When is Dust a Serious Air Quality Issue in Toronto

Posted in Air Quality, on November 29, 2024

Dust is one of the most common allergies in the GTA — and many people don’t even realize its effects. Air quality testing in Toronto with SafeAir is one of the best methods for assessing the amount and effect dust has on your environment, health, and indoor comfort. Home air quality testing is a safe and reliable way to determine if the dust in your home is what we consider normal or if it’s increased beyond safe levels or contains harmful substances. There’s no need to wonder or guess about dust — the SafeAir team is able to give you an exact answer. 

Understanding Dust and Its Sources

Let’s start with the basics - what IS dust? In air quality testing, we think of dust as fine particulate matter, which may come from several indoor sources, such as:

• Skin
• Pet dander
• Textile fibres
• Organic matter
• Mold spores
• Particulate matter
• Soot

Dust can also form from external sources and brought into the house on clothes, shoes, windows or doors. This dust is created by: 

• Pollen
• Vehicle emissions
• Constructions
• Industry/factories
• Organic matter

Signs Dust is Affecting Air Quality

Dust is made up of ultrafine particles and easily becomes airborne, which is when it often begins causing problems at home. Dust can get sucked into HVAC systems and distributed into every room, as well as, over time, damaging your furnace and ductwork. Some common signs the SafeAir team sees in homes that have significant dust issues include:

• Visible dust accumulation, where dust builds up on surface, furniture, vents, molding, and other elements of the home. 
• Respiratory symptoms like coughing, sneezing, or a runny nose.
• An unpleasant odour is often created when mold grows indoors and may be the first sign that your dust is more than an inert material. 
• Increased asthma attacks or hospital visits for people with chronic respiratory or cardiovascular diseases. 

When Does Dust Become a Health Concern

Everyone has dust in their homes; it’s a natural effect of indoor living and is generally harmless if unsightly. However, dust may also be a symptom of a more significant issue at play in your home, like mold growth or airflow problems. Assessing these situations through home air quality testing is our specialty at SafeAir and can help you get to the bottom of unexplained health issues or environmental changes. 

High dust levels will often first affect vulnerable populations, such as children, elders, and people living with preexisting health conditions. You may notice an increase in doctors visits or a worsening of symptoms, which, over time, can lead to long-term problems. This chronic exposure to toxic dust can then start to affect healthy members of your family as well and develop into chronic respiratory issues, allergies, fatigue, a lowered immune system, and other health problems. 

The Importance of Air Quality Testing

Regular air quality testing is an excellent tool for understanding and eliminating dust problems. Dust at home will change throughout the year; for example, we naturally see an increase in dust in autumn as windows close and the airflow in our homes changes.

Professional air quality tests can help you reveal some of these hidden changes and provide honest, actionable solutions for improving your indoor air quality that will result in a strong and measurable effect. Air quality testing can help improve all sorts of medical conditions as well as comfort-based issues, such as poor temperature control or strange smells. Healthy air enables you to sleep better, improves skin conditions, and helps you maintain a robust immune system — without clean air, our bodies and brains cannot function at their best, no matter how healthy your lifestyle is. 

5 Tips for Reducing Dust In Your Home

• Replace furnace filters often. 
• Dust and clean surfaces and floors. 
• Get a HEPA air filter to help catch and filter out particulates. 
• Increase airflow during the winter months to ensure turnover and freshness. 
• Maintain indoor humidity at 50% to reduce the likelihood of mold and prevent germs from spreading. 

Reduce Dust with SafeAir

It’s important to recognize when dust is starting to become a problem at home, but we appreciate why many people never notice — dust is tiny and easy to miss, and it’s hard to know what’s normal and what’s not. Air quality testing in Toronto is a simple and effective way to take a scientific look at your dust and what’s causing it. To book home air quality testing or speak to a SafeAir technician, call or email us today!

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