Maintaining a comfortable and clean indoor space is crucial for our health and well-being.
While we focus on regulating humidity, temperature, and cleanliness in our houses, we often ignore one important consideration: indoor air quality or IAQ.
One technique that affects IAQ is heat treatment. Used for insect management, this technique has adverse effects that one must examine.
Let’s take a look at how heat treatment affects indoor air quality, possible advantages, difficulties, and ways to minimise any bad effects.
Understanding Heat Treatment and Its Uses Indoors
It’s important to know what this process entails before exploring how it can affect indoor air quality.
It involves increasing the temperature of an indoor space to high degrees. It usually exceeds 120°F or 49°C for a set period.
This approach is commonly employed for the eradication of bed bugs and other relentless invaders that are resistant to traditional chemical solutions.
While heat treatment is highly effective in insect control, it can also be used as a cleaning technique. Some individuals also use it to treat or stop wood deterioration and increase the durability of building materials.
Although heat treatment is quite efficient, it sometimes results in a notable change in the indoor surroundings.
The high temperatures required for this treatment can affect building materials, household components, and even the air in ways that affect IAQ.
The Immediate Effects of Heat Treatment on Indoor Air
Heat treatment in a room causes direct changes in air temperature and humidity. Although this increase in temperatures seems harmless, it can actually accelerate the release of volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, from objects within the treated region.
From paints and furniture to cleaning products or even carpets, VOCs come from many home items and are released at low levels under normal conditions.
These levels can spike with extreme heat.
High heat can accelerate the breakdown of plastics, paints, and adhesives, therefore releasing perhaps dangerous substances into the air more rapidly.
While exposure in the long run will create more serious health issues, brief contact can result in headaches and eye irritation.
Chemical Reactions and Pollutants Released During Heat Treatment
The high temperatures in the treated areas can set off chemical reactions. For instance, several architectural materials, including paints, plasterboard, or wooden constructions, can degrade thermally.
Other dangerous compounds resulting from this process include nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide, both of which compromise indoor air quality.
Furthermore, some insulating materials, such as spray foam, emit dangerous gases under extremely high temperatures.
In poorly ventilated rooms, these gases can stay trapped and over time reduce the air quality to an elevated degree.
The indoor air is far more hazardous to breathe when these chemicals mix with other airborne contaminants. As a result, they can create secondary pollutants.
Heat treatment works as a decontamination step by killing off fungus, mould, and germs.
This eliminates bacteria and can help clean the air in areas with high moisture levels like basements. Consequently, this lowers allergies and respiratory irritants.
Addressing the Changes in Humidity and Ventilation Post-Treatment
Heat treatment can induce considerable humidity changes even though its main goals are usually material enhancement or pest control.
Rising temperatures lead to rapid evaporation of the moisture in the air, hence making indoor environments more dry than normal.
For people with respiratory conditions, arid air can aggravate their conditions. It can also dry out our mucous membranes, therefore increasing sensitivity to airborne irritants.
Once heat treatment is complete and room temperature drops, condensation can form on surfaces if humidity levels are not managed properly.
This sudden change can offset mould development which will undermine the benefits of this treatment, including removing pests.
Proper ventilation is quite important after a heat treatment. Without enough airflow, harmful gases and VOCs can all linger in an insulated environment.
By using an air filtration system, opening windows, or utilising fans, you can remove pollutants and restore air quality to more acceptable levels.
Strategies for Improving Indoor Air Quality After Heat Treatment
You now know how heat treatment can affect air quality, especially through the production of VOCs, contaminants, and surges in humidity levels.
However, it’s vital to minimise these effects. Making sure that a room has proper airflow both during and after treatment is a high priority.
You can do so with simple actions like opening windows or running exhaust fans. This can help eliminate floating chemical particles and contaminants.
Alternatively, you can use air purifiers with activated carbon filters to improve the air quality. Think of removing items that expel harmful particles. This includes carpets or plastic-based items.
When it comes to the building materials and insulation choose, if at all feasible, heat-resistant materials. Such products release less harmful chemicals at higher temperatures.
Those with allergies or respiratory problems should wait before returning to the treated area.
Allow time for the air to clear and the temperature to stabilise. Monitoring air quality with measuring devices is another useful step to ensure that the room is safe to use.
Professional Support for Managing Heat Treatment
Given the potential impact it can have on air quality, you must call in experts for heat treatments.
Usually, these pest exterminators have systems in place to reduce the release of dangerous chemicals. They also guarantee sufficient post-treatment ventilation of the area.
Many of these experts also know how to properly control interior air quality. They can do so by employing industrial fans or air scrubbers to remove any residual contaminants.
Professionals can also provide post-treatment air quality tests. This would be particularly helpful if asthma or other respiratory ailments run in your family.
Ensuring the treated area is not only pest-free, but also safe for living is crucial for long-term health and comfort.
The Long-Term Impact on Indoor Air Quality
Although heat treatment clearly affects indoor air quality, there are potential long-term effects as well that one must take into account.
Repeated heat treatments over time will break down some materials in your house and produce more VOCs or other pollutants.
You should monitor indoor air quality, particularly in cases of frequent heat treatments. You can achieve this by installing air quality sensors in the most frequently used areas of the house.
These sensors often provide real-time data on airborne chemicals as well as humidity. This allows you to respond quickly if these levels are high.
Incorporating filters, such as HEPA filters, into your HVAC units, can also provide ongoing protection against harmful particles.
Conclusion
Heat treatment is an efficient and environmentally friendly method of controlling pests and increasing construction material durability. However, it is essential to acknowledge its potential influence on indoor air quality.
From the emission of toxic VOCs and pollutants to variations in humidity levels, heat treatment can have multiple adverse effects on air quality.
Thus, you must be proactive post-treatment by maintaining proper ventilation, using air purifiers, and consulting professionals.