For a happy and healthy Christmas season, you want to make sure that everything you incorporate into your holiday decorations is in good condition, and that it doesn’t leave you with annoying symptoms of a certain thing called Christmas Tree syndrome.

What is Christmas Tree syndrome?

This happens when people experience allergic or respiratory conditions after they introduce live or artificial trees, or Christmas decorations, into their homes.

That’s one of the distinctive parts of the holiday season – adding something to your living space that’s not there the rest of the year. In fact, it’s hard to think of any other real examples of this during a given calendar year. So Christmas decorating is an important tradition.

Here are some ways to make sure you don’t suffer from Christmas tree syndrome in your home.

Types of Christmas Tree Syndrome with Live Trees

With a live tree, you can have problems related to these issues:

Mold, spores or fungus - If these are on the tree, they can get into the air and cause allergic reactions.

Pollen – pine trees can have residual pollen on them, which can be an allergen.

Tree sap or resin – the sap of a pine tree is actually pretty stringent, and can generate some allergic reactions in some people.

Dust or debris – this has to do with the tree’s environment, and whether it has collected these kinds of air contaminants.

Reactions to Artificial Christmas Trees

People can also have a reaction to an artificial tree for various reasons, including:

Dust and dust mites – again, this has to do with how the tree is stored. An artificial tree that is stored in a dusty place can come with this kind of irritant.

Chemical off-gassing – some artificial trees are made with synthetic chemicals that can have an effect on human respiratory systems. Some of these are referred to as volatile organic compounds or VOCs.

Mold – these items can also have mold if they’ve been stored in a damp place.

Symptoms of Christmas Tree Syndrome

People who have allergic reactions or other triggers from Christmas trees and decorations may have symptoms like:

·        Stuffy or runny nose

·        Coughing

·        Watery eyes

·        Scratchy or irritated throat

For best results, make sure you know how trees and decorations were stored – and evaluate live trees for the types of natural substances that can trigger allergic reactions in you or someone in your family.

Keeping Your Home Air Clean All Year Round

Indoor air quality isn’t just an issue at Christmas time.

Whether it’s residual smoke from wildfires, the products of factory pollution, or just greenhouse gases from traffic, many unwanted contaminants can tend to build up inside a home. This includes anything that comes from home systems, any kind of volatile organic compounds off-gassed by furniture or consumer goods, and the eventual buildup of dust or mold in a building.

How do you handle these kinds of contingencies?

First, you can use an available air monitor to check the health of your indoor air, and see what’s in it. Then you can use an air purifier machine to remediate any conditions that you find.

You can get portable air purifiers, or whole home systems, to be able to breathe easy and be confident about your health in your own home. At Christmas time, you can use an affordable smaller Airfree unit to sit by the tree, to cycle out much of the microbial stuff coming from this new addition to your home. Or you can use a Respiray wearable model to control the air coming into your body, for overall personal protection. In addition, there are all kinds of other makes and models of various shapes and sizes, using a range of cleansing technologies, that you can choose from according to your needs. 

US Air Purifiers LLC will help with warranty information, models, and much more. Whether it’s December or any other month of the year, we are here for our customers to help them to get what they need for the best possible result in keeping their indoor home air clean and breathable.

Too often, we don’t think about the contaminants in the air around us.

After all, for many of us, it’s out of sight, out of mind – we might think we have more important things to think about – but really, what’s more important than your personal health?

In so many cases, people just don’t really focus on their indoor environment until they start to get sick or experience problems. But at that stage, the situation is pretty far advanced.

Think about how to handle these nasty items proactively when they pop up in an indoor space, whether that’s your home, or an indoor business area. You’ll be several steps ahead of big problems related to allergies and more.

Mold and Allergens

Mold or various allergens like pollen can really harm a person’s respiratory system. 

Research from Statista shows that approximately 14% of adults in the United States report having a mold allergy – that’s around 36 million adults affected by these kinds of allergies.

Again, this often starts out subtle, but can get gradually worse as time goes on. If you have hidden mold, you may not know there’s a problem right away – but as you start to have symptoms, you’ll think about the process of controlling these types of contaminants in the air. That’s when it’s time to consider more advanced processes like restoration. People suffering from this type of condition may experience:

• Stuffy or runny nose
• Blocked sinuses
• Wheezing or difficulty breathing
• Coughing or throat irritation

This can be quite frightening and uncomfortable.

But you can treat this before it becomes a real problem - read on…

Bad Odors

This is actually one that people tend to notice right away, because our noses are trained to identify odors that represent air pollution.

So if you have, for example, pet odors, you know where that’s coming from. You might have an odor of mustiness attached to items in your home that might have mold damage.

But this is one of the more obvious issues with indoor air. It’s still something that you can do something about!

Dust Mites

These little critters hide out in your home’s air, or in a business space, due to the accumulation of dust and debris in a room or space. They’re invisible, but they can trigger allergies and other issues. You don’t want a lot of these swirling around in the air that you breathe. Dust mites thrive in temperatures of 68–77°F (20–25°C) and relative humidity levels of 70–80%. They can contribute to asthma and chronic symptoms. 

Bacteria

Bacteria and germs also permeate indoor areas. These are some of your more natural contaminants, meaning that they arise through organic processes. That’s in contrast to, say, chemicals from toxic cleaners, which we’ve gone over in various other blog posts.

Here’s the thing: you can handle both of these with natural probiotic air treatment methods and air purifiers with HEPA filters.

A One-Two Punch Through High-Quality Probiotics

BetterAir’s probiotic systems address both organic issues with your indoor air, and the issues with your caustic chemical cleaners.

First of all, you can throw those abrasive chemicals in the trash. All you need is natural probiotic systems, and HEPA filtration for indoor air contaminants.

Here’s how it works. The HEPA filter pulls items out of the air for example, those mold, spores, allergens, and other particles. A standard HEPA filter is 99.97% effective for particles down to .3 microns. You can also get super HEPA models that will strain indoor air even further.

At the same time, the probiotic system is introducing healthy microbes into your air to fight harmful bacteria.

Doing those two things together really helps to implement better air quality in your indoor space. You can purify rooms, and get rid of allergies with a natural system that’s proven to work well against things like Covid, and also, against various kinds of chemical compounds that can be harmful to your health.

At US Air Purifiers, LLC, we sell these innovative models, and help our customers, answering  warranty and shipping questions and helping them to choose the most effective machine(s) for their space and needs. Let us help you to protect the health of you and your family this season.

As we get toward the end of 2024, let’s look at some of the news from the Clean Air Fund, which did a roundup report on global air quality last month.

These news items will help us evaluate how we’re doing in terms of air quality, and our health.

Some of them are really an eye-opener, and make you think about how to preserve the natural environment and quality of life in the modern age. You can also think about how to promote better longevity and quality of life for yourself, and your family.

Decreases in Emissions, But Concerns on Long-Term Air Quality

First, there’s the Lancet countdown report on health and climate change. This shows how air pollution is connected to health and wellness. Researchers actually document a decrease in the burning of fossil fuels, about 10 percentage points from 2016 to 2021.

However, what writers call “cascading impacts” are a concern, and experts cite years of delayed action as “reducing the chances of mankind’s long-term survival.”

“Record-high emissions are posing record-breaking threats to our health,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres in press comments. “We must cure the sickness of climate inaction – by slashing emissions, protecting people from climate extremes, and ending our fossil fuel addiction – to create a fairer, safer, and healthier future for all.”

All of that will have an impact on our air and water.

WMA Declaration

The Clean Air Fund also reported on the World Medical Association’s “Declaration on Prevention and Reduction of Air Pollution.”

8.1 million premature deaths, researchers find, occur each year due to air pollution, and the same contamination raises risks for stroke, lung cancer, and chronic respiratory conditions.

The report enumerates items like sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane and VOCs, as major contaminants, and suggests that 99% of the global population exposed to air pollution above the WHO limits, with the number of pollution-related deaths to increase 50% by 2050.

“Air pollution poses a major global and environmental risk to human health contributing significantly to avoidable morbidity and mortality nationwide worldwide,” they write.

The group calls for more international work, and cites different kinds of combustion emissions, as well as biological pollutants like bacteria and viruses. It calls for engaging with different levels of stakeholders to work together to advance better air quality.

Company Sustainability

The World Benchmarking Alliance 2024 Urban Benchmark shows the results for 300 companies that are having an impact on human health worldwide.

Affordability does not factor into the sustainability agenda for 75% of urban companies, study authors suggest.

Some 3 billion people are estimated to be without adequate affordable housing and basic services by 2050.

These are just some of the issues included in the Lancet report, which is a timely look at what we’re doing to deal with air pollution in our communities.

Along with action on pollution and community involvement, you can take steps to improve your health, and the health of your family inside your home.

Many of the same contaminants mentioned in the report lurk in your home’s indoor air.

That includes volatile organic compounds or VOCs that are often industrial byproducts. They can be off-gassed by furniture and consumer goods, or building materials.

Then, of course, bacteria and virus particles are often introduced into indoor air.

One of the primary lines of defense is to use air monitors in homes and businesses, and then install air purifier machines.

Machines with high-quality medical filters trap 99.97% particles down to .3 microns.

This provides an opportunity to really scrub a lot of contaminants and pollutants out of the air, and contribute to a healthier experience in your home day to day.

Let US Air Purifiers LLC help with selecting your tools and resources and getting air purifier operations into your playbook.

Where can you get accurate information on how clean air efforts work in America?

Yes, you can listen to or watch the news, or read newspapers, but you can also get some good information from public documents.

For example, take a look at this event agenda for the San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District in California. This document covers public meetings in November, where board members and others look at strategy and planning for better clean air outcomes.

A Formal Invitation

You have information like the logo and board members’ names on the first page – starting on the second page, there is the agenda, which shows you what goes into these kinds of local and regional planning efforts.

All of that gives the document the heft it needs to represent a formal effort at collaboration. Municipal authorities have clout. This signifies the commitment that the community as a whole is making to address the issues.

Programs and Resources

One agenda item is clean air implementations around a fireworks safety program that aims at reducing the use of fireworks in the area.

There’s also an agenda item on collaboration with state and federal parties for wildfire prevention.

The agenda also mentions the district’s ‘service, teamwork, attitude and respect’ or ‘STAR’ work culture, and outlines things like high productivity and problem-solving, along with believing in the importance of community safety.

These and other items show people come together to create local initiatives around clean air.

Federal Resources and Planning

There’s also information on events like Community Clean Air Day in the San Joaquin Valley.

You can see pictures of people convening to address the problem of air quality.

But you can also see a focus on resources like the AirNow website offered through the federal, Environmental Protection Agency.

That can also relate to corresponding local programs: under potential safety tools, board documents talk about programs called ROAR and RAAN (Real time Outdoor Activity Risk and Real time Air Advisory Network) guidelines. 

An agenda attachment also goes over the development of the EPA AirNow system and how it launched in 1998, while being expanded on throughout the years afterward.

This incorporates the federal air quality index, and the fire and smoke map that is now available on the website.

More Action on Air Pollution

All of this showcases what local planners can do to give residents more tools to address air quality in their communities.

These are proactive and positive efforts to try to handle various kinds of contaminants and pathogens in the air around us.

But there’s also the possibility of improving the air inside of your home, where you spend most of your time.

We know that a lot of these potentially harmful microbes make their way into indoor air. We know that ventilation is important, and we also know that air purifier machines can help cycle that air to remove many kinds of pollutants. That’s not just the kinds of things that are tracked on AirNow – PM2.5 and certain kinds of combustion products – but also the kinds of volatile organic compounds that sneak into your house with new furniture and consumer goods or different kinds of renovations.

Any of these things contaminating your air can have an impact on your health, and you’ll benefit from installing air purifier machines to help track and remove those particles. That also extends to other nasties like pollen, dust mites and various allergens.

Use an air monitor to identify the state of your indoor air, and then use air purifiers to mitigate it. The best models with HEPA filtration can remove a lot from the air! For example, with the popular Airpura brand, Airpura's SuperHEPA is 99.99% effective for .1 microns, and a standard HEPA is 99.97% effective for .3 microns.

We’ll help you with everything to do with warranty, model, air changes and more. US Air Purifiers LLC helps customers to do this and everything else related to getting the best resources for their money. It’s all part of providing our customers with the best experience: ask us about how to get results in your home.

Molekule is a high-tech air purifier brand supported by solid research. These high-design appliances link to your smartphone to show you various ratings on indoor air quality. You can also control fan speeds, or use other features through a digital interface. (Read more about smartphone interoperability here). 

Want great indoor air protection with style and the latest technology? You can order a versatile air purifier from Molekule, and get serious firepower for keeping your indoor air in good shape.

A Range of Contaminants

Air purifiers can help with allergens that may lurk in your home’s indoor air. Allergic reactions often start off small, and then become worse over time as the indoor air environment gets worse, or the allergy sufferer becomes more sensitive. Head these problems off at the pass with technology that makes your home’s air more livable and breathable.

The Molekule air purifier can also trap small virus particles. We got a crash course on how important virus prevention is in indoor spaces over the last few years. It’s not just coronavirus, either - an air purifier with a good HEPA filter will trap a lot of different viral particles and remove them from the air. Molekule models also use PECO technology and are FDA cleared for viruses: read more below.

Mold is a killer when it comes to property maintenance. It can also trigger a range of health conditions. When someone has an allergy, they are particularly vulnerable to the effects of mold. Mold spores and fragments can irritate the respiratory system, especially for individuals with allergies or respiratory conditions. However, even for people without a mold allergy, with certain kinds of exposure, they can develop one. The solution is to keep mold out of the air, where it can get breathed into the lungs. 

An air purifier machine with the right technology will clear the air, and help to maintain an indoor space.

And then there’s wildfire smoke - we also know how intrusive wildfire smoke can be after regional wildfires have ravaged the country in the past couple of years.

Specifically, wildfires generate something called PM2.5 – small particles that can be harmful to your health.

Molekule Air Purifiers

Some Molekule devices are FDA cleared as class II medical devices. They’ve been well engineered to get rid of various indoor contaminants, and are up to the agency’s strict standards.

These also have a combination of HEPA filtration and something called PECO or Photo Electric Chemical Oxidation. This process destroys the allergens and other contaminants – read more about it on the Molekule web site, or ask the folks at US Air Purifiers LLC.

It’s all safe for people and pets with simple chemistry that can neutralize harmful elements in the air.

Black Friday Deals

You can get an innovative Molekule machine at a discount price this fall, on Black Friday and cyber Monday, as manufacturers of all kinds offer slashed pricing on some of their most popular items.

Molekule is no exception: the company is offering $130 off of the MN2PH-US model (through an applicable rebate) for an effective price of $299.99.

There’s also a small rebate on MN1-PHFL-US and SQ1-PHFL-US filter models, for a deal on maintenance.

As for the flagship SQ2PH-US model that is listed with an MSRP of $1014.99, a $385 rebate makes the effective price $629.99.

All this, plus style, too. These machines look good in your home, and work around the clock to protect your health and the health of your family.

Let US Air Purifiers LLC help you to get the machines that you need, and the solutions for your home’s indoor air. We have a track record of assisting customers with everything they need to get the most out of their air purification systems. We’ll advise on warranties, capacity and much more. Get the peace of mind that you need from this kind of purchase.