How Your Home Might Be Making You Sick

You might think of your home as the safest place in the world. But it could, in all reality, be a very dangerous place to live. We spend so much time building safe and aesthetically pleasing places for ourselves and our families that we ignore all the hidden hazards we have all around the house. Some of these things are simple, ordinary, seemingly benign household items and/or conditions like air conditioning units, damp walls, or even scented candles. Even hard water can be harmful, which is why products like the Whirlpool water softener are so instrumental towards healthy living. Here’s just a few items that might be making you dangerously sick in your home sweet home.

Mold

If your home is poorly ventilated, it could cause dampness which is not only bad for the house’s structural support, but it can create mold spores that, for some, could prove fatal. Poor ventilation will cause walls to crack and wood to rot. It can spread throughout the house and create mold in all sorts of places you can’t see, like under wallpaper, behind kitchen appliances, all-around bathroom fixtures, on basement walls, and more.

Mold can lead to numerous respiratory problems like allergies and even an immune system that’s so weakened you could die. Says the World Health Organization, damp living conditions are responsible for more than 300 million asthma cases worldwide. If your home is full of mold, don’t try to mitigate the problem on your own. Instead, look into hiring professional mold removal contractors ASAP.

Soiled Bedding

According to MSN.com, you spend nearly a third of your life sleeping. While you sleep, your bedding is exposed to everything from sweat, to dirt, to dust, to lotions, to make-up. The problem is, some people fail to wash their bedding sheets, blankets, and comforters regularly. This can lead to skin irritations and conditions like eczema, allergies, lung infections, and more. It can also attract dust mites which love to consume dead, dry skin. Therefore, it’s recommended that you wash your bedding once every two weeks at a minimum.    

Asbestos Contamination

Asbestos was once utilized as a common construction material. Up until the late 1970s, it was used in everyday home finishes like tile flooring, wallboard, ceiling tiles, and insulation. However, in the 1960s, it was found that prolonged exposure to asbestos fibers was one of the leading causes of deadly cancer, mesothelioma. Therefore, if you live in an older home constructed between the years 1920 and 1979, it’s a good idea to have it tested for asbestos presence. Once your home has tested positive, you need to hire a professional asbestos removal contractor to do away with it.     

Home Tech

Your home would not be complete without all the modern tech and gadgetry that keeps you entertained and informed. For instance, how often does your entire family touch the TV remotes on any given day? Dozens of times to be sure. Yet rarely do you ever think of cleaning them. Experts state that gadgets like TV remotes, computer keyboards, phones, and more can be tainted with staphylococcus, E.coli, and even COVID-19. Therefore, it’s recommended you clean your household gadgets on a regular basis in order to avoid sickness.   

Scented Candles

Scented candles might be nice to look at and smell, but they can be toxic in a word. The petroleum and coal-based ingredient paraffin wax is contained in many scented candles. As you burn them, you are releasing toxic chemicals into your living environment. To make matters worse, the toxic compounds also include crude-oil-derived acetone, a key component of paint stripper. If you still wish to have scented candles around the house, you should look for products made with beeswax or soy. You might pay a little more, but your and your family’s health is worth it.

Bad Air

Polluted air is not something relegated only to major cities like New York and Los Angeles. Air impurities can often pollute your own home and, at the same time, have an adverse effect on your overall health. Tobacco smoke is one obvious pollutant. But others can come from gas-burning appliances that leak gas fumes and air conditioners that contain dirty filters. If your home is suffering from bad air, you might want to invest in an air purifier that can help circulate good air around your home while ridding it of toxic air.

There’s no safer place to be than your home. Or so you might have assumed. But the hidden dangers that surround you in your own house are plentiful and, in some cases, very dangerous to life and limb. It’s a good idea to thoroughly check your home to eliminate as many of these dangers as possible. When it comes to things like mold contamination, asbestos pollution, and gas leaks, you’ll want to hire certified professionals to safely correct them.