smoking inside your house or at least confine it to one room. In our case, if friends or family, who are also smokers, call, they are either banished to the back yard or the kitchen area. If you have an extractor fan installed in the kitchen, make a point that it is turned on and endeavour to have smokers stand reasonably close to the fan so that the fumes get drawn out.

Ventilate On A Regular Basis

Weather permitting, you should open windows and doors in order to reduce the concentrations of indoor pollutants while allowing outdoor air to come in. Make good use of kitchen and bathroom extractor fans. Clean and check the fan and any vents on a regular basis and clean or replace any filters that may be fitted.

Throw Out Those Chemical Cleaners

If you have ever taken the time to study the labels on home cleaning products, most of them will include a warning about how harmful the chemical substances are for your health or skin. Each time you use that product, fumes from whatever is in the bottle get released into the air for you to inhale. How is it that some well known anti bacterial cleaners start your eyes watering and bring on a coughing fit. Not anymore though, as my natural cleaning products of choice are baking soda, washing soda, vinegar and pure lemon juice. These are all non toxic, environmentally friendly and can undertake most cleaning jobs, either separately or mixed with one another.

Clean and Dust Your Home Regularly

Hoovering your rugs and floors on a regular basis will help to keep dust and airborne allergens at bay. It may suprise you to know that about 70% of dust within the home comprises of dead skin which we humans continually molt. Dust mites successively feed upon this dead skin that falls from our bodies. They then grow and shed their own skin and it is this together with their feces that causes allergic reactions in folks.

Pet Dander Allergic Reactions

For those families with a cat, dog or other pet, allergies such as asthma can be triggered off by their dander, which they shed day in and day out. Something needs to be done if you suspect that either you or another household member are allergic to pet dander. Ideally, it is better to keep pets out of the house completely although that is rarely possible. As a viable alternative, try and restrict the rooms that the pet is allowed into. One definite area to keep them out of is the bedroom.

Reduce Indoor Air Humidity

If the clime where you live is either very muggy or just plain wet (as in too much rainfall), you will no doubt be aware of just how much moisture levels within your home can increase. This excessive moisture or humidity is the perfect breeding ground for mold. For anybody with allergies, mold spores can cause as many health problems as airborne dust. Dehumidifiers can be a godsend in a humid environment because they are able to remove excess dampness from the surrounding air, thereby keeping mold and the resulting spores at bay.

Get an Indoor Air Purifier

An allergy relief air purifier or a room air cleaner does as their name suggests and clean the air of pollutants and allergens such as mold spores, pollen, cigarette smoke and pet dander.  They are especially useful if you or a family member suffers from allergies or asthma since they can reduce airborne contaminants by a considerable amount.  Air purifiers and room air cleaners are rapidly increasing in popularity because they make indoor air healthier and cleaner. Even so, there are various types of air purifier, some of which can actually make allergies worse rather than better.