Indoor Air Quality

I didn’t feel poisoned or acutely sick. What I felt was a nervous system that never fully powered down — and it took a long time to understand why.

I kept wondering why the same air felt unbearable to me and invisible to others. Understanding individual susceptibility changed how I stopped blaming myself.

I watched kids move through the same air I was struggling with — and realized their bodies were responding in ways that didn’t look like mine, but mattered just as much.

I kept treating my symptoms as allergies without questioning why they never fully went away — until I realized the air I lived in was part of the pattern.

I kept adjusting my bedtime routine, my lighting, and my schedule — without realizing the air I was sleeping in mattered more than all of it.

For a long time, I thought my anxiety and mental fatigue were personal failures. It took understanding indoor air quality to see how much of it was environmental strain instead.

I thought carbon dioxide was only a concern outdoors or in extreme situations. I didn’t realize how much indoor levels could quietly shape how alert or exhausted I felt at home.

I thought air problems were about gases or smells. I didn’t realize how much damage could come from tiny particles I couldn’t see at all.

I assumed mold was either a visible problem or not a problem at all. What I learned was how much exists in the air long before you ever see it.

I didn’t connect my sleep changes or emotional shifts to air at first. Once I understood VOCs, the patterns finally made sense.