How Air Quality Plays a Role in Managing Stress and Emotional Health

Everyone knows the air we breathe directly (and immediately) impacts our physical health, but were you aware that it could also affect your emotional well-being and ability to deal with stress?

The connections are closely tied to the biological effects of air pollution, especially on respiratory and cardiovascular systems. Emotional well-being is linked to physical health and stress levels, after all, and both can be affected by air pollution. Given these facts, it’s not a stretch to say that air quality, specifically the lack thereof, can affect people’s stress management and emotional health.

 

 

Defining Air Quality

Air quality refers to the cleanliness and purity of the air. According to NASA, air quality is measured by determining the presence of particulate matter, gases, and pollutants in the air.

So, when we say air quality is high, it means the air is clean and restorative, mentally and physically. Conversely, when we say air quality is low, it means air pollution is high at worst or humidity is at an uncomfortable level at best.

The EPA reports the Air Quality Index (AQI) daily. The AQI indicates the concentration of five major air pollutants, plus lead. It assigns a color for the different levels of pollution with green being the cleanest and safest, and maroon as hazardous. Quantitatively, an AQI of over 100 means the air is unhealthy.

There is also indoor air quality that may or may not be influenced by outdoor AQI. Depending on ventilation, HVAC performance, and presence of certain gases and chemicals, indoor air quality can be low even if the outdoor AQI is at a safe level. In fact, the American Lung Association says indoor air can be two to five times more polluted than outdoor air.

This means that everybody is vulnerable to poor air quality. The rest of this blog will focus on two crucial matters related to our health that are often overlooked in matters regarding air pollution: stress and emotional well-being.

 

 

Low Air Quality Aggravates Stress

Did you know that stress can be beneficial to our health? It teaches our mind and body to develop protective responses when facing biological and real-world dangers.

Excess stress, of course, is detrimental. It can trigger a variety of health conditions:

• Hair loss
• Skin problems (i.e., acne breakouts and psoriasis flare-ups)
• Stomach ulcers
• Hormonal imbalance
• Insomnia
• Obesity
• Autoimmune diseases
• Heart disease
• Liver disease
• Depression

Although people respond differently to stressful situations and triggers, there are common stressors that we can safely say affect everyone in varying degrees. Dirty air is one of them.

There are many studies showing the links between air pollution and stress. An early study by researchers from Harvard School of Public Health analyzed the impact of air pollution on perceived stress. They looked at how 987 respondents rated their stress when exposed to fine particles, black carbon, and other common air pollutants. They found that perceived stress is elevated proportionally with exposure to pollutants.

Researchers also found that indoor air quality has a similar impact on people. Students, who are ensconced inside classrooms and school buildings most of the day, and office employees who similarly spend hours in enclosed rooms, are especially vulnerable to stress due to poor air quality.

An important takeaway from many of the scientific journals and research about this topic is that air pollution can raise stress, and elevated stress is often a precursor to mental health problems. As such, air quality management, especially indoors, is vital for reducing physical stress and mitigating emotional and mental distress.

Buying an ENERGY STAR commercial dehumidifier is a step towards achieving this goal. Dehumidifiers regulate humidity, and in the process cleans the air and makes it fresher.

Those with ENERGY STAR stamps are even better because they consume less energy. The lower the energy consumption, the lower its greenhouse gas emissions and carbon footprint. This aligns perfectly with the goal of addressing stress due to air pollution.

 

 

Low Air Quality Causes Emotional Distress

There’s more published research literature on the connection between air pollution and emotional distress. While emotions and mental conditions are different, they are closely linked to each other.

One recent study published last February 2025 found that short-term exposure (4 hours) to polluted air makes people less capable of fielding off distracting, irrelevant information. It also led to incorrect perceptions of emotional expressions on other people’s faces, like joy and fear.

Another study also revealed that exposure to commuter-level air pollution produces cytokines in the brain. Cytokines are proteins that act as messengers between cells. They control inflammation and play a role in the immune system’s response to germs, bacteria, and the like.

Cytokines are also biomarkers for depression. Psychiatrists note that people with suicidal tendencies or diagnosed with depression tend to have high levels of this protein.

It’s difficult to say plainly that poor air quality can lead to emotional and mental distress, but the correlations between the three are undeniable. When people get stressed, they are easily vexed, become irritable, have less patience, and are easily agitated and frustrated. Collectively, these emotions heighten anxiety, which is very much on the territory of mental health.

These links are reason enough to take initiative and control what we can to mitigate emotional and mental distress. And what we can control is indoor air quality. Small steps, such as opening the windows and buying a portable dehumidifier, have positive outcomes that will add up and create meaningful impact on holistic health.

 

 

Manage Physical and Emotional Stress by Improving Indoor Air Quality

The best ways to combat the negative effects of stress and anxiety are, first, to avoid public spaces and buildings with poor air quality; and second, to maintain fresh, clean air inside our homes. To achieve the latter, we recommend the following steps:

• Keep your home well ventilated, especially the bedrooms.
• Invest in reliable air quality solutions like a basement dehumidifier and ACs with HEPA filters.
• Clean your home regularly.
• Bring in some potted plants.
• Indulge in things that enhance the clean surroundings, like air fresheners and flowers.

Do what you can to improve air quality in your home—you can start by dehumidifying your home. Installing an Argendon dehumidifier in your basement or crawl space will be a good start. It absorbs excess moisture in the air very well and will keep the air inside your home fresh and cool. It’s also energy efficient, so you won’t see any dramatic increases in your monthly electricity bill.

Browse our Shop for a closer look at our units’ specs and features and get your Argendon dehumidifier today.