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Published: 30 August 2021

How does poor Indoor Air Quality impact allergies?

If you’re allergic to things in your home, you’re likely to get a runny or blocked nose, itchy, red or watering eyes, wheezing, a cough or breathlessness. Other symptoms could include itchy skin or rashes. If you have asthma, your symptoms are likely to get worse.

A lot of the time, the pollutants in your home are impacting your lungs and health without your even knowing...just think about that for a moment.

These allergies are caused by a range of pollutants including the most common indoor house pollutants - the dreaded dust mite, pet dander and pollen!

What does it mean when we talk about indoor air quality and more to the point poor indoor air quality?

We can use monitors to measure pollutants inside the home and look at the Air Quality Index for outdoor air.  Air QUALITY is determined by pollutants in the air that can impact our health, and cause allergies and irritations.  Did you know Air Quality is linked to 40,000 deaths per year?  

Common Air Pollutants that impact air quality: 

  • Dust and Dust Mites
  • Pet Dander and Fur
  • Pollen!!!!!!!
  • Smoke
  • NOX
  • Carbon Dioxide
  • Odours
  • Mould & Condensation
  • Ozone
  • Radon

If any of these pollutants are inside your home you are breathing them in and you should do as much as you can to reduce them.

How do dust mites affect air quality?
Everyone has dust mites in their home. They are microscopic insects that live off human skin and form part of the dust in our homes. They thrive in humid and damp places, and are found particularly in bedding, soft furnishings and carpets. The mites’ droppings become fine particles in the air and quickly settle into pillows, mattresses, duvets, carpets and upholstery. 

It doesn’t matter how clean and tidy you are, unfortunately – it’s impossible to completely get rid of them, but you can help reduce them and reduce the impact they might have in your allergies.

If you have asthma and are affected by dust mites, the best way to minimise its impact on your asthma is to regularly take your preventer medications.
You can also trial a variety of methods that are supposed to reduce house dust mite levels in the home, such as using mattress covers, vacuum cleaning, installed effective ventilation, using a true HEPA filter air purifier or air ionisers.

Pets and allergies
A pet allergy is when a person has a reaction to a pet’s skin cells, saliva or urine. A common allergy is to pet dander - the dead flakes of skin that a pet sheds. Pet dander is a very small particle and can stay in the air for a long time. It collects around the home often on upholstered furniture and clothes and research has found it can takes several months for cat allergens to disappear from a home after a cat has left.  It’s most common to develop an allergy to cats, dogs and rodents such as mice, rats and ferrets.

What can I do about my pet allergies?
It will be a difficult decision, but if you think you have an allergy to your pet, you may need to consider rehoming the animal if you can’t cope with your reaction. Before you decide, get an allergy test to make sure that you’re reacting to your pet and not something else, such as smoke or pollen.

There is limited scientific evidence showing whether these interventions work in reducing the effects of pet allergies. But, if you do have a pet allergy, you might consider some of the following:

  • not letting it into your bedroom or other rooms where you spend most of your time
  • cleaning your home regularly
  • washing your pet regularly
  • if your pet lives in a cage, asking someone else to clean it
  • removing carpets and replace them with smooth floors, such as wood, laminate, bamboo or lino
  • keeping the rooms where you spend most of your time well-aired, such as by opening windows
  • try using air filters and a high efficiency vacuum cleaner, although there is currently limited evidence on how helpful this actually is. High-efficiencyparticulate vacuum cleaners may reduce the amount of dander stirred up by your cleaning
  • high-efficiency air purifiers, known as HEPA filter devices, may also reduce airborne pet allergens. But the evidence for reductions in asthma symptoms is less clear