Is your home a sanctuary? Or is it a place where asthma and allergies might worsen? Even the most mundane daily activities, like cooking, cleaning, or running the air conditioner, can spread indoor pollutants throughout the house, especially in modern tightly built homes. Here’s how the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommends you handle some of the major sources of indoor air pollutants.

Lead-based paints

If you’re living in a home built before 1978, get it checked for lead-based paint, especially if you have children. Exposure to lead in childhood can cause learning disabilities, hearing loss, and failure to grow. Although many people think of lead poisoning as a result of eating paint chips or drinking water from lead pipes, simply breathing in the dust from chipping and peeling paint can be a major source of exposure.

Radon

Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas that forms as the uranium found in rocks and soil decays. In small amounts, you can’t smell, see, or taste radon, but it can seep into your home through cracks in the basement, sewer openings, and the joints between walls and floors. As radon continues to decay inside your home, it breaks down into particles that can attach to dust, which you can then inhale. Radon is present in the air everywhere, but indoor levels are usually higher than outdoor levels, due largely to poor air circulation.

In rare cases, the amount of indoor radon is high enough to pose a serious health risk. Long-term exposure to radon in the air can increase your chances of lung disease, including cancer. Proper ventilation can help keep radon levels low. The EPA recommends radon monitoring for all homes with basements (where radon tends to collect). If your home has a basement, you may want to install a radon detector there. Single-use home testing kits, available at most hardware stores, are also an option.

Carbon monoxide

Sources of carbon monoxide (CO) include tobacco smoke, incinerators and gas appliances, car exhaust, and furnaces. Like radon, it’s odorless, colorless, and tasteless. It’s also highly toxic. Installing CO detectors in your home can help protect you. If you have a gas heating system, have it inspected annually. Check the venting on all gas appliances, like water heaters and clothes dryers.

Household chemicals

Chemicals and cleaners are major offenders when it comes to allergies and asthma. Always keep rooms well ventilated when you use these products. And never mix and match products. Household chemicals can create toxic fumes if they’re incorrectly combined. To avoid this, read all product labels carefully. Most labels contain safety warnings and detailed directions about using the product correctly. After using any sort of pesticides or insecticides indoors, air out your home.

Building materials

After spending the time and money to improve your home, make sure your new showplace isn’t having a negative effect on the health of your family. New carpeting and paint can “outgas,” or release irritating fumes. If you install a new carpet, see if it can be aired out in a well-ventilated area prior to installation. After painting, keep windows open and exhaust fans running for several days.

Housekeeping hints

To help keep your home a haven and not a health risk, try the following:

• Whether you live in an older home or a brand-new condo, changing air filters regularly can greatly improve indoor air quality. Filters such as HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) and HELPA (High Efficiency Low Pressure Aircleaner) can remove over 99% of allergens and irritants like pollen, tobacco smoke, and animal dander.
• Check gas appliance ventilation systems regularly.
• Dust and vacuum regularly, using products that remove dust, rather than just stirring it up and redepositing it elsewhere in your home.
• Use nontoxic cleaning products whenever possible.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 20th, 2007 at 1:35 am and is filed under Environment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.