Pet Dander and How It Affects Indoor Air Quality
All homes are filled with a wide range of allergens, such as pollen, dust mites and mold spores. If you own almost any type of pet, then your home’s air also likely contains a high concentration of pet dander. Similar to dandruff shed by some people, dander is basically just dead skin cells. Specifically, it refers to the skin cells shed by any animal with hair, fur or feathers, including humans, dogs, cats, birds, guinea pigs and other pets. Some animals, such as hypoallergenic dog breeds, shed less dander, but all animals produce at least some. Pet dander is especially an issue for allergy sufferers or people with respiratory issues, but it can really affect anyone and lead to coughing, sneezing, runny or itchy eyes and a variety of other symptoms. Many pets also give off other allergens that can further worsen indoor air quality. For instance, both cat and dog saliva contains various allergens that stick to their fur whenever they clean themselves, and these allergens then get into the air whenever the animals shed their fur. Cat and dog urine contains numerous allergens as well. All of these different allergens mean that indoor air quality is typically far...
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