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NTM in House Dust - suggestions for minimizing exposure

MAC & Bronchiectasis | Last Active: May 18, 2023 | Replies (24)
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@irenea8

Thanks Sue. I am probably dense but I am not following the logic of your last two sentences. Can you explain that? I never wear a mask outdoors in the yard unless some project calls for it and I do not have allergies but I do have long standing Bronchiectasis and chronic Pseudomonas. We get all kinds of bad things in our air in Southeast Iowa so I am looking to cover all the bases with the house filtration. Right now windows are open and I am not using anything. Not hot enough for AC yet. Does the Honeywell really cover all the bases?

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Replies to "Thanks Sue. I am probably dense but I am not following the logic of your last..."
scoop | @scoop | May 18, 2023

Jumping in to say (but not fully) answer, it depends. If the air outside is polluted (pollen, smog, wildfires etc) then keep windows closed. If your home air is polluted (cooking smells, new furniture, paint, cleaning products) open the windows. Most houses etc leak to some degree, so there's some air coming in despite a closed window. Air purifiers are meant to clean the air in a room, about 5-6 changes per hour. That's more difficult to do with the window open. Check your local air quality and decide for yourself about windows.

You can check your local AQI air quality index here.
https://www.airnow.gov/aqi/

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Sue, Volunteer Mentor | @sueinmn | May 18, 2023

You're not dense, I just didn't explain well (rereading confused me.) What I meant was, if I am willing to breathe the outdoor air unfiltered, then 97-99% filtration indoors is "good enough" for me.
The logic behind filtering indoor air at all is that pollutants concentrate there compared to outside, plus we generate more with cooking, chemicals, etc. But to me, that means removing "substantially all" (97%) of the particles, plus odors and (where I live) smoke from wildfires) satisfies me. I don't feel I need medical grade filtration at home.
Does that help?
Sue

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