Written by Karen Montague of Healthy Interiors Inc. and May Dooley

MORE TIPS FOR A HEALTHIER HOME

• Many people experience ill effects when they breathe in perfumes or scents. Air fresheners, car deodorizers, and lemon-freshened or pine-scented wood cleaning products are manufacturers’ attempts to cover up bad chemical odors. Choose unscented hypoallergenic personal care and household products from a health food store.
• Read labels carefully. Avoid chlorine, ammonia, methylene chloride, phenol, nitrobenzene, formaldehyde, cresol, naphthalene, ethanol, xylene, propane, nitrous oxide, paradichlorobenzene, toluene, etc.
• Beware that some common toys and art supplies can be toxic.
• Don’t use pesticides, insect repellents, or mothballs, because they are designed to attack living cells.
• Chemical solvents, gasoline, paints, turpentine, and pesticides should not be stored in your living space.
• When you bring your clothes home from the dry cleaners, try to air them out and don’t store them in your bedroom. Harmful dry cleaning solvents can be released into your air.
• Don’t have rugs and curtains chemically cleaned.
• Computer printers and copiers should not be used in a bedroom, because they release pollutants.
• Don’t smoke, paint, renovate, or expose yourself to chemical toxins, especially during pregnancy or if you have a child under one year old.
• Inspect and maintain all fuel-burning equipment and appliances, as well as chimneys and flues, regularly.
• If you have fiberglass ductwork or fiberglass lined ductwork, have it replaced. Remove the fiberglass filters from your furnace and central air conditioner. Then replace them with healthier filters.
• Direct-vent all combustion exhaust to the outside, including gas stoves, gas fireplaces, and gas dryers. Keep all vents and ducts clear of debris.
• Gas heat is healthier than oil heat. Oil heat produces more volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and particulate matter. Do not use wood burning fireplaces, kerosene lamps, oil space heaters, and other fuels for lighting, heating, or cooking indoors. They all give off combustion gases and smoke.
• From an air quality perspective, electric stoves and electric heating systems are healthier than gas ovens and gas or oil heating systems. If you must use a gas stove, get one with a pilotless ignition. Use a ventilating hood, which vents to the outside. Never use a charcoal grill in your home or use your oven to heat your house.
• Cars can release petroleum fumes and carbon monoxide into the home. An exhaust fan on a timer can be run for an hour after a vehicle enters or leaves the garage. Avoid heating your car up in the garage, leave the garage door open as much as possible, and seal up vents and ducts that may allow bad air into your home. Make sure the door between the garage and the house is well sealed, and install a carbon monoxide detector in the room closest.
• Install photoelectric smoke detectors and digital carbon monoxide detectors on every floor. Place them near combustion sources such as gas stoves, fireplaces, wood stoves and heating units, but not right next to your bed.
• Eliminate plastics from the home. Plastics offgas harmful chemicals and can be deadly if they burn.
• Do not drink water from soft plastic bottles. Do not heat or store food, especially hot food, in plastic wrap or plastic containers. Do not buy food in plastic-lined cans, metal or aluminum cans. Store food and water in glass or stainless steel containers. Use glass bottles for baby formulas and avoid microwaving food, especially in plastic.
• Reverse osmosis water filtration with ultraviolet light and a solid carbon block is usually the best. It removes most heavy metals, VOCs, parasites, bacteria, viruses and some radioactive particles. Always have your water tested first
• If you have chlorinated water, install a solid carbon shower filter to remove carcinogenic chlorine by-products. Change the filter often.
• Avoid plastic toys, teething rings, and do not coat your child’s teeth with plastic resins. Limit your use of plastic and paper diapers with acrylic gels.
• Protect the baby, not the bed, and replace vinyl, plastic and rubber mattress protectors with a naturally waterproof wool pad.
• Replace vinyl shower curtains with cotton or hemp ones. Vinyl and plastics offgas more VOCs in the heat and humidity of a shower. Replace plastic and lucite furniture, lamps, storage furniture, and plastic kitchen appliances with solid wood, glass, metal and stone furniture.
• Beware that synthetic foam mattresses, polyester-stuffed upholstery, chemically treated fabrics and draperies, vinyl wallpaper and paste, carpet and carpet adhesives, wood paneling, and insulation can all offgas significant amounts of toxic substances, especially when new.
• Replace old mattresses and pillows with untreated organic cotton and/or wool ones. Avoid easycare, permanent press and stain-resistant finishes on upholstery, fabrics, bedding, clothing, carpeting and rugs.
• Purchase upholstered furniture with natural batting, such as wool, cotton, kapok, or down, unless you’re allergic to any of these materials.
• Replace old carpets with natural flooring such as wood, cork, bamboo, tile or real linoleum. Carpeting and rugs harbor dust and mites, mold, bacteria and other contaminants tracked in from outside, such as lead, asbestos, pesticides and animal feces. If you must have carpeting, the best choices are 100% nylon, wool, or cotton and not treated with stain-resistant chemicals, mothproofing, and toxic dyes.
• Purchase solid wood furniture and kitchen cabinets instead of laminated wood, pressed wood, particleboard, medium density fiberboard, or plywood, which can all outgas significant levels of toxic formaldehyde over long periods of time.
• Recent research has determined that household plants do not substantially reduce formaldehyde from indoor air.
• Have a professional inspect your older home for lead and asbestos. If remediation is needed, contact the appropriate government agencies first to ensure that the correct measures are taken to protect your health and safety.
• Test your home for radon, www.radon.com.
• When you renovate, choose water-based, zero or low-VOC and solvent-free or low-solvent paints, caulking and adhesives, floor and furniture finishes. Test for personal tolerance first.
• Reduce particulate matter in your home so you can breathe freely and your lungs can remain clear and healthy. Diesel buses, cars, smokestacks, fiberglass, asbestos, lead dust, cigarettes, candles, oil heat, kerosene lamps, wood-burning stoves and fireplaces all increase particulate levels in your home. If you live near an airport or in a flight pattern, particulates from airplane fuel can be elevated.
• If you must use your fireplace, make sure it has a tightly fitted screen and that your chimney is clean. Never burn papers, plastic and household waste in your fireplace.
• Use a HEPA air cleaning device to control particulates, smoke, dust, pollen, and animal dander if needed. Do not use ozone-producing devices, they may damage lung tissue and add chemicals to your air.
• Keep books, magazines, and stuffed or live animals out of your bed. There are no types of cats or dogs that are non-allergenic. Store books and other printed materials in glass-enclosed cases. Simplify your home and keep furnishings to a minimum. Vacuum carefully, including your furniture, using an ULPA or HEPA vacuum cleaner.
• Have your basement evaluated for mold growth and moisture problems.
• Change and disinfect standing water in dehumidifiers, humidifiers, refrigerator drip pans, and air conditioners, they can all harbor mold and bacteria. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions, but use a non-toxic disinfectant or prepare your own.
• Have your heating and cooling system professionally inspected, including outdoor air intakes, room air supply and return grills, air filters, air handlers, and drain pans. If you have mold in your home, your air ducts may be contaminated too. First deal with eliminating the source of the contaminant, and then have your ducts professionally cleaned.
• Monitor your home’s temperature and humidity with an inexpensive gauge. Try to keep the relative humidity around 40% and lower the heat to inhibit the growth of molds, dust mites, bacteria, and viruses.
• If you are allergic to mold and pollen, do not keep plants inside your home.
• Install a ventilation device in your bathroom and kitchen to exhaust moisture and cooking fumes. You can install an exhaust fan easily in a doublehung window. Using an exhaust fan can move bad air to the outside.
• The bedroom is the most important room to keep toxin-free. When we sleep, our bodies are in a state of rest and repair, and we don’t do as well if we are trying to combat toxins at the same time. Crack open a window every night for fresh air. There is usually less pollution outside at night.
• It is important to get outside every day for more oxygen and natural sunlight. Sunlight is necessary for manufacturing vitamin D, for boosting the immune system, for synchronizing our biological clock, for a good night’s sleep, for regulating hormones, and promoting a healthy altitude and mood. Open your blinds and curtains during the day and let natural daylight into your home. Use full-spectrum incandescent lighting, because it mimics outdoor light.
• Transformers of low-voltage lighting and ballasts in fluorescent lighting can emit high magnetic fields. Both these types of lighting should be avoided in areas where occupants spend a lot of time and should never be located on a ceiling below a bedroom.
• When placing furniture, check for magnetic and electric fields to avoid placing your easy chair, bed or baby’s crib in a hot spot. Watch what is plugged in on the other side of the wall, because fields penetrate walls. Beware of placing your bed near sources of radiation such as TVs, VCRs, stereos, clocks, filtration devices, heating units, refrigerators, humidifiers and dehumidifiers, stoves, microwaves, computers, electric baseboard heaters and radiant systems. Keep your distance from all electric devices.
• Avoid sleeping on beds with innersprings, box springs, or metal bed frames. Metal serves as an antenna for electromagnetic fields. Anything steel can become magnetized and give off magnetic fields.
• Significant electric fields can occur even when electrical equipment is plugged in but not in use. Do not run electrical cords under your bed or chair. Unplug electric devices near your bed and use a battery-powered alarm clock.
• Appliances can be dangerous when plugged in, even if they are not turned on, due to risk of electric shock and possibly death. It’s a good practice to pull the plug out when an appliance is not being used. If you have children in your home, make sure you put safety devices in all your electrical outlets.
• If you use a baby monitor, purchase a newer, more sensitive one that can be plugged in and placed on the opposite side of the room.
• Avoid completely or limit your use of cellular phones, portable phones, sewing machines, microwave ovens, heating pads, electric hair dryers, electric razors, electric blankets, waterbeds, and other electrical sources, especially if pregnant.
• Purchase a low radiation TCO-certified monitor and install a grounded, radiation-reducing glare guard on the monitor. Alternatively, use a battery-operated laptop, but keep the laptop off your lap.
• Have an environmental inspection firm check for possible high fields coming from nearby power lines, neighbors’ houses, and help to lower magnetic, electric, and high frequency fields caused by household wiring, grounding practices, appliances, and computers.

Go beyond these tips for a healthier home. Contact May at 888-735-9649, for a full environmental home inspection.