What Does an Air Quality Test Detect?

Posted in Air Quality, on December 07, 2020

Air quality testing in Toronto is finally becoming a popular service for homeowners to have. But why? In the past few years, the spotlight has shifted from how outdoor air quality concerns (like smog, pollution, and pollen, just to name a few) affect us to how our indoor environment may be having detrimental effects on our skin, sleep, cognition, health, and more. This increased awareness is resulting in more indoor air quality tests in Toronto, and lots of questions about what they detect and how they can help you. 

Types of Indoor Air Quality Test

If you’re interested in knowing what your indoor air quality is like, you can test it one of two ways: 

DIY Tests: Available from hardware stores and others, DIY air quality tests are administered by you, the homeowner, and are sent to a laboratory to be analyzed. 

Professional Tests: A pro air quality testing service (like ours!) assesses both the interior and exterior of your home. We take multiple samples, often in different weathers or seasons, and can use professional tools to get into hard-to-reach places or test for specialized allergens. We also send our results to a laboratory - but we help you read and understand what the results mean. 

What Can The Test Detect?

Air quality testing in Toronto picks up many different types of environmental allergens, toxins, and other issues. Below are some of the most common ones we discover in GTA homes:

• Volatile Organic Compounds
• Carbon dioxide
• Formaldehyde
• Mold spores
• Radon gas
• Asbestos
• Pollen

Why An Air Test Is Important

Indoor air quality testing in Toronto is important if:

• You are doing any major renovations
• You’ve purchased a new home
• You have a new baby
• You suspect mold growth
• You often feel ill or have health issues

Air quality has a surprising effect on our wellness - a study was done by Harvard and Syracuse Universities found that their subjects performed 15-50% worse on cognitive tests done on days when indoor CO2 levels were moderate to high. That means that poor air quality was affecting their ability to think, respond to information, and lowered their productivity - let alone the potential effects on their health. These kinds of studies show us just how critical excellent indoor air quality is to our daily lives. And in our homes - where we eat, sleep, and play for at least 9-14 hours a day - this exposure may have huge consequences. 

Air Quality Testing Helps

The first step to improving your indoor air quality is to have a professional air quality test. At SafeAir, our focus is on identifying pollutants and allergens and helping you make positive changes to your indoor air quality and home life. For more information on air quality testing in Toronto and the GTA, get in touch at 416-414-5690