Clean Air Day is led by environmental charity Global Action Plan and aims to improve public understanding of air pollution, build awareness of how air pollution affects our health and explain the easy actions we can all take to tackle air pollution, helping protect the environment and our health. This year Vent-Axia is providing some easy to follow tips to improve indoor air quality (IAQ) as part of its ongoing commitment to sharing its knowledge of how ventilation can help protect public health.

This Clean Air Day good indoor air quality at home is more important than ever before since due to the pandemic we are all spending extra time in our homes. COVID-19 has also highlighted the importance of ventilation and the air we breathe. With the average adult taking 23,000 breaths a day, it is vital to reduce indoor air pollution. Vent-Axia is therefore offering seven simple tips accompanied by infographics to help tackle indoor air pollution and improve indoor air quality in the home. See below

“We are pleased to support Clean Air Day as it continues to raise awareness of the importance of clean air. With Public Health England attributing between 28,000 and 36,000 deaths a year from long-term exposure to air pollution, it is the biggest environmental threat to health in the UK,” explains Jenny Smith, head of marketing at Vent-Axia. “Our simple tips will help improve air quality in the home and help ventilation run more efficiently. At Vent-Axia we are committed to improving indoor air quality and sharing our knowledge of how ventilation can help protect public health.”

Indoor air pollution has moved up the agenda in recent years with a raft of research highlighting the devasting health impacts of poor IAQ. A staggering 65% of homes in the UK suffer from poor IAQ as a result of inadequate ventilation. Poor air quality is proven to negatively impact on everyone’s health, increasing the risk of serious illnesses, such as heart disease, and making existing conditions, like respiratory disorders, worse.

In January 2020 the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published the guidance ‘Indoor Air Quality at Home’. In it NICE confirmed the critical role ventilation plays in removing pollutants and improving IAQ in the home, helping people to stay healthy. The guidance is even more key now with people spending an unprecedented amount of time in their homes during COVID-19 restrictions. Confirming the vital role ventilation plays in removing potential pollutants and improving IAQ, the guidance advises people to ensure rooms are well ventilated by extractor fans, trickle vents, cooker hoods or by opening windows, especially when undertaking activities that lead to poor IAQ. These activities include cooking, drying clothes inside, lighting open solid-fuel fires and candles, using cleaning products or solvents and paints, having showers and baths.

To help protect health in the home, Vent-Axia has been working hard to provide ventilation solutions to improve IAQ for households. For new build homes, Vent-Axia’s Sentinel Kinetic mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR) system boasts an impressive 94% heat recovery. A vital part of an MVHR system is its filters. Inside an MVHR unit, fresh incoming air passes through a filter to remove pollen, debris and products of pollution.

For private refurbishments, the Vent-Axia PureAir Sense fan is equipped with a pioneering odour sensor that increases airflow when the air is poor, helping ensure a comfortable living environment. Meanwhile, Positive Input Ventilation (PIV) units, the PoziDry Pro and PoziDry Compact Pro, are designed to improve indoor air quality and prevent moisture build-up within social housing properties, providing an effective solution to help landlords control condensation and mould as well as offering high levels of air filtration

Seven simple tips for Clean Air Day

• Don't forget to ventilate: This will help improve indoor air quality, make you feel more awake and work better if you are working at home.

• Reduce the use of aerosols and use eco-friendly cleaning products: Un-perfumed products with lower VOCs (volatile organic compounds) produce fewer pollutants, making the air in your home healthier to breathe in.

• Use a cooker hood: Whenever you’re cooking, turn on your cooker hood to remove pollution particulates released by cooking. It’s a good idea to use the cooker hood when cleaning your kitchen too.

• Use non-scented candles:Burning candles significantly decreases IAQ, if you like to have a candle lit, unscented versions release fewer pollutants.

• Clean the filters:If your ventilation system uses filters, check them regularly and clean or replace them when needed to ensure the system keeps filtering the air coming into your home effectively.

• Vacuum regularly:Keep on top of dust mites and other sources of allergies by regularly vacuuming your home.

• Ventilate effectively:Use mechanical ventilation if you can to remove polluted or humid air from your home, particularly when cooking, cleaning or taking a shower.