The American Red Cross is facing a national blood crisis. Without more donors, hospitals may be forced to make tough decisions about which patients receive transfusions and who must wait.

You can help. No matter your blood type, your donation is critically needed now.

Use the Blood Donor App, visit redcrossblood.org or call 1-800-RED CROSS to make an appointment to donate blood.

In addition, there are blood drives happening across Southeastern Massachusetts through the end of the month:

January 17, 2022

North Easton: Easton Community Center, 61 Rockland Street, 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.

January 18, 2022

Dartmouth: Dartmouth Council on Aging, 628 Dartmouth Street, 1 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Dedham: New Bridge on the Charles, 5000 Great Meadow Road, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
New Bedford: Christian Fellowship Center, 822 Church Street, 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

January 19, 2022

Berkley: Berkley Middle School Community Drive, 21 North Main Street, 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Hingham: Blue Cross Blue Shield-Hingham, 25 Technology Place, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

January 20, 2022

Mansfield: Holiday Inn Mansfield, 31 Hampshire Street, 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Franklin: Franklin MA RSMO, 1077 Pond Street, 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Walpole: Walpole Public Library, 143 School Street, 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.

January 21, 2022

Millis: Encompass Fitness, 27 Milliston Road, 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Halifax: Town of Halifax, 499 Plymouth Street, 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Fall River: Fall River Masons, 152 Columbus Drive, 12 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

January 24, 2022

Somerset: Grace Bible Church, 802 Riverside Avenue, 1 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

January 25, 2022

Plainville: Plainville Community Center, 190 South Street, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Hanover: Council on Aging, 665 Center Street, 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.
South Attleboro: American Legion Post 312, 437 Newport Avenue (Route 123), 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.

January 26, 2022

New Bedford: Southcoast Health-St.Luke’s Hospital, 101 Page Street, 2 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

January 27, 2022

West Yarmouth: Yarmouth Community Center, 22 Mid Tech Drive, 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Plymouth: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 747 Federal Furnace Road, 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.

January 28, 2022

Harwich: Harwich Community Center, 100 Oak Street, 2:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.

January 29, 2022

Abington: Abington Community Center, 254 Hancock Street, 7 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Needham: First Parish in Needham, 23 Dedham Drive, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

January 30, 2022

Lakeville: Lakeville Community Center, 1 Dear Crossing, 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Before heading out to any drive on this list, please confirm that this information has not changed by calling 1-800-REDCROSS or visit redcrossblood.org.

KEEP READING: See 25 natural ways to boost your immune system

[ad_2]

Originally Appeared Here

Lungs play an important role in our body hence it is necessary to prioritize lung health. Very often we tend to take them for granted; however, like other parts of the body, they age with time. They lose their strength and become less flexible which results in breathing difficulty. 

While our body does protect the lungs by keeping dirt and germs at bay, we can maintain the health of our lungs and reduce the risk of lung disease by adopting certain healthy habits.

Stay away from smoking

Never smoke and stay away from secondhand smoke as well. Smoking is known to be a leading cause of lung cancer and lung diseases like COPD. Furthermore, it is never too late to quit smoking as lungs begin to heal almost immediately once a person quits the butt. The risk of acquiring lung cancer reduces to almost half to that of a current smoker, ten years after quitting smoking.

Control your exposure to pollutants

Avoid exposure to indoor and outdoor pollutants as it can damage your lungs and accelerate aging. Lungs can easily stay strong against toxins when they are young and strong, however, with age, they are more susceptible for the damage and become more vulnerable to the disease.Its best to reduce exposure to outdoor pollutants as much as possible including:

• Avoid being out of home during peak air pollution times.
• Avoid exercising near heavy traffic.
• Take possible safety precautions when exposed to pollutants at work.
• Wear a mask whenever and wherever possible to filter out toxic particles.

Indoor air pollution is reported to be worse than outdoor, take adequate steps to reduce indoor air pollution such as:

• Keep your homes as clean as possible to keep dust, mold and other pollutants away.
• Make use of natural products to clean the house. Keeping your home smoke-free is equally important to avoid secondhand smoke exposure.
• Avoid exposure to biomass which is commonly seen in rural areas. Use LPG or natural gas instead. Use masks wherever exposure is unavoidable.
• Ensure appropriate ventilation inside homes.
• Avoid exposure to chemicals like benzene and formaldehyde found in synthetic air fresheners, perfumes and joss sticks (agarbatti).

Regular exercise

Exercise plays an important role. Staying active keeps your lungs healthy and even improves the symptoms of some long-term lung conditions.

Do any form of exercise like walking, jogging or hitting the gym for a minimum of 30 minutes, five days a week to create strong, healthy lungs. However, if you have pre-existing breathing problems, make sure to talk to your concerned healthcare professional. In these cases specific exercises are required to relieve breathlessness.

Prevent infections

As we age, any lung infection can be dangerous. It is a common cause of death in elderly. There are certain steps which can be taken to avoid serious lung infection. Keep your hands clean by washing them regularly with soap and avoid touching your face.  Avoid crowded places, take appropriate precautions in social gatherings and stay away from sick people. Staying hydrated when sick helps your lungs to work better. It is important to visit a healthcare professional as soon as possible, in case one has fever, Chest pain and phlegm.

Get vaccinated

All individuals with age more than 65 years should receive a pneumococcal vaccine, people who have other comorbidities can take it earlier. Everyone with a pre-existing lung condition or has a high risk of developing complicated flu should receive flu shot every year.

The Writer is Dr Sushrut Ganpule, Consultant — Pulmonogist at Jupiter Hospital, Pune

[ad_2]

Originally Appeared Here

Teachers and staff in schools across Quebec are being encouraged to share their classrooms’ CO2 readings on website Covid Écoles Québec, which was originally created to track the number of positive COVID-19 cases in schools.

Founder Olivier Drouin says he started the CO2 detector page for the same reason he began asking people to declare positive COVID-19 cases in their schools: data transparency.

“All data known to date that is used to determine action plans by schools and school boards are underestimating the number of classes with air quality issues, which is much bigger than the 10 per cent quoted by [Quebec Education] Minister [Jean-François] Roberge,” he said. “In addition, the government did not commit to making the data available.”

Last September, Quebec’s education ministry said it would install 90,000 CO2 readers in elementary, high school, vocational and adult education classrooms across the province.

This came after the ministry issued a call for tenders over the summer, with the goal of being able to monitor indoor air quality through temperature and humidity.

“The government asked the service centers to make a daily average of the measurements taken by the readers,” information of Covid Écoles Québec explains. “The measurement is done every five minutes during the day and every hour in the evening and at night.”

However, Drouin states that according to these types of calculations, average CO2 levels will decrease because students aren’t present in classrooms at night.

“It is therefore important to know the true measurements while the children are in class,” he said.

Last week, the Quebec government confirmed that 68 per cent of its 90,000 CO2 readers were already installed in classrooms.

The promise had been to put a reader in each classroom of every school by the end of December 2021.

Covid Écoles Québec also created a page for people to declare a positive COVID-19 rapid test — something the Quebec government has yet to build, causing inaccurate tallies of cases in the province every day.

“The government encourages citizens not to obtain a confirmatory PCR test following a positive rapid test result,” the website notes. “This greatly underestimates the number of daily cases.”

[ad_2]

Originally Appeared Here

Health and education experts maintain that the risks from the COVID-19 infection are outweighed by the known and well documented social and mental health harms of remote learning, even during the current omicron surge. California’s determination to use every available tool to keep schools safe during this pandemic is allowing us to keep classrooms open and in-school transmission low.

The health and safety of students, staff and families remains a top priority and schools are committed to healthy environments for students and staff. Schools throughout Santa Clara County have been working diligently to ensure the safest classrooms amid the omicron surge.

As County Superintendent of Schools, I am deeply appreciative of the work of schools to use known risk-mitigation strategies including access to testing, and equally important, providing a level of consistency for students during this unprecedented time of change and uncertainty.

On Jan. 12, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) released guidance for K-12 schools that noted in the event of wide-scale and/or repeated exposures, as we have been experiencing during the current omicron surge, once weekly testing may be implemented instead of sending individual exposure notification letters and contact tracing.

CDPH has reported that due to the shorter incubation period and increased transmissibility of variants currently circulating in California, alternative approaches that allow for a quicker and broader response will allow schools to provide safe in-person instruction without typical contact tracing processes. This means that rather than sending individual close contact notifications, schools that use this approach can focus on weekly testing of students and staff.

Right now, this approach makes sense for Santa Clara County schools. With the height of the omicron variant and the potential for repeated exposure in the community, where exposures are not or cannot be communicated, a consistent approach to notification and testing helps families.

This is possible for schools because the multi-layered approach to COVID-19 mitigation in schools has effectively curbed in-school transmission to-date. Mitigation measures such as receiving COVID-19 vaccinations and boosters, wearing quality and well-fitting masks, staying home and testing if symptomatic, and improving indoor air quality are core to school-based mitigation efforts.

With all of these measures in place, being exposed to someone with COVID-19 does not necessarily mean that a child will become infected. Vaccination and wearing a quality, well-fitting mask can reduce the chance of infection even if exposed. This means that children may remain in school unless they develop symptoms or test positive for COVID-19.

Parents are strongly encouraged to have their children tested for COVID-19 once a week. By testing weekly, schools can efficiently identify anyone who has a COVID-19 infection, even if they do not have symptoms. Many schools have existing school-based testing programs and parents are urged to sign their children up. These programs make it easier for families to access testing resources and partner with their school. Families can also find a community testing site near their homes at www.sccfreetest.org. Over-the-counter tests are also acceptable for once weekly testing if they are FDA-approved.

Children with symptoms of COVID-19 or who test positive for COVID-19 must isolate at home immediately. Parents must notify the school right away so the school can take additional steps to keep the school community safe.

Children must continue to wear a quality, well-fitting mask indoors in school and community per school, local and state requirements. High quality masks with the best fit and filtration provide the best protection for your child and the school community.

COVID-19 vaccination remains the best way to protect against the spread of the virus and against severe disease. Make an appointment to get vaccinated or contact your child’s doctor or health care provider to learn more. For children 12 years of age or older, a booster dose is recommended five months after the second dose.

Now, more than ever, we must support one another. Every member of our community is going through different strains and pressures that require us to come together. When each of us does our part, we can protect the health and safety of our community while maintaining in-person learning in our schools.

San José Spotlight columnist Mary Ann Dewan is the superintendent of schools for Santa Clara County. She has more than 33 years of experience in the field of education. Her columns appear every third Monday of the month.

[ad_2]

Originally Appeared Here

The Public Health Students Association from the University of Rwanda (UR) has completed a campaign on fighting malnutrition in Burera District.

The outreach activities included preparing a balanced diet, preparing long-lasting kitchen gardens and sanitation practices, such as hand washing, cleaning kitchens, using clean latrines and feeding the children.

 

The integrated campaign also focused on how to improve domestic sanitation and indoor air quality to reduce their impact on maternal and child health in Nemba and Cyeru sectors.

 

“Stunting in Rwanda has been declining over the past years, but it is still a problem especially in Burera, which has one of the highest rates,” Benoit Ndagijimana, the association’s president, said.

 

“Our campaign is focused on hygiene, which goes hand-in-hand with a balanced diet. So, apart from teaching people how to cook nutritious meals, we also remind them that hand-washing and other sanitation practices are just as important in order to fight malnutrition.”

Affirming that people need knowledge about ways to end malnutrition, Ndagijimana said that they taught the residents how to prepare a balanced diet using the foodstuffs available in Burera.

According to the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR), in 2020 Burera District had 41.6 per cent of stunted children, making it one of the districts with a high rate.

Residents were shown practical ways to end malnutrition among children.

“The students taught us how to prepare vegetables, potatoes, beans and other crops we grow. They also taught us how to prepare a kitchen garden, and the knowledge will help us,” Providence Bahemukiyiki, a resident of Nemba Sector, said.

Local authorities commended the students’ initiative, saying it helped increase people’s awareness about the issue of malnutrition.

“We are thankful for the students’ activities because they will help our people to learn appropriate ways to end malnutrition,” Egide Ndayisaba, the executive secretary of Nemba Sector, told The New Times.

“When young people like these university students come to our community people are more alerted to the problem and hopefully, they will put what they learn into practice.”

The Northern Province has stepped up the fight against child stunting in all its five districts, including Burera, hoping to reduce the stunting rate from 41 per cent to 19 per cent within the next two years.

National target by 2024

The government, non-profit organizations and communities have undertaken different interventions across the country to uproot stunting. These include the initiative of the Early Childhood Development (ECD) centres.

According to figures from the NISR, the national rate of stunting stood at 33 per cent in 2020. The government’s target is to reduce stunting to 19 per cent in 2024.

[email protected]

[ad_2]

Originally Appeared Here

Scientists from Cambridge, Surrey and Imperial College London are supporting the rollout of portable monitors to UK schools as part of project CO-TRACE. The researchers behind the collaboration have produced materials to help teachers use the monitors, which have been rolled out to schools nationwide.

The level of carbon dioxide (CO2) in a closed space is a good indicator of air quality and can signpost the need for ventilation. As the virus that causes COVID-19 is airborne, ensuring the air is properly refreshed using ventilation is crucial for reducing its spread. The device displays levels of CO2 and colour coding to indicate good, normal, or poor ventilation. Well ventilated spaces should have CO2 levels consistently below 800 parts per million (ppm), with readings above 1500ppm indicating poor ventilation or over-crowding.

“CO2 monitors allow teachers to assess the ventilation in their classrooms for the first time,” said Imperial’s Dr Henry Burridge, co-investigator on the project. “This is especially important during colder months when ventilation is typically lower due to colder outdoor temperatures, causing COVID-19 and other airborne diseases like the common cold and flu to linger and spread more easily.”

The monitors mean teachers can see CO2 levels change in real-time as windows are opened and air is refreshed, allowing them to balance ventilation and warmth. Teachers can also use the monitors to know when it is safe to close windows slightly, which could help them keep classrooms more comfortable. As well as being a good ‘proxy’ for ventilation, lower CO2 levels have been linked to improved learning outcomes and better cogitative performance.

The team behind the CO-TRACE project uses experimental modelling, numerical simulations, full-scale observations, and infection risk modelling to understand how the potential for COVID-19 spread changes with indoor air flows, ventilation levels, and the number of people in a space. In 2021, the researchers used monitored CO2 to indicate how much exhaled breath was present within classrooms, and their models found that seasonal variation in classroom ventilation levels could lead to airborne infection risks in winter being roughly double those in summer. This highlights that monitoring excess CO2 could be of significant benefit in mitigating airborne infection risk.

The portability of the CO2 monitors, supplied by the Department for Education (DfE), means schools can move them around to test different areas, starting with those they suspect may be poorly ventilated.

“The monitors empower teachers to strike a balance between good ventilation and warmth during winter,” said Professor Paul Linden from Cambridge’s Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, co-investigator on the programme. “We are pleased that the government is taking evidence-based action to address air quality and COVID-19 spread in schools.”

The monitors are accompanied by advice from the project which guides appropriate actions from teacher based on the CO2 readings in classrooms. Recommendations include opening higher windows before lower ones, and closing windows slowly when ventilation is good.

Schools with areas that are consistently low in air quality despite ventilation should consider using air cleaners. For such schools, the DfE is distributing between 7,000 and 8,000 air cleaning units.

When the project was announced in 2021, then-Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said: “Providing all schools with CO2 monitors will help them make sure they have the right balance of measures in place, minimising any potential disruption to education and allowing them to focus on world-class lessons and catch up for the children who need it. By keeping up simple measures such as ventilation and testing, young people can now enjoy more freedom at school and college.”

The project is funded by the EPSRC, part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

Adapted from an Imperial College story.

[ad_2]

Originally Appeared Here

Comfort Pro’s Heating and Air Conditioning has been proudly serving Greater Central Washington since 2008. The service professionals bring more than 35 years of experience to each job they complete.

Comfort Pros Heating and Air Conditioning and Casey Thaxton are pleased to announce that the Yakima HVAC firm has accrued more than fourteen years of experience in the industry. The experts at Comfort Pro also have a combined total of 35 years of experience. The company provides friendly, fast, and affordable pricing for heating or cooling system customers. The professional team’s expertise covers a variety of services to ensure that the customer’s home is comfortable.

HVAC systems have several purposes and components. These include heating, cooling, ventilation, and ductwork. The experts at Comfort Pros have the knowledge and experience to take care of every part of the HVAC system. As customers head into winter weather in many parts of the country, preparation for comfort is important. A checkup of the heating system should be completed before the freezing air puts a heavier load on the heating components.

Additional details are available at https://comfortprosheatandair.com/

Air conditioning equipment should be checked twice yearly to ensure operation when it is most needed. The HVAC experts work with most brands and models to ensure that the entire system operates at maximum efficiency. Checkups of the equipment are designed to clean the parts and replace any worn or non-functional. When all components are functioning properly, the utility costs tend to be lower. The equipment lasts longer, thus reducing the cost per year of usage.

Ductwork is an essential part of the equipment. When it has no leaks and is clean, the household’s air quality is improved. Clean air is more comfortable to breathe, and respiratory ailments are less likely to happen when the air quality is high. Regular attention to the entire system is the best way to assure healthy and comfortable indoor air systems, regardless of the season or temperature.

About the Company:

Comfort Pros Heating and Air Conditioning offers experienced and knowledgeable technicians who can improve the functioning of the HVAC system. The technicians work with heating, cooling, and ductwork components of HVAC equipment. Since 2008, the company has served the entire Yakima Valley. 

Media Contact
Company Name: Comfort Pros Heating and Air Conditioning
Contact Person: Casey Thaxton
Email: Send Email
Phone: (509) 833-5886
Address:2701 S. 5th Ave.
City: Union Gap
State: WA 98903
Country: United States
Website: https://comfortprosheatandair.com/

[ad_2]

Originally Appeared Here

Studies have found that low relative humidity increases the risk of transmitting the viruses responsible for COVID-19 and influenza1,2,3.  With the winter months well upon us here in Northern Virginia, indoor humidity levels have plummeted.  Humidifiers are an important step towards creating a healthy environment for your family, but are all humidifiers the same?  Which is best for your home and budget?

Relative humidity is the measure of moisture in the air at a given temperature.  Warm air can hold more moisture than cool air, which is why humidity is “relative” to temperature.  Here is how that works:  Cool air from outdoors sneaks into your home through doors, around windows, cracks, and vents.  The air may be moderately humid, we will say it is 60% relative humidity (RH), and 35 degrees Fahrenheit (F).  The heater your home warms the air up to 68 degrees F, which is what you have your thermostat set on.  Because of the change in temperature, relative humidity drops to an arid 18%RH, which is drier than the Sahara Desert.  Air this dry sucks up moisture from wherever it can.  Skin, houseplants, woodwork, even the glue holding your furniture together.  When a person inhales, the air soaks up moisture from inside the lungs, and the exhaled air is close to 100%RH.  It is no wonder that this has an adverse effect on lung function.

You may have heard people say that gas and oil furnaces dry the air worse than heat pumps, but this is not entirely true.  No moisture is removed from the air when it is heated, regardless of the type of heater you have.  However, fossil fuel furnaces that use indoor air for combustion will increase the amount of outdoor air that infiltrates into your home, lowering the humidity as described in the previous paragraph.

Portable Humidifiers

Portable humidifiers are the cheapest option for adding humidity to a single room or small area of the home.  These will need to be refilled with water frequently, and a separate monitor for measuring ambient humidity is recommended to measure the effectiveness of the unit.  Some portable humidifiers have such a low capacity for evaporating water that they barely affect that humidity in the home.  If your portable humidifier holds a gallon of water, and you refill it three times a day, that’s three gallons per day of moisture evaporated into the home, which isn’t much.  For comparison, a residential steam humidifier has a capacity of up to 35 gallons per day.

Central Humidifiers

Central or “whole house” humidifiers installed on your ducted heating system have a number of benefits over the portable type.  They humidify the entire home, and they have a much higher capacity.  They don’t need refilling, as they are piped into your home’s water supply.  If they are maintained properly, they can last longer than your furnace or heat pump.

Humidifiers can be classified as either evaporative or steam.  Evaporative humidifiers use the air and heat from your central heating system to evaporate water as it flows through the humidifier.  Most modern humidifiers have a sponge-like media inside where the evaporation takes place.  In decades past, some humidifiers had a tank that held water continuously, but it is rare to see these anymore, and if you have one you should get it replaced.  Humidifiers that hold water induce mold growth, which can spread to your ducts and distribute mold spores throughout the home.

Evaporative Humidifiers

Evaporative humidifiers will require a new pad at least once a year, depending on how many minerals you have in your water.  As water evaporates, minerals left behind build up on the pad, and eventually inhibit evaporation.  A neglected pad can even cause your humidifier to leak.  Changing the pad is fairly simple and typically does not require any tools, so many homeowners do this themselves.

Some evaporative humidifiers have a built-in fan to help with evaporation, while others use ducted air and rely on your heating system’s fan.  Both have similar advertised humidification capacities of 12 to 18 gallons per day, but this can be a bit misleading.  The final capacity of any humidifier depends on how it is controlled.  A basic setup is a humidifier that runs when the heat is running, assuming the humidity in the home is below the setpoint on the humidistat.  If your heater does not run much, you won’t get anywhere near the rated capacity from the humidifier.  A better control system involves running the humidifier any time the humidity drops below the setpoint on the humidistat, regardless of whether or not the heat is running.  For this to work, the central blower needs to come on when the humidifier is running, which requires some extra control wiring.  It is also helpful if your humidifier is piped to your home’s hot water instead of cold.  This type of setup is called operating your humidifier “independent of the heat” and will result in much more humidity production.  Even so, evaporative humidifiers are often not enough to raise the relative humidity to desired levels, especially in larger homes.  Any humidifier is better than no humidifier, but if you want to hit and maintain a target indoor RH, a steam humidifier is recommended.

Steam Humidifiers

Steam humidifiers use electricity to evaporate water.  While these models feature a tank that holds water, the water is sterilized every time the humidifier operates, so they are not subject to the mold problem described previously.  As a further precaution, the units are drained when not in use.  Most steam humidifier manufacturers now utilize a canister-type system, which has simplified maintenance significantly.  Older style steam humidifiers required cleaning by a professional, but the new models feature a simple disposable container that gets replaced periodically.  Like evaporative humidifiers, how often this needs to happen depends on the minerals in your water.  Steam humidifiers must be controlled independent of the heat.  

The main benefit of a steam humidifier is its high capacity, but this comes at a price.  All humidifiers require energy to evaporate water.  Evaporative humidifiers use the heat from your central heater, so if you heat with gas or oil you probably won’t notice the extra energy expenditure because it is hidden in your fuel bill.  Steam humidifiers, however, use electricity.  And not just a little.  It is not uncommon for a steam humidifier to raise the electric bill by $80 a month or more.  Of course it depends on how high you set your humidistat, how leaky your home is, etc., but just like you pay for the heat in your home, you can expect to pay for humidity.  Given the current pandemic, however, this may be money well spent.

How Much is Too Much?

The ideal humidity for preventing virus transmission appears to be between 40 and 60%RH4, but many homes will not support a RH much higher than 45%.  The exact number varies by home, but raising humidity also raises the dewpoint temperature, and any surface colder than the dewpoint will condense water out of the air.  At an indoor temperature of 70 degrees and 50% RH, the dew point will be about 53 degrees.  Cold windows will fog up, poorly insulated ceilings or walls can become damp, and concrete floors can become slippery.  If any of this happens, you need to lower your humidity setpoint.  High-end humidistats have an automatic feature which can take care of this for you if set up correctly.  The algorithm in the humidistat will automatically adjust the indoor RH setpoint depending on how cold it is outside.  Just like running your humidifier independent of the heat, it requires a little extra wiring when installed.  

Conclusion

A humidifier is a great investment for your home.  It can help protect you family’s health as well as your home’s woodwork and furniture.  If you discover that you prefer dry air in the wintertime, you can simply turn your humidifier down or totally off.  If you do decide to invest, be sure to choose a reputable, qualified contractor willing to discuss your specific needs and budget.  

1 Ward, Michael. “Low Humidity Increases COVID-19 Risk: Another Reason to Wear a Mask.” ScienceDaily, ScienceDaily, 18 Aug. 2020, www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200818094028.htm. 

2 Kudo, Eriko, et al. “Low Ambient Humidity Impairs Barrier Function and Innate Resistance against Influenza Infection.” PNAS, National Academy of Sciences, 28 May 2019, www.pnas.org/content/116/22/10905. 

3 Joseph G. Allen, Akiko Iwasaki. “Opinion | This Winter, Fight Covid-19 with Humidity.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 19 Nov. 2020, www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/11/18/winter-covid-19-humidity/. 

4 Sandoiu, Ana. “How Humidity May Affect COVID-19 Outcome.” Medical News Today, MediLexicon International, 2 Apr. 2020, www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/how-humidity-may-affect-covid-19-outcome. 

[ad_2]

Originally Appeared Here

Mrs Hinch, real name Sophie Hinchliffe, regularly shares cleaning tips and tricks online. With more than four million Instagram followers, fans of the sensation often share their own finds on dedicated cleaning pages, including how to dry laundry in winter.

Posting on the Mrs Hinch Cleaning Tips Facebook page, one woman asked for some advice when it came to drying laundry inside.

Sarah Jewers wrote: “What do people recommend for drying clothes indoors? I have a limited space and on a limited budget?

“Also needs to be reasonably speedy drying without access to a tumble dryer. Thanks.”

Drying laundry inside can be tricky with limited space, especially during the winter months.

READ MORE: Countryside living ‘more relaxed’ despite ‘annoyances’ in the home

Others recommended using a heated drying rack as well as placing a dehumidifier in the same room to help increase ventilation.

Paula Web wrote: “I use a dehumidifier overnight and all my clothes are dry in the morning. Surprising how much it collects in the winter and I have no mould or mildew at all.”

Yasmeen Majeed said: “Use an air dryer and with a dehumidifier at night, speedy drying times.”

A dehumidifier helps to suck moisture out of indoor air, commonly used in areas of the home with high levels of humidity.

Using the appliance will also help to prevent mould and damp building up because there will be no moisture in the air.

What’s more, using a dehumidifier can eliminate condensation that may build up on windows.

[ad_2]

Originally Appeared Here

“Sometimes, all I need is the air that I breathe, and to love you,” crooned The Hollies in their 1974 hit, “The Air That I Breathe.”

The British pop group should have added “purified,” given that lungs were under siege from indoor smoking and rampant pollutants like dust, pet dander, mould, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), airborne bacteria and viruses.

Now, COVID-19 has joined the list of airborne contaminants — along with all those microscopic particles and gases stirred up by increased at-home activities — that are driving the demand for indoor air cleaners and filters.

How-tos abound on YouTube, as well as ThisOldHouse.com, which explains how air filtration systems work along with instructions on making a cube filter using four furnace filters. DIYers can MacGyver their own low-tech version using a 20-inch box fan, pleated furnace filters and tape.

Mississauga teen Shiven Tanejahas spent his Christmas break building homemade air purifiers known as Corsi-Rosenthal boxes for neighbours and local seniors. The 14-year-old aspiring engineer charged only for the cost of materials — $150 — he told the CBC’s “The Current” host Matt Galloway in a recent interview.

Sarah Walker, an Oakville designer and expert in wellness in the home, keeps a Dyson Purifier Hot + Cool Formaldehyde unit in her bedroom.

She says that indoor air quality is between two and five times worse than outdoors. And with at least 90 per cent of time spent inside, “there’s almost no aspect of our health that isn’t impacted by poor air quality,” says Walker, listing brain fog, migraines, dizziness, asthma, allergies and fatigue.

While modern, high-tech purifiers promise to scrub the atmosphere to near-perfection, the ancient Greeks were stuck with primitive, harmful methods, described in Homer’s epic poem “The Odyssey.”

“When Odysseus kills some rivals, he asks their home to be purified by burning sulphur inside so the house is fit for less-horrible people,” explains a narrator on YouTube channel Grunge.

A safer antidote came during the Second World War when American scientists created HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) filters to protect soldiers and lab workers from breathing in radioactive particles.

Two decades later, Manfred Hammes and his brother Klaus, a mechanical engineer, created the world’s first home HEPA system after Manfred found it eased his winter asthma triggered by coal ovens.

In 1963, the German brothers founded the company known today as IQAir — the company’s website offers real-time air quality readings in cities around the world — the same year the U.S. Clean Air Act highlighted the need to protect lungs.

But the message vapourized into the 1970s and ’80s, exemplified by cigarettes and smoky interiors common in movies like “Pretty in Pink” with James Spader; TV show “Miami Vice” with stress-smoker Sonny Crockett (Don Johnson); and Netflix series “Mindhunter” and “Stranger Things,” both set in those decades.

“A purifier is a really important step to improve wellness in your home,” says Walker, whose sensitivity to toxic chemicals, caused by Lyme disease, spurred her to make her own family home healthy.

But, she cautions, purifiers “are not all created equal.” The best and most effective type has a HEPA filter to capture ultrafine particles and a fan that circulates clean air throughout the entire room, she says.

For optimal performance, the device should also catch VOCs like formaldehyde, “one of the biggies,” she points out. Off-gassed from household products such as glues, paint, flooring and cleaning products, the pollutant can irritate skin, eyes, nose and throat.

Dyson’s sleek, $1,100 Purifier Humidify+Cool Formaldehyde model promises to destroy formaldehyde and capture 99.97 per cent of particles as small as 0.3 microns (a human hair is about 75 microns) to push purified and humidified air into a large room.

Ikea has added a design element to purifiers with its new Starkvind model with a unit built into a multi-function side table. It’s available for $239 in both black and white this month, with a stand-alone floor unit selling for $169, and can be used with Ikea’s smart app.

CV

Carola Vyhnak is a Cobourg-based writer covering personal finance, home and real-estate stories. She is a contributor for the Star. Reach her via email: [email protected]

JOIN THE CONVERSATION

Anyone can read Conversations, but to contribute, you should be registered Torstar account holder. If you do not yet have a Torstar account, you can create one now (it is free)

Sign In

Register

Conversations are opinions of our readers and are subject to the Code of Conduct. The Star does not endorse these opinions.
[ad_2]

Originally Appeared Here