How Safe Is Your Home Environment?

Your home should be your refuge, a place to retire at the end of the day and join your loved ones in a calm ambience. What your home certainly should not be is chock-full of common household hazards. These are some of the most unsafe substances you could be harboring indoors, putting yourself, your family, and your pets at risk.

Cleaning supplies

Ironically, common cleaning supplies can actually add more harmful substances to your home surfaces than they remove. After all, household products like bleach, glass cleaner, carpet cleaner, and surface disinfectant aren’t necessarily designed to be safe; they’re designed to be effective against dirt, grease, and germs.

The natural-cleaning-solution experts at Grove Collaborative compiled a list of the “Terrible Ten” chemicals to avoid. These include formaldehyde, triclosan, and ammonia, each of which is common in household cleaning and fragrance products. These chemicals lead to known health hazards, including lung irritation, immune system disruption, and even a higher risk of developing cancer. Consider switching to natural cleaning products that are free of hazardous chemicals, like a simple, all-purpose cleaner made with white vinegar, water, and lemon oil.

Toxic neglect

Of course, you shouldn’t neglect your home’s cleaning needs. This can be just as dangerous as using hazardous products, if not more so. Mold, bacteria, and other small organisms grow very easily indoors, especially in areas with high foot traffic, on eating or cooking surfaces, and on plumbing fixtures. Clean these areas at least once a week to prevent toxic buildup that can make you ill through direct contact or even breathing contaminated air.

It’s especially important to clean and sanitize surfaces after cooking to prevent food cross-contamination. Bacteria like salmonella and parasites like Trichinella are commonly spread through unsafe food handling. For an extra step against illness, consider washing reusable shopping bags and cleaning refrigerator surfaces regularly.

Pest control

Pests can track several deadly microbes into your home, including salmonella and asthma-causing pollutants. However, many pest-control products can be more harmful than the bugs they’re meant to kill, even if pest removal keeps your goosebumps at bay.

First, some pest-control products are far too accessible to children. Mothballs, mousetraps, and bait blocks may trigger your children’s or pet’s curiosity and lead to accidental poisoning. If you do use these products, only place them where children can’t reach, like behind the stove or atop high cabinets.

Secondly, pest-control sprays can contain toxins harmful to humans. Some can irritate the skin and eyes, even without direct physical contact, while others can cause cancer after long-term exposure. Your risk varies by product, so the best thing you can do is check the EPA’s website and use its product search tool. Verify that every pest-control item on your shopping list is safe for your family before you take it home. You should also check any pesticides you currently own against the EPA’s health assessment list.

If you hire a pest-control service, ask them to explain what products they’re using so you can confirm that they’re safe for your family. For an extra safety step, you can even seek out services that use natural, safe solutions like essential oils to deter pests.

Paint

Manufacturers often mix a host of unnatural substances into household paints. However, some of the chemicals that make paint weather resistant or shiny may put your family at risk. For example, parachlorobenzotrifluoride (PCBTF) is a solvent that has been known to cause cancer. This product can also be found in caulk, primer, and polyurethane floor finish.

Even more common are volatile organic compounds (VOCs), such as formaldehyde, which contribute to that renowned fresh-paint smell. Unfortunately, these substances also give paint toxic properties that can make you sick.

So what can you do to avoid or even remove these toxins? Seek out nontoxic paint products, and be sure to only use indoor-appropriate paints inside your home. For example, Apartment Therapy has a shopping guide to safe paints on its website.

Building materials

When you hear the phrase “hazardous building materials,” one specific substance may come to mind: asbestos. However, despite the proven health consequences of asbestos exposure—including asthma and lung cancer—asbestos is still in use to this day. Many materials, including roofing, caulk, drywall, and some flooring are still made with asbestos.

Other hazardous building materials still used today include lead in wires and paint, mercury in heating and cooling systems, and radioactive chemicals in some tech devices like smoke detectors. If you’re concerned about hazardous materials in your home, get in touch with a local home inspector. A real estate agent could provide recommendations for inspectors; start with the agent who helped you purchase your current home.

An inspector can evaluate areas of concern and, if necessary, enlist a testing service to check for hazardous chemicals like asbestos and mercury. Based on the results of these tests, you can determine how to proceed. You may even choose to have certain materials, such as flooring that contains asbestos, replaced by a professional.

Overall, there are many potential areas of concern in the average American home. It’s easy to feel stressed or even paranoid about hazards around you, but it’s equally easy to take actionable steps to keep you and your family safe.