A Christmas tree is synonymous with the Christmas spirit. Both children and adult eyes sparkle when they see a Christmas tree that has been decorated for the season. Unfortunately, the same tree that gets you into the festive spirit can also affect your indoor air quality and health negatively.
Increased Mold Growth
A live Christmas tree can carry over 50 species of mold spores. But that’s just half the story. Having the tree indoors for only two weeks can increase the mold spores in your house to more than 5,000 per cubic meter. That’s astounding considering the number of mold spores in the average healthy home is 500 to 700 per cubic meter. Unbelievably, that distinct pine scent could be accompanied by numerous allergens.
Asthma Attacks
Christmas trees can bring about asthma attacks to people with asthma. Non-sufferers may experience increased sinus activity.
Allergy Symptoms
The mold, pollen, pest remnants, and other allergens that may have collected on the Christmas tree can trigger allergy symptoms like headaches, nasal stuffiness, runny nose, and scratchy throat.
What Can You Do?
You don’t have to deny yourself the pleasure of decorating your home with a Christmas tree. Here are some tips that you can use to reduce its negative impact on your indoor air quality:
- Hose the tree down outside and allow it to dry before taking it indoors. This washes away a considerable amount of the mold and limits spores from getting into the indoor air. Wear gloves as you clean to avoid touching harmful allergens and sap.
- Run an air purifier in the room with the tree to filter out mold spores, dust particles, and pollen.
- Change your HVAC system’s air filter.
- Alternatively, you can get an artificial tree that won’t hurt people with allergies as much as a live tree. Wipe it down using a dust cloth before setting it up inside your house.
The tips above will help protect your home’s air quality during the holiday season. If you’d like to boost the indoor air quality in your Dayton home significantly, contact the experts at Ace Hardware Home Services.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Dayton, Ohio about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).
