1. < MAC & Bronchiectasis

NTM in House Dust - suggestions for minimizing exposure

Posted by becleartoday @becleartoday, Jan 4, 2023

Years ago, while living in Woodstock, New York, I decided to leave the health field for a while and do something creative. I became a home stager. If you have ever watched HGTV you know what I’m talking about. I helped people prepare their homes for sale and loved it! Once the home was decluttered, some of my clients would jokingly tell me that their home felt so spacious and inviting that they no longer wanted to move!

So why not create that cozy and clean feeling for everyday living? Why not create space for better breathing, fewer cleaning chores and more creative thinking? Because whether we realize it or not, how we live impacts our health physically, mentally and emotionally.

Let’s get started with some tips:

The first step might be to remove area carpets and drapery. Not all of them, but rather those you can live without. Replace drapery with easy-to-clean blinds. This simple step will reduce dust that can cause lung infections (see research link below) and you will have more light.

Pare down your bookshelves. If you are not going to reread or refer to your books, think about donating them to a used bookstore or library. One of my dustiest jobs as a home stager was packing up a clients’ books. At the time I didn’t know I had bronchiectasis and I am sure that the many dusty jobs I did unmasked, were not good for me.

Once the largest tasks are completed, label bags DONATE and GARBAGE. Then, go through a couple of drawers every day and decide whether you want to keep, donate or throw away items.

Look around each room to see if there is unnecessary furniture and remove it. Rearrange the rooms so that they are more functional and pleasing.

Now that so much has been removed, it’s time for a deep cleaning. If you can afford to have cleaning help - great. If you are doing the cleaning, wear a mask and don’t get overtired. Do a little each day.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20434494/

Happy 2023,
Linda Esposito

#declutter #maclungdisease #ntmlungdisease #nodust #bronchiectasis #copd #covid

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the MAC & Bronchiectasis Support Group.

irenea8 | @irenea8 | May 18, 2023

I guess one assumption on the use of air purifiers is that you just use them when you have the AC or Heat on with windows closed. Am I correct in assuming that no one uses theirs with the windows open?? What would be the point as you could never purify all the outdoor air. I have a friend who uses his Austin year round even when the windows are open. To me that makes no sense. On another topic of air quality we recently switched to an electric stove. We had an unvented gas stove since we moved in here in 2001. We are unable to vent to outdoors in this house. Even if we could have vented, the new information that has come out on gas stoves is that they are REALLY not good for you. Since switching to the electric stove the air seems better inside and especially around the stove while cooking! Cooking on electric is a bit of a drag but worth it for air quality and lungs.

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irenea8 | @irenea8 | May 18, 2023
In reply to @sueinmn "We use the Honeywell Insight series portable HEPA air filters. I have several, in different sizes..." + (show)
@sueinmn

We use the Honeywell Insight series portable HEPA air filters. I have several, in different sizes for our most occupied rooms. This is in addition to the HEPA system on our whole house system heating and air conditioning system. We considered several others, including the Austin Air, but came back to Honeywell for reliability, consistent performance, more compact footprint and ready availability of filters. Both of our kids have other types in their homes and have had to search high & low and wait for replacement filters at times.
We live summers in an urban area, winters in an agricultural area so both pollution and dust mitigation are important to us.
I think the bottom line is, are you comfortable with what you have? How do you mitigate dust and pollution when you are outdoors? If you are OK with no mask, or an N95 mask, the Honeywell is better than either. If you always wear an N99 Mask when not in the house, then Medical Grade air cleaning makes sense.
Sue

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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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2 replies
scoop | @scoop | May 18, 2023
In reply to @irenea8 "Thanks Sue. I am probably dense but I am not following the logic of your last..." + (show)
@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?

Jump to this post

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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Mentor
Sue, Volunteer Mentor | @sueinmn | May 18, 2023
In reply to @irenea8 "Thanks Sue. I am probably dense but I am not following the logic of your last..." + (show)
@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?

Jump to this post

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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