Why is this important?
Ventilation helps improve indoor air quality as it reduces pollutant and moisture levels that can impact health. Indoor air pollution can contribute to a variety of short-term and long-term impacts including irritation of the eyes, nose and throat, decreasing lung function, making asthma worse, and increasing the risk of heart and lung conditions and cancer. Children are at greater risk of adverse effects from poor air quality in general. Indoor exposures have the greatest impact on overall exposure to air pollutants given that most of children’s time is spent indoors. Indoor air concentrations of some pollutants can be higher than those found in outdoor air. In addition to other public health measures, ventilation has an important role in reducing the transmission of COVID-19 indoors (Government of Canada, 2018).
What actions can we take?
- Provide adequate ventilation in all rooms to ensure regular fresh air exchange and to reduce excess moisture .
- Use bathroom and kitchen fans.
- Open windows when outdoor conditions permit.
- We have optimized indoor air quality by upgrading the filters used in our heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system, if feasible and applicable, and/or the safe use of portable air cleaners that have been tested by Consumer Reports or certified by the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers.
- If using portable air cleaners, look for a unit tested by Consumer Reports or certified by the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers.
- Never use ozone-generating devices or any device (e.g., fogger) that propels sanitizing/disinfecting chemicals into the air.