How to make your home healthy
Home is where the heart is, but it could also be making you and your family sick. Here are some simple changes that you can make, to benefit your health.
Pets
| Cats are the most common animal to cause allergy in humans. |
We are a nation of pet lovers, and we keep around seven million cats and six million dogs.
Pets can improve our emotional wellbeing – but they can also make us feel unwell.
'Pets can exacerbate allergy symptoms because they have allergens in their urine, saliva and skin dander,' says Lindsey McManus of Allergy UK.
Cats are by far the commonest animals to cause allergy in humans, but any animal can cause a problem.
Pets can also carry salmonella, which can lead to diarrhoea and vomiting.
Cats can carry a parasite leading to toxoplasmosis in their faeces. This can be dangerous to children and can cause pregnant women to miscarry.
The solution
'Vacuum regularly, with a machine that contains a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter. This extracts even the smallest allergens from the air.
'Wash down surfaces regularly and damp dust,' says Lindsey McManus.
Discourage your pet from licking your face, and make sure that everyone in the family washes their hands after touching a pet.
Double glazing
| Double glazing is more energy efficient. |
Double-glazed windows are now common because they're energy efficient and help to keep out the chill.
Unfortunately, they form such a good seal against the wind and weather – they also dramatically cut down ventilation.
'In the past, homes were draughty. This had the one advantage of reducing the amount of house dust mites, which are a major cause of allergy' explains Dr Adrian Morris, consultant allergist at the Surrey Allergy Clinic.
'House dust mites thrive in warm damp houses that have low levels of circulating air,' he says.
Condensation can also quickly build up due to moisture created by cooking, breathing and showering. Dampness causes mould, which can make asthma symptoms worse.
The solution
'Leave your windows ajar when you're in the house to keep your home well ventilated,' says Lindsey McManus.
'Invest in an extractor fan in the kitchen to remove steam and cooking smells. When you have a shower, make sure that you close the door – so the steam can't escape to the rest of the house. Open the bathroom window afterwards,' says Lindsey McManus.
Central heating
| Try and keep your heating turned down as low as possible. |
Homes today are normally fitted with central heating, which makes life comfortable for human occupants – as well as the house dust mite.
'In the winter months, centrally heated homes become ideal breeding grounds for the house dust mite,' says Dr Morris.
Carbon monoxide poisoning can be caused by faulty or poorly maintained gas boilers.
The solution?
Keep your central heating turned down as low as is comfortable, with a jumper on.
Keep windows open for ventilation.
Gas boilers should always be checked regularly by an expert to make sure that they're not leaking poisonous carbon monoxide into the home. This deadly gas can kill in extreme cases.
Kitchen chemicals
Fridge facts
A fridge must be used effectively, or it can even cause illness.
- Keep it at the right temperature (between 0°C and 5°C).
- Keep the fridge door closed as much as possible.
- Wait for food to cool down before you put it in the fridge.
Sparkling kitchens look great. But household cleaning products can cause health problems and even in rare cases, chemical sensitivity syndrome.
Bleach is widely used to decontaminate surfaces and bathrooms. But it can release irritant vapours that can exacerbate asthma symptoms.
Many aerosol cleaning products contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that are used as propellants. These VOCs can cause headaches, drowsiness and general feelings of being unwell.
The solution
There are lots of natural products that can keep your home clean and smelling fresh.
Lindsey McManus advises using bicarbonate of soda as an abrasive cleaner.
'It also makes a great natural air freshener, mixed with water and a few drops of essential oil. Put it in a plant sprayer and spray it round the room,' she says.
Vinegar can also be used to clean windows and surfaces – and lemon juice can remove stains from work tops.
Feather duvets
Freezing food safely
- Freeze it before the 'use by' date.
- Follow any freezing or thawing instructions on the label.
- Thaw it in the fridge, so it doesn't get too warm. Or, if you intend to cook it, as soon as it's defrosted, you could defrost it in a microwave.
- Try to use it within one to two days after it's been defrosted – it will go off in the same way as if it were fresh.
Lots of people believe that they're allergic to feathers in pillows and bedding. But they may not be blaming the true culprit.
'True feather allergy is rare,' says Dr Harry Morrow Brown, a specialist in allergy and respiratory medicine at the consulting rooms at Highfield House, Derby.
'In most cases, the house dust mites on the feathers cause the symptoms,' he says.
The solution
The usual advice is to swap your feather bedding for non-feather alternatives.
However, a recent study compared different types of bedding, including feather foam and synthetic fibre, and found that house dust mites caused the least problem in feathers.
'We now suggest you use a high quality cotton pillow case, with a dense weave – so that allergens can't come through,' says Dr Brown.
Baby bottles
| Many hard plastic baby bottles contain the chemical BPA. |
There's been some concern that many hard plastic baby bottles contain the chemical Bisphenol A (BPA), which has been linked to an increased risk of breast and prostate cancer.
BPA is also found in a wide range of other plastic products, including lap top computers and tableware.
The Food Standards Agency in the UK has said that 'it's possible' that BPA may affect the hormone system in people's bodies. But there's not evidence that it causes harm in people.
The solution
If you're worried, switch to plastic bottles that don't contain BPA, or glass ones.
Don't fill up your baby's bottle with boiling water, since there's evidence that this makes it more likely the BPA will leach out of the plastic and into the fluid.
Discard old or worn bottles that are more likely to leach the BPA.
A good rule of thumb is not to keep a bottle longer than six months.
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