How Healthy Is Your Home?

Home, your home-base, your crash pad. It’s central to your life, right? It’s where your sleep at night, keep your most treasured possessions and spend time with your family and pets. But can you believe that somethings in your home may not be positive at all, but in fact may be having a negative effect on you and the rest of the residents? Well, unfortunately, it’s true, but by reading the post below you can help to identify and protect against them.

Mold

How do you feel about having dangerous fungi in your home, that could cause you and your loved ones to become ill? Not very happy I expect, but this is exactly what you can expect of some strains of household mold.

These molds tend to grow in moist, damp environments, such as places like the bathroom and kitchen. However, if you have a problem with damp they can spread out into other areas of the home and take over the walls, and corners of any room.

But why is mold such a bad thing? Well apart from looking disgusting and smelling gross, mold can be dangerous to health because they produce allergens and toxins. These can cause the body of the person that breathes them to have a nasty reaction and become ill.

In particular, those folks with asthma or respiratory problems need to be very careful of mold. As their lungs are already weakened, and breathing in spores can do further damage.

Luckily, getting rid of mold isn’t too tough. The first thing you need to do is ensure that the areas you are treating are as dry as possible. This may entail opening windows after you shower or bath. Or using a dehumidifier in some parts of the home.

The next stage is to remove the mold with cleaning products such as bleach. This should kill off the spores, making it harder for them to regenerate and come back. Although, this process will need to be done regularly in damp areas to continue to prevent the problem.

Bacteria

The home is also full of bacteria that need to be dealt with to ensure that it is a healthy place to live in. In the kitchen alone you could find all sorts of nasties like listeria, a bacterium present in some type of soft cheese. As well as E Coli, and salmonella often found in uncooked meat and fish.

It’s so easy to transfer these bacteria physically from the food you are preparing to the worktops surfaces. But when they are not dealt with they will continue to multiply and grow to dangerous levels. In some cases causing sickness and even life threatening illnesses.

So what can you do to prevent bacteria becoming a problem, in you home? Firstly, invest in a food safe antibacterial spray for the kitchen. This means you can wipe down the kitchen sides and work surfaces in between preparing raw food, to minimize the risk of cross contamination.

Also using specific color coded knife and boards for food preparation, as well as having specific shelves in the fridge for each type of food can help. As, of course, can the basic act of washing your hands after you have finished handling foods that are a risk.

Remember too that bacteria don’t just exist in the kitchen, but all across the house. So steam cleaning and washing fabrics like towels on a hot wash can also help stop their growth. Keeping your home as healthy as possible.

Rust

Many homes have rusty iron items such as flatware and pipes inside, and fencing and old nails outside. But is rust actually dangerous?

Well, rust is caused by the oxygenation of iron. It isn’t actually dangerous although a lot of people believe that it is. This is because it’s linked to the nasty condition tetanus or lockjaw. This is when all of the bodies muscles seize up, including the jaw which meant in less developed times that the victim could no longer eat or drink.

However, it’s not rust that actually causes lockjaw its anaerobic bacteria. It just so happens to be that where anaerobic bacteria are found outside, is also likely to be where rust is found too. That means eating from rusty cutlery that has been stored inside, while not the most pleasant of experiences probably isn’t going to give you tetanus. So isn’t a threat to a healthy household at all.

Air pollutants

Something else that your home needs to have to be healthy is clean air. “Easy,” you say as you don’t smoke, and keep the window open whenever you can. Unfortunately ensuring that the air in your house is clean, is a little more complicated than that.

It’s the small particles such as allergens or pollutants that really cause the problem, as these can be found in the most unlikely of sources.  It may be that you are burning a scented candle to make the air seem more pleasant, but this could be full of toxins that are actually doing you harm when they are burnt. That is why is essential to use all-natural candles when you can, and eschew the heavily scented artificial ones, as these are the worst offenders.

Also if you have pets, you may not think that they are affecting the quality of the air in your home, but they can. This is because of the skin and hair that sloughs off of them in your environment becomes airborne and easy to breathe in. This can be an allergen for many people and cause breathing issues as well as red watering eyes, and itching.

To combat this consider your next choice of pet carefully, as some are now being bred to be hypoallergenic. Look in particular for hairless breeds of dogs and cats that don’t shed. You can also use an air purifier with HEPA filters. As these will catch many of the allergens, reducing the amount circulating in the air, and so the amount available to breathe in.

Chemicals

Another important aspect of running a health home is to reduce the volume of chemicals that you use, especially for cleaning purposes. Yes, there are some truly remarkable cleaners out there on the market today. One that makes the job of cleaning much less tiresome, but before you run out to fill your cupboards with them, it’s important to know what they contain.

Look out for labels that say products contain ammonia or chlorine as these are both irritants that can make skin itch and dry out. As well as be pretty nasty if you breath too much in, while cleaning. That is why many products come with a warning that they should only be used in a well-ventilated area.

Also watch out for phthalates, chemicals found in all sorts of household items like toilet paper, air fresher, and soap. The problem is that they are absorbed into the skin and can mess with people’s endocrine (hormone) system. Even leading to infertility in some cases.

So instead look for products that are made from natural ingredients such as lemon, vinegar, and baking soda. As these are known to be less harsh, but still effective in cutting through grease and grime.

In fact, it’s pretty easy to make your own cleaning products with these ingredients, then you can be sure that they don’t contain any unhealthy nasties that could be doing damage to your health. As well as save yourself a bit of money into the bargain!

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