Thursday, October 9, 2008
If you can’t remember the last time your air ducts were cleaned, you could be inhaling contaminated air. Just because you don’t see it doesn’t mean you aren’t breathing it.
Paul Mathews, associate professor of respiratory care education at the KU Medical Center, says air ducts store dust and other particles over time, and when air passes through the ducts it spreads this debris into our dorm rooms and apartments.
“It’s like turning a vacuum on backwards,” Mathews says. “But it’s more insidious because you don’t expect it to happen.”
Mathews says air ducts can trap a lot of things, some potentially dangerous to your health. Mold, bacteria, fungus and even some viruses can live in air ducts. Dust, which is made up of human skin and pet dander, also piles up in ducts.
Matt Kitzmann of Air Quality Solutions, an air duct cleaning company in Rochester, Minn., says that air ducts accumulate a lot of dust if left uncleaned for a long time, “We’ve seen them two inches thick, like a blanket of dust, pet dander and human dander,” Kitzmann says.
Dust isn’t the only thing Kitzmann finds when cleaning air ducts. He says on occasion he will find decaying rodents such as mice and squirrels that died in the air vents.
Kitzmann recommends getting your air ducts cleaned every four years, and Mathews says he cleans his air ducts once a year.
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