How to Effectively Reduce Allergens in the Home
Reducing allergens in the home becomes an urgent task when bouts of allergic rhinitis, asthma, or similar illnesses become frequent in asthmatics and allergy sufferers who mostly stay indoors. Creating an allergy-proof home usually involves a combination of allergen control measures and better indoor ventilation, humidification and filtration. It starts with controlling common indoor allergens that are:
Animal dander. Pets are adorable, but they can be troublesome to people who are allergic to dander ‑ the skin, hair, or feathers that the animals shed. Washing pets regularly and keeping them outdoors, off furniture, or minimizing contact with them can help manage allergies caused by animal dander.
Roach droppings. Cockroach allergy can be as mild as skin itchiness or severe as an acute asthma attack. Roach droppings and the saliva and body parts of the insect can trigger allergies. Ridding homes of cockroaches is the first step in managing cockroach allergy, but the roaches tend to be present in the thousands per home and resistant to many control measures including chemical agents that are potential allergens. A good cockroach eradication program can involve employing a pest control expert initially and using traps, boric acid, and baits for long-term control.
Dust mites. Getting rid of dust mites to control dust mite allergy, caused by inhaling the mites’ excrement, is complicated as the microscopic bugs live close to people, eating dead human skin cells. Dust mites are found in house dust and warm, humid places such as carpeting, upholstered furniture, beddings, even stuffed toys. Avoiding upholstered furniture and frequently vacuuming and damp dusting the house and regularly cleaning beddings, carpets, and rugs can control dust mite populations.
Mold. Mold spores are effective allergy triggers. The fungi are easily dispersed into the air and inhaled, causing allergies or asthma, and are found in many outdoor and indoor locations. Indoors, the fungi thrive in the bathroom, kitchen, laundry area, and other damp or moist areas. Improving ventilation in the bathroom, repairing leaking pipes, removing damp bathroom carpeting, and scouring sinks and tubs can control mold growth. Additionally, a humidifier can check fungal growth by maintaining indoor humidity at levels that are not conducive to the fungi.
Adding an air filtration system to existing allergen control measures can further reduce allergens in homes. Quality air filters such as a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter can catch harmful pollutants that are 0.3 microns or larger in diameter. However, Trane CleanEffects does a better job in filtering indoor air. Trane’s filtration system can catch particles as small as 0.1 microns in diameter. Using Trane’s filter, controlling indoor allergy triggers, and improving indoor ventilation and humidification can significantly reduce home allergens and create an allergy-proof home to improve the quality of life of people with allergy-related illnesses.