We all know the benefits of a good night’s sleep, but it can sometimes seem harder to achieve than it should. The amount and quality of sleep that you get can directly affect both your mental and physical health, so it is important to get those vital hours of rest.
Whilst you might try plenty of relaxation techniques, essential oils, and even herbal remedies, it might actually be the quality of the air in your bedroom that dictates how easily you get to sleep.
You might blame stress, outside noise or the wrong kind of light in your bedroom, but a study conducted in 2017 found that people living in areas of high outdoor air pollution levels were 60% more likely to suffer from poor sleep patterns. Further studies that suggest poor ventilation can also impact on our sleep.
With this in mind, Dominic Little, Director of Chill Air Conditoning, shares his insight into how air quality can affect your sleep and what you can do about it.
Air quality
Most of us will have found at one time or another that it is easier to drift off with some light ventilation coming from a fan or an open window. It prevents the room from becoming stuffy and stops us from overheating, and it is this ventilation that will impact on the air quality in your bedroom. A room which is completely closed-up can see carbon dioxide levels rise to 2,500 or 3,000 parts per million while you sleep. This might not sound too alarming until you realise that this is around three times the recommended levels.
When you’re exposed to these levels of carbon dioxide through the night, you can suffer from lower sleep efficiency as a result, and studies have found that this will then lead to decreased cognitive functions the next day.
There are other things that can lurk in the air to affect its quality, including mold and allergens such as pet dander and dust mites. These can cause mild allergy symptoms such as nasal congestion, which only flare up once you are in bed. Regular exposure to these for extended periods of time, such as overnight, can eventually lead to insomnia and restless sleep.
Particle pollution has also been found to affect sleep, with tiny particles or droplets in the air travelling deep into the respiratory tract as you breathe in, taking them to the lungs and the bloodstream.
Short term symptoms such as coughing, sneezing, shortness of breath and irritation of the eyes, throat and nose can occur, with longer term symptoms affecting lung function, asthma and even an increased risk of lung cancer and heart disease.
Improving your sleep
All this information can start to sound quite concerning, but the good news is that there are things that you can do about it. Ventilation can be one of the easiest hurdles to overcome, simply by opening windows and doors a little while you sleep or switching on a fan. This can help to prevent the build up of carbon dioxide in your room, but it does not help if pollution levels outside your window are poor.
Air purifiers can help to replace the polluted air in your bedroom with cleaner air and improve your quality of sleep very quickly. You should also look at the source of allergens and mold in your home and tackle this head on through the regular washing of bedding, banishing pets from the bedroom and showering before going to bed.
Getting to sleep and staying asleep is important, and a few simple steps can help to make a massive difference to both your air quality and your sleep quality.
