The confines of a home are no stranger to the brewing development of odors that will form inside the environment and quickly invade the entire air space. Whether the odors be from little children in the home that are constantly bringing in dirt, grime, and foul-smelling odors or even pets that similarly have no limits when it comes to the funk they can bring to an environment. Any space that is lived in and lived in hard will likely deal with the issue of different household odors that will swirl within their indoor air. Household odors can come from a variety of sources that are present in the home, like we said before children and pets, fungus growth, and even the chemical compounds that are used throughout the home or that are produced from the occupants in the space. Household chemical cleaners are another major source of odors that can be produced inside of a home and often times they can even be a source of pollution within the indoor space of this environment. Among the different chemical cleaning agents that can be used in a home that will produce an odor, Ammonia is a powerful cleaning agent that can produce a strong, and foul-smelling odor inside of a home that will leave your indoor air completely compromised. In this article we are going to learn more about ammonia smell in a home, what causes ammonia smell within this environment, and how to properly and effectively get rid of ammonia smell inside of a home.

Whats Ammonia

Ammonia is a colorless gas that is frequently used in farming, along with the manufacturing of products like textiles and plastics. The use of ammonia inside of a home is typically as a powerful cleaning agent that works to break down household grime or stains from household surfaces like tubs, sinks, toilets, and counters. This chemical cleaning agent is also effective at breaking down stains that were caused from animal fats or vegetable oils that occur when cooking. One of the most popular uses of Ammonia cleaner is in glass cleaners that are used within a home, due to the chemicals ability to leave a surface streak clean. Household ammonia is an aqueous nitrogen-based solution that will usually consist of five to ten percent ammonia hydroxide (NH₃) in water. This chemical will mostly enter into the indoor environment of a home through the use of different cleaning products that use ammonia as an ingredient, however, in some cases ammonia can even be produced from the human body. When the human body breaks down foods that contain protein into amino acids it will form ammonia, which will then convert the ammonia into the urea.

How Long Does Ammonia Smell Last

Did you know that ammonia is a naturally occurring chemical that can be found in many environments? The reality is whether we know it or not we are regularly exposed to low levels of ammonia in the air, even inside of your safe, contained home air space. After you clean your home, you may be left with the residual odors of the chemical agents in the air, which in most cases will likely contain ammonia – however, the smell will quickly dissipate or become undetectable to the occupants in the space. This quick dissipation of ammonia and other chemical agents in the air is due to the chemicals ability to evaporate in the air, reducing the overall level of ammonia in the air ppm (parts per million) to a lower level that is not noticeable to most occupants in a home. The ammonia that is released into the air inside of a home can be in varying amounts in the air space, with some only having trace amounts and other environments containing elevated amounts that can be considered above the average level in an indoor space. Typically, ammonia will last in the air of a home for about 1 week, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry (ATSDR).

What Smells Like Ammonia in the House

The smell of ammonia that will linger inside of the indoor environment of a home will usually take on an odor that is unpleasant, strong, and that will immediately start to affect the health of those exposed to the chemical in the air. Ammonia will be an all-consuming irritant that will hang in the air and ultimately will lead to an array of potential health problems that could aggravate the skin, eyes, nose, and throat. Depending on the concentration of ammonia that is hanging in the air of your indoor environment, the smell of ammonia will either be quite noticeable and lead to these different health issues, or they may be undetectable and contribute to little to no health effects to those individuals exposed to these ammonia levels in the air.

What Causes Ammonia Smell in Home

If you have started to smell the unmistakable odor of ammonia in your home, you may be wondering what the root causes are in the home that could be contributing to and producing this odor into the air. There are many potential sources within a home, aside from the use of cleaning products, that can be a contributor to ammonia levels inside of the environment – many of which will shock most homeowners when they learn of them. Anything from pet urine (specifically cat urine), fertilizer, refrigerant leaking, and a substantial spilling of chemical cleaners that are stored in the indoor space of a home.

• Pet Urine: The urine that is produced from a household pet can have ammonia present within it that will ultimately lead to the contribution of ammonia in the air space. Cat urine, in particular, will contain high levels of urea, which is an ammonia compound that is responsible for the strong ammonia odor that the urine emits into the environment. A cat litterbox can begin to accumulate ammonia odors when waste is left in this area for a certain period of time, which only demonstrates the importance of cleaning up after your pet’s waste, specifically urine.
• Fertilizer: Eighty percent of all manufactured ammonia is used as fertilizer, and thus it makes sense that this could be a contributing source of ammonia levels in a home. Fertilizer can be laid around a home and even placed under a home which will begin to rise and eventually could impact the indoor air quality of a home over time.
• Spilled Cleaning Products: In every single household, there will likely be an indicated area where you will store most of your household cleaning products and agents. Whether that be in a laundry room, under a sink, or even in a kitchen cabinet, there is a potential for spills to occur if the cleaning product is placed in the area incorrectly. If this happens, ammonia levels may potentially rise in the indoor air and lead to a volatile environment that will have a noticeable ammonia odor hanging in the air.

Is Ammonia Dangerous?

The production and emission of ammonia within a confined space can be a potentially dangerous pollutant in the air that will ultimately lead to the adverse impacts to human health. According to the New York State Department of Health, most people are exposed to ammonia from breathing its gas or vapors into their body, which will start to cause certain health issues – which will depend on the amount of exposure, the duration of time you are exposed, and the conditions in the environment. This irritating and corrosive gas will cause an array of health issues, from burning of the nose, throat, and respiratory tract, coughing, skin irritation, etc.

How to Get Rid of Ammonia Smell in House

The process of removing ammonia from the air space of an indoor environment by neutralizing the ammonia smell completely is not an easy task, and most people will use several different cleaning methods before finding one that will accomplish this full ammonia removal in the air. Some of the common methods that are used to neutralize ammonia, specifically from a surface includes vinegar, baking soda, or hydrogen peroxide, which all of these will only work to mask the odor not neutralize it and remove it from the environment. When it comes to the removal of ammonia from a surface the OdorKlenz Deodorizing Wipe will be the revolutionary neutralizing surface agent that you have been looking for to remove ammonia and other chemical odors. These OdorKlenz Deodorizing Wipes will work by combating chemical odors that have contaminated a surface, through the use of a proprietary earth mineral technology that will capture, contain, and neutralize an array of chemicals and odors from a source. The wipe is easily applied to a surface for clean-up and pollution removal of strong chemical and noxious odors. In addition to neutralizing ammonia on surfaces in your home, you will also want to turn to a solution for removing ammonia from the airspace of your home’s indoor air. The OdorKlenz® Mobile Air System is an air quality solution that contains the OdorKlenz proprietary earth mineral technology for noxious and toxic chemical and odor neutralization, along with the use of a hospital-grade HEPA filter for fine particulate matter removal in the air. The technology will effectively work by pulling air into the OdorKlenz Mobile Air System and taking the chemical and odor pollutants out of the air, like ammonia and neutralizing them on contact, immediately removing them from the environment.

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