In this article, I’ll tell you where to buy formaldehyde test kits and how to reduce the amount of formaldehyde in your home and improve indoor air quality.
In recent years, there has been a lot of research concerning formaldehyde and its effect on our health. According to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, formaldehyde is linked to:
Reducing exposure to formaldehyde at home is paramount for your family’s health. Before we discuss possible formaldehyde sources at your home, let me tell you where to buy a formaldehyde test kit to find out the formaldehyde concentration in your indoor air.
An air quality pollution monitor is the easiest way to screen air for formaldehyde and other pollutants. EG Air Quality Monitor will measure the concentration levels of toxic chemicals, such as formaldehyde, VOCs, mold, humidity, and temperature. Air quality monitors may not be as accurate as Home Air Check testing, as they are not lab-certified, but they may be just enough if you want to use them at home.
The device is portable, so you can place it in different rooms to get real-time results and help you find the main sources of pollution in your home. To find the sources of formaldehyde, VOCs or mold in your house, you can place the air quality meter in a sealed plastic bag along with an object or pieces of it (e.g., ceiling tiles).
For more accurate results, leave it there for a few hours. This air quality meter is a very useful way of finding and eliminating potential sources of irritation and allergy triggers and improving indoor air quality.
The last air quality testing option are Air Formaldehyde Test Strips. The strips will give you a general idea of whether the levels of formaldehyde at your home are dangerous. It’s a fast and economical way of finding formaldehyde levels, providing visual results to let you assess the air quality at your home or office. The test takes up to 50 minutes and it comes with 6-step instructions.
Although these formaldehyde test strips will only show formaldehyde levels in the air (the EG Air Quality Monitor which also shows other harmful substance levels) and the results will not give you detailed results (Home Air Check), it may be just enough to check if the air you breathe doesn’t harm your health.
If you want to check the concentration levels of formaldehyde in your home or workplace, you can have it professionally tested. It’s especially useful in newly built or newly renovated buildings. Home Air Check offers a variety of air quality tests. Their formaldehyde test covers 2000 sq. ft. (the side of a 1-2 bedroom apartment or a small house). You’ll need to order more tests if you’ve got a bigger house. So how does it work?
If the formaldehyde concentration in indoor air is higher than 0.1 ppm (per million parts of air) it can irritate the respiratory tract and trigger asthma-like symptoms. The permissible levels of formaldehyde in the workplace are 0.75 ppm over 8 hours, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
It’s worth having your indoor air tested for formaldehyde as in high concentrations, it can have a negative effect on your family’s health. Taking steps to reduce formaldehyde exposure at work and home is crucial if you want to improve indoor air quality. Testing for formaldehyde is especially important in new buildings or recently restored buildings, as they may have high concentrations of formaldehyde.
Remember to keep your house well-ventilated with windows open whenever possible, especially in rural areas. Using an air purifier can be especially useful in urban areas where the concentration of formaldehyde in outdoor air may be high, so opening the windows may not be the best option.
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My name is Kamila, and I'm passionate about researching non-toxic, organic products for the home. I believe it's so important to create a safe and healthy environment for our families, and I enjoy helping others do the same.