Air qulity assessment?

[arib]

Aliza and I have noticed that we're feeling fairly crummy when were at home. I'm getting headaches, and Aliza's generally feeling nauseous and icky.

Generally, when were at work, we feel fine. Things get particularly lousy when the heating turns on.

The only thing I know for sure is that our apartment has a fairly new carbon monoxide detector, which has not gone off.

Anyone know how to go about checking air quality in a dwelling?

Comments

[dizzdvl.livejournal.com]

That or you could change filter. Have you done that lately?

[arib.livejournal.com]

filter on what? nothing here has one.

[bluepapercup]

On the furnace, most likely. A moldy or clogged filter can go a long way toward making you feel icky. Luckily, if you know where the furnace is, they're easy to change.

[arib.livejournal.com]

I can barely find the right silverware. :-)

Aliza called the landlord, he's usually pretty prompt when there's a complaint.

[dizzdvl.livejournal.com]

Do you have any air intake thingies on the wall? That sucks air in to the furnace and the blows it out? It might be something just recirculating.

[cellio]

I don't have any data on tests, I'm afraid, but if you have forced-air heat and the vents have not been cleaned in several years, I think odds are good that that's a source of your problem. (My previous house had forced-air heat, and when I had the vents sucked out with the high-powered vacuums it made a big difference for me. It also cost several hundred dollars.)

Before doing that, of course, you should check the obvious: do you need a new furnace filter?

[arib.livejournal.com]

We've got the old-school coiled pipe radiators that get hot water pumped through them from the boiler downstairs.

(Now that the radiators are in an off cycle and the windows are opened, we're feeling a bit better.)

[dizzdvl.livejournal.com]

Ignore my above comment!

[cellio]

Ok, if you have radiators, it's pretty unlikely to be something in your heating system. But, as you noted, when you run the heat you also close the windows, so this suggests that there might be something in your house that doesn't get to vent its way out in cold weather. It could be mold (there's overlap in the symptoms I've heard and what you describe), but it could well be other things.

I wonder if it's a slow buildup or something faster. I wonder what would happen if you left some windows open when you're not home, maybe running a fan, and closed them when you got home. Would that get you through the night? It's obviously not a long-term viable solution, but if it gets you to the repairman's visit, that might be less uncomfortable than opening the windows while you're trying to {sleep, eat, work, whatever}.

[bluepapercup]

It's possible that your apartment has a lot of mold/dust in the air. Perhaps buying a HEPA filter for the bedroom might help? Also, ask your landlord if there's ever been a mold problem??

As for indoor air quality, you'd probably want to talk to someone from the EPA or local agency.

Here's a good resource that seems to have good comprehensive information about indoor air quality.

[lucretia-borgia.livejournal.com]

I suppose the simple expedient of buying a canary hasn't occurred to you? :-)

Seriously, though, why don't you try opening up all the windows one or two days and wearing coats, just to do the "get some fresh air in here" experiment. It might also be worth investing in your own CO monitor, one with a numerical readout instead of the alarm/no alarm condition. If things are dusty, or humid, and the CO monitor in place is not very new, it may not actually be functioning properly. If you are in any real doubt about CO as the cause, leave the windows closed, let the heat come on, then call the fire department and tell them that while your CO monitor hasn't gone off, you've been having this issue, and could they send someone over with their monitor to check it out. We called them one night because of a single monitor in the house that had gone off, and they were very nice about it (if you ignore the hullabaloo that goes with having a ladder truck show up in front of your house). One got the sense that they were glad for something to do that didn't involve actual risk to their lives.

[rikhei.livejournal.com]

Thanks for asking this; I've been feeling pretty crummy lately, too (sinuses), so I may take some of the same suggestions offered you!

[jaeai.livejournal.com]

I just had to have the ducts cleaned professionally at apartment complex expense. Why, you ask? Mold infestation. We are CLEAN people...it's just rampant here. Water leak from upstairs let it in. I was unable to enter my own home because the air was so bad. Every time the AC came on, I went into asthmatic shock. Painful and scary. Finally, my fiancee (the attorney type) discovered the problem when it came on and I started WHISTLING. Get it checked. :)