Is Your Own Home Making You Sick?

If you’re looking to improve your overall health, then creating healthier routines is going to be a big part of it, but you should also be looking at how your environment might be affecting you. Indeed, there may be risks to your health closer than you think. It might be your home that is the problem. Here, we’re going to look at some of the ways that your home might be making you sick and what you can do about it.

HVAC problems

One of the biggest home health issues can be found in the ventilation and air conditioning systems that keep your home cool and comfortable. Traces of water get left in the ducts of these systems that become major breeding grounds for mold and bacteria. This can cause respiratory issues down the line and older air conditioners can even cause legionnaire’s disease. Make sure that you get in touch with a local HVAC specialist to give your systems a thorough clean at least once a year and to recommend ways to improve their safety or even replace them if necessary.

Carbon monoxide and other gases

If you have any combustion systems in the home, any heaters that run on fossil fuels, then there is a risk of carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, and sulfur dioxide being leaked into the air. Installing a carbon monoxide alarm is going to catch the most dangerous of these, but poor maintenance of any combustion equipment, such as stoves, heaters, and the like can lead to serious health risks, so it’s important to have them checked out once in a while, as well.

Leaks in the walls and roof

Indoor leaks are major causes of mold and dampness, which can affect your health in a variety of ways, including by causing or exacerbating respiratory issues like lung infections, asthma, and the like. To that end, if you spot or smell mold or damp, you should act on it as quickly as possible Check the roof to make sure there is no water infiltrating due to missing, cracked or broken tiles, and get in touch with your local plumber so that they can get down to the root of the problem, be it a broken pipe, faulty spigot or otherwise.

Smoke in the home

Even if you’re not a smoker, having a smoker in your home can increase the risk of lung cancer as well as respiratory infections and other illnesses by a significant degree. The best way to deal with this is to, of course, encourage any smokers to quit or lay down a rule that they cannot smoke inside the home at the very best.

Asbestos, lead, and radon

These building materials have all been used in the past, making them especially vital to check for in older homes. There are testing kits you can buy for each of them, some of them sample them in the air of the home, others sample your body. If you find asbestos, in particular, you need to get in touch with your doctor and consider contacting one of the top mesothelioma attorneys. Asbestos causes an aggressive form of cancer that can be very expensive to treat.

Water pollution

The vast majority of homes in this country aren’t going to have any problems with a safe water supply. However, that doesn’t mean that some areas can’t be affected by pollution that has hit the water. Nitrates and bacteria can also build up in local water supplies. There are water purifiers and filters that you can install in your own home to ensure that it is safer to drink, but they won’t always protect against things like heavy metal toxicity if it has been reported in your area.

Pests in the home

Unwanted guests should be kicked out as soon as possible. Depending on what they are, be they insects, rodents, birds, or otherwise, they may carry all kinds of illnesses. What’s more, even those that don’t can contaminate your food supplies, leave behind dander and droppings that cause respiratory issues, and make the home a more unhygienic place. If you spot any signs of pests, such as wood shavings, droppings, or musty odors that can’t be attributed to anything else, call a pest control specialist.

If your home is making you sick, then you need to act on it as best as possible. Depending on which potential causes are lingering, the threat can be dire. Hopefully, the tips above help you identify and eliminate those risk factors.

Samantha

Samantha hails from Virginia and is a proud wife to a retired Deputy Sheriff and mother to two amazing little boys named Jack & William. A veteran product reviewer; Samantha has been reviewing products for 8 years and offers high quality product reviews with original photography.