How Rodent Infestations Can Affect Your Indoor Air Quality

When you think about the air quality in your house, various things might come to mind. Maybe you’re trying to remember the last time you dusted. Perhaps you’re worrying about the high levels of moisture that accumulate in your bathroom, even when you run the fan. Maybe you’re wondering how long it will take to save up enough money to remove the old carpets you’re sure are full of allergens throughout your house.

Whatever comes to mind when thinking about your Hampton Roads home’s air quality, rodents are probably not one of those things. However, a rodent infestation can directly affect the air quality in your house, and that effect is always negative. Learn more about how rodents affect air quality, how they get into homes, and the steps you can take to make your house rodent-free and healthy below.

Why rodents are a health risk to your home’s air quality

Most people know that a rodent infestation is bad news, but you probably have concerns unrelated to air quality when you think about mice or roof rats getting into your house. Rodents are known for the damage they cause, which is primarily related to their constant chewing. If rodents enter your home, they’ll chew through insulation, wiring, plumbing pipes, and anything else they can sink their teeth into. 

You probably also know that rodents are dangerous to your family’s health because they could contaminate your food. If mice are foraging through your pantry or rats are crawling around on your counters at night looking for a snack, they’ll contaminate these areas with rodent droppings. This type of activity can contaminate your food, making you sick.

Although everything mentioned above is bad news, unfortunately, that’s not where the bad news ends. Health risks from rodents extend into your home’s air quality. 

When rodents get into your house, they leave droppings everywhere they go. They also leave urine and fur all over the place. If rodent droppings, urine, or fur are allowed to sit for any length of time, they will begin to break down into tiny particles that can become airborne. 

One of the primary concerns regarding rodents and your home’s air quality is the rodent allergens that can be in the airborne particles. Experiencing allergies from rodents is not uncommon, especially for individuals who tend to struggle with allergies already. A rodent problem can trigger allergy and asthma symptoms in people sensitive to these particles.

The other concern about airborne particles from rodents is that those particles can contain diseases. Rodent droppings are often contaminated with bacteria and other pathogens that can make people sick. While we usually think about contracting illnesses from consuming contaminated food, we can also contract rodent-spread illnesses by breathing in contaminated particles.

Common indoor air contaminants from rodent infestations

Knowing what types of contaminants you might have to deal with when rodents affect your indoor air quality can be helpful. If you’ve ever smelled rodent droppings or urine, it’s a smell you’re likely to remember. That’s because rodent urine has urea in it. This compound breaks down into ammonia as it dries and has a strong scent. 

In addition to the unpleasant odor, ammonia is a known irritant. It can affect your eyes, skin, and respiratory system. Breathing in ammonia can irritate your nose and throat, leading to coughing, wheezing, and even shortness of breath.

Although hantavirus risks are rare in our area, they are worth mentioning. Hantavirus is primarily spread through airborne particles that are stirred up in rodent feces, urine, or nests. An illness caused by hantavirus can lead to serious lung or kidney issues, so it's essential for your health to avoid this possibility.

The most likely way for rodents to negatively affect the air quality in your home is through their fur and dander. Just as many people have pet dander allergies, pest allergens can also affect these same individuals.

Mice and rats that have gotten into your home will shed fur and dander as they go about their business. These particles can easily get into ventilation systems and then spread throughout your house, affecting the air quality of everyone in your home.

To prevent rodents from contaminating your home’s air quality, you need a pest control company to eliminate active rodents and prevent future infestations. Getem Services, a locally owned and family-operated pest control company serving Norfolk, Chesapeake, and Hampton Roads since 1922, offers the rodent control services you need.

How rodents get into your home and go unnoticed

Now that you know how harmful rodents can be to your air quality, you want to do everything you can to keep them out of your house. It may seem unlikely that rodents could get inside without your knowledge, but it’s pretty easy for them to move in and go unnoticed for extended periods.

Although rodents are not the tiniest pests to get inside houses, they can be fairly discreet because they don’t like being around people. When they get indoors, they stay hidden in out-of-the-way areas with little foot traffic. When they do come out in the open, such as when they search for food, it’s often at night, and even then, they stick close to the walls to avoid detection.

Knowing how rodents get inside is the first step in understanding how to keep them out. Believe it or not, rodents don’t need an open door or a big hole in your siding to access your house. Their skeletal systems allow them to squeeze through seemingly impossibly small openings. Roof rats can fit through a hole the size of a nickel, and mice can get inside through a hole the size of a dime.

Rodents may use various entry points to gain access to your house. Open vents, uncapped chimneys, and gaps around windows and doors make it easy for rodents to get inside. However, they can also utilize cracks in your foundation or the access points where electrical or plumbing systems enter your house. Even a hole that is too small for them at first can easily be enlarged if they gnaw at it.

Once inside, rodents will find an area that is sheltered and quiet. You’re most likely to find rodent nests in basements, attics, wall voids, storage areas, and other less frequently trafficked areas. They build their nests in or behind boxes, under appliances, and in spots where they avoid detection. Because you may not spend much time in the areas that rodents infest, it’s easy for them to get away with being there for quite a while without being noticed. 

A rodent infestation is most likely to happen in the fall or winter when rodents need to find warm shelter and a steady food supply. As Norfolk temperatures drop, rodent infestations increase across the city. 

Professional rodent control for Hampton Roads homeowners

Because of the health risks associated with a rodent infestation, it’s essential to have good rodent control practices in place in your home. Getem Services offers two rodent control options.

If you have an active rodent infestation, you must get rid of it as quickly as possible. Our rodent control service includes a three-part process to eliminate and prevent rodents in your house. First, we’ll inspect your home to determine the infestation's size, nature, and location. We are extremely thorough in this inspection, looking at interior and exterior locations, including hard-to-reach areas like attics and crawl spaces.

Next, we set up a customized rodent control service plan for your home. Depending on your needs, we may set up interior rodent traps, outdoor bait stations, or both. Once installed, we’ll return once a week for three weeks to check the traps and bait. If there is activity in the traps between these visits, contact us, and we’ll take care of it.

Finally, we’ll provide any necessary exclusion services. These involve sealing up any openings that rodents may use to enter your home.

We highly recommend signing up for Getem Services’ year-round home pest control plan to prevent rodents AND other house-infesting pests. Our quarterly services target rodents and other pests like ants, spiders, and roaches to protect your home throughout each season.

Tips for improving air quality after a rodent infestation

Once you get rid of a rodent infestation, you might think your home and family are in the clear. However, if you don’t clean up the mess rodents left behind, your family’s health will still be at risk from air quality concerns. You must eliminate the contaminants that can end up in the air.

Thorough cleaning is the first step in improving your home’s air quality after a rodent infestation. Rodent droppings, areas with urine stains, and rodent fur must all be removed and sanitized. It’s also essential to do this safely and not stir up the contaminants as you clean.

Do not sweep or vacuum up the droppings. Instead, use a bleach solution or EPA-registered disinfectant to saturate the area for at least five minutes. Then, wear rubber gloves and use paper towels to clean up the droppings. Then disinfect the area again. All paper towels should go in a trash bag and be immediately removed from the premises. Wash your gloved hands before removing the gloves, then wash your bare hands. Use this method to clean areas with urine and fur as well.

It’s also wise to take measures to ensure good, healthy ventilation in your home. Install HEPA filters that you change out at the suggested intervals. Use air purifiers throughout your house. Ensure proper ventilation throughout your house as well.

Contact Getem Services for help eliminating rodents to improve your home’s air quality 

Although it’s not the first thing people think about when considering the detriments of a rodent infestation, poor air quality is a serious issue that rodents can contribute to. Whether you already have rodents in your house or want to prevent them before they get inside, Getem Services can help. 

We offer the rodent control services necessary to eliminate an infestation and the ongoing home pest control treatments needed to keep them from being a problem in the future. Contact us today to request your comprehensive rodent inspection.