Kiddipedia
Feeling like you or your kids are sick all the time? Got allergies, asthma, or eczema? Brainfog, headaches or trouble sleeping?
Have you ever thought of the effect that your home environment has on your family’s health?
In 2013 we built our new home. New homes = new building materials which can release high amounts of chemicals into the air. These chemicals are known as ‘volatile organic compounds’, aka ‘VOC’s’ and are harmful to our health.
VOC’s have also been shown to increase the moisture loss from skin in those with eczema. They can contribute to skin, lung, nose and/or throat irritation, cause damage to our liver, kidney and central nervous system, lead to headaches, brainfog as well as being potentially carcinogenic.
Indoor air quality is typically higher in VOC’s than outdoor air.
New furniture, curtains, cupboards etc go through a process of ‘off-gassing’, where they release these chemicals over time.
Some may be overtly sensitive to these chemicals, others less so – in that their health symptoms are less commonly related back to indoor air quality and the presence of these chemicals.
Some of these are not avoidable, but there are ways you can reduce your exposure as well as consider other home-related contributing factors to poor health.
Here are some areas to review to improve the quality of your home air – and therefore the health of your family.
NEW HOMES / RENOVATIONS
New homes come with new carpet / cupboards / furniture / curtains / flooring / paint / glues / mattresses, to name a few. These release VOC’s into the air and new homes can have a high concentration of these in the air.
A Building Biologist can help you choose materials that are lower in these chemicals, including selection of low chemical paints and products, depending on your current health needs and goals.
If you’re able to, give your home / furniture time to off gas, with increasing ventilation with opening doors/windows to allow cross-ventilation and air flow through the home.
Off -gassing of furniture or items outdoors may also reduce your indoor air pollution – although this may not be practical in many instances!
DUSTMITES
Dustmites like humidity and warm temperatures. Allergies, asthma and eczema can be triggered by dustmite poo (!) and so keeping surfaces clean/tidy and minimising clutter allows easier dusting.
Soft toys, carpet, soft furnishings like curtains are great collectors of dust. Regular washing of soft-toys may keep these under control. Hot washes above 55C and/or use of tea tree oil has been shown to significantly reduce the presence of these critters!
Regular vacuuming with a HEPA filter vacuum can also reduce the presence of dustmites.
MOULD
Mould can be found in new and old homes, schools and officeplaces. It may be detectable by smell, sight, or it may be out of sight but still posing a significant health risk.
Bleach may not actually ‘kill’ mould – instead it simply hides it from sight. If you are having ongoing health issues when you return home, or feel better when on holidays (e.g. eczema, allergies, asthma disappear), consider the presence of mould in your home. A Building Biologist can help you with the detection and appropriate methods to remove mould from your home as each case will be different – detecting the source and dealing with it as required.
CLEANING PRODUCTS
Many cleaning product ingredients are not tested for safety – or come with clear hazard warnings about use of protective wear (gloves, goggles) and avoiding use in confined spaces, when pregnant and around children.
Microfibre cloths make an easy non-toxic option for cleaning, or use of bicarbonate of soda, vinegar and essential oils.
AIR FRESHENERS
This whole category of products is marketing genius!! Convincing the public that our houses don’t smell ‘clean’ or ‘forest-y’ enough, we’ve been sold plug in diffusers, reed diffusers, car diffusers, all known to contain carcinogenic compounds, hormone disrupting compounds, skin and lung irritants and more toxic ingredients…. That we’re encouraged to put in our homes and breathe in every time we’re inside!
A quick search on the Environmental Working Group (EWG.org) Database (a group dedicated to reporting on the safety of the ingredients in everyday products) will give you this information when you enter the individual ingredients on these products. Keep in mind, sometimes these ingredients are not listed as they are ‘trade-secret forumulas’ and are protected from even being listed. ‘Fragrance’ listed on a bottle may contain hundreds of individual ingredients, but because it’s protected it does not have to be listed.
Remove these synthetic chemical cocktails from your home- it’s an easy fix to remove – or replace them with natural and synthetic-free essential oils with a diffuser.
INDOOR PLANTS
Aside from looking fabulous, these humble little pot plants help clean our homes by cleaning the air. Different plant varieties target specific chemicals – so a variety of plants in your home can help to remove a range of chemicals in the air.
Indoor plants can be a helpful approach to tricky situations where off-gassing is not feasible or for new houses where VOC’s are likely to be high for an extended period of time.
AIR PURIFIERS
Air purifiers can work individually or together with indoor plants to improve the air quality of your home/office. Many of these remove particles as small as mould and smoke from the air, which have recently been needed with the recent fires in Australia.
While indoor air may be considered more polluted than outdoor air, being aware of the areas to audit and ways to address it can go a long way to improving the health of your family.
Melissa Raymond is a researcher, mum and physiotherapist based in Melbourne helping others live cleaner and healthier lives. Learn more about her new program – Cleaner Living – Simple and Stress-Free Ways to a Healthier Future – via her website, yourjourneytohealing.net.
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