The Hidden Dangers Inside Your Home

Written by Jessica N. Moore

Welcome back to Variety of Views! 

Indoor air quality is a serious issue across not just the United States, but worldwide.  We may not know all the dangers of air pollution inside our home or not even notice they are there.  Whether or not they are human-made, being aware of how they affect your health is imperative and understanding it will lead to making the necessary changes to combat the issue.  What you think may be an allergy may be a reaction to something inside your home.

What's Lurking Inside Your Home?

Radon

Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive substance.  Radon seeps through cracks in the foundation of a home and without proper ventilation is an odorless and in the long-term deadly gas.  This is usually found in basements of households that do not have adequate ventilation and lies close to the ground.  Depending on state regulations, radon is generally checked in the home buying process but over time, houses settle, and cracks develop letting the gas into the home.  Radon testing kits are available to do by yourself, or you can call in a professional that can help fix the cracks and ensure proper ventilation is flowing through the lower level of your home.

Health concerns of Radon include lung cancer with chances higher in smokers.

Carbon Monoxide

Carbon monoxide is common and deadly.  Its sources range from indoor smoking to a faulty furnace to wood-burning stoves.  Odorless and tasteless, unless you have a detector in your home, you wouldn’t realize the deadly levels inside your home.

Health concerns of carbon monoxide can range from low to high concentration symptoms:

•  Low concentrations cause decreased brain function.
• Medium level causes angina, impaired vision and decreased brain function.
• At high concentrations, headaches, dizziness, confusion, nausea, and symptoms would decrease when you leave the home.  Exposure at these levels is fatal.

Mold and Bacteria

Mold and bacteria are other common indoor pollutants.  Areas that are damp such as basements or leaks around appliances cause the build-up of mold spores that can spread throughout your home.  These affect the respiratory system as well as other aspects of our health.  As scary as it sounds, it’s fascinating to read about.

This isn’t supposed to be scary, but informational on common indoor pollutants to watch for.  Most of these things I have never thought of, but it was eye-opening to learn about it.  It’s always better to be safe than to have an accident that could have been preventable with regular checks and maintenance on your home.

Protecting Your Home

Photo Credit: How Stuff Works

Set up carbon monoxide detectors and get your home checked.  Make sure all appliances have proper ventilation to prevent the build-up of the toxic gas in your home.  Never use fuel-burning or wood burning appliances in your home such as barbeques and make sure that space heaters have proper ventilation.

Focus on cleaners that have fewer chemicals.  Many of the chemicals used for keeping your home clean aren’t necessary.  Good Housekeeping has a list of homemade house cleaners using products you already have in your home such as baking soda, vinegar, and lemon juice.  It is important to note that you should never mix chemicals unless you know the reaction.  Ammonia mixed with bleach will cause harmful fumes.  Always check the label.

Personally, I enjoy using these alternatives as they do not smell as bad as store bought chemical-based cleaners.  Using a mix of baking soda and water to make a paste along with vinegar will help clean up a dirty oven.

Check the areas behind appliances or use a humidifier to draw moisture out of the air.  This will reduce the chances of mold growing inside your home and from producing spores that could cause reactions.

If you do smoke, do it outside.  This builds up inside of homes leaving chemicals on the walls, furniture, and the ground potentially causing damage to the health of your family members.  If you need help quitting, many resources are available to help you even if you’ve smoked for large portions of your life.  You can do this!  Click here for more details on quitting

http://www.lung.org/stop-smoking/i-want-to-quit/

Thanks for Stopping By!

I initially began to write about air pollution in general covering both inside and outside pollutants, but I soon realized with what I wanted to include ended up being four pages long!  I hope you’ll come back and read my next post on outdoor air pollution covering what it is, its environmental effects, and possible solutions to reducing our reliance on fossil fuels.

Thanks for reading!  I’d love to hear about any concerns you have about indoor air pollution and how they affect your health.