Uncover These 5 Hidden Dangers in Your Home

 

Your home is your place of security and comfort, but it can also be a source of potential health dangers as well. In fact, what you touch and breathe could literally make you ill. Therefore, it’s crucial to learn about the top five home health hazards to protect both you and your family.

There are hidden dangers lurking in your home that can affect your health, some of which may include carpet fumes, odorless gases, and even the household cleaners stored in the cabinet can all potentially harm your family. Here’s what you need to be aware of.

 

1. Carbon Monoxide

This odorless gas provides zero warning before it makes everyone sick and can sometimes even cause death. Every year, around 500 people actually die from this silent but deadly killer. Usually, contamination occurs if an organic fuel is inappropriately burned without adequate ventilation. Typical sources of carbon monoxide include gas and kerosene space heaters, fireplaces, tobacco smoke, wood stoves, gas water heaters, and vehicle exhaust.

 

2. Pesticides

Roach baits and sprays, flea and tick shampoos, weed killers, and insect repellants are just some of the harmful pesticides found in the average home. But, if they’re improperly stored or used in the wrong manner, pesticides can pose a danger to your heath, which may cause breathing problems, nerve damage, and more. If you have a suspected bug problem, it’s best to use a professional pest control company like Arab Termite and Pest Control or a provider in your area to safely and thoroughly eliminate them from your home.

 

3. E. Coli and Salmonella

E. coli infection can happen if you unintentionally eat a contaminated food that wasn’t cleaned or cooked properly. People are most generally infected with dangerous salmonella after handling or eating contaminated raw foods, including vegetables, eggs, fruits, and beef. Contamination from salmonella can often happen during food preparation or the butchering or harvesting process.

 

4. Mold

Mold is basically a kind of microscopic, tiny living organism that grows in places where organic matter, oxygen, and moisture exist. Exposure to mold can ultimately cause eye irritation, chronic cough, sinus and nasal congestion, and could also cause lung infections or trigger asthma attacks in people with chronic respiratory issues. Be sure to identify any water damage and associated mold early, and have professionals remove the dangerous mold colonies.

 

5. Lead

Exposure to lead has been linked to severe health problems that can range from nerve disorders to key changes in mental development and/or behavior along with other disorders. Although it’s been officially eliminated since 1978 in consumer-based products, it still exists in the homes that have never been upgraded. Older homes with lead-based paints, drinking water (think lead pipes), contaminated soil, and general household dust are all substantial sources of toxic lead exposure.

Addressing these harmful toxins is a logical start to making your family and home much safer and healthier. Good health is priceless.

 

Categories: carbon monoxide, e coli, hidden home dangers, lead, mold, Pesticides, Salmonella

Reusable Bags: Good for the Planet, Bad for Your Family

Your reusable shopping bag may be helping you to do your bit for environmental wellness, but you could be doing so at the expense of your family’s well-being. This is according to researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and George Mason University, who note that your reusable shopping bag could be filled with enough wellness-damaging bacteria to send your family to hospital. Why? You’re not washing it enough.

The use of plastic bags by retail stores was banned in Seattle in July last year, but this followed a much earlier plastic bag ban by San Francisco in 2007, who eliminated the use of plastic bags in large supermarkets. In fact, in October this year, San Francisco will call upon all stores and restaurants to give up the plastic, so it seems, then, that plastic is starting to head for the exit door. However, three months after San Francisco’s first ban went into effect, an unusually high number of patients started going into hospital for emergency treatment of E. Coli infections.

When University of Pennsylvania and George Mason University looked into state and federal data on emergency room admissions and food-borne illness deaths, they discovered that, after the ban, the number of food-born illness deaths in San Francisco rose by a whopping 64%. The authors wrote, ‘Our results suggest that the San Francisco ban led to, conservatively, 5.4 annual additional deaths.’ Even though wellness experts have questioned the study, based on the fact that it raised more questions than it answered and may have been conducted with “sloppy” research, one thing is clear — reusable bags can be contaminated with germs, and need to be washed properly.

In 2010, researchers at the University of Arizona and Loma Linda University tested reusable bags for bacteria, discovering coliform bacteria, an indicator of pathogens, in 51% of them and the potentially deadly E. coli in 12%. Only 25% of the bag owners used separate bags for meat and vegetables, and 97% admitted to not washing their bags regularly. Considering that throwing your reusable bag into the washing machine once a week reduces bacteria by more than 99.9%, surely it’s worth the bother.

 

 

Categories: e coli, george mason, illness deaths, plastic bags, Research, reusable bags, Reusable Shopping Bags, san francisco