4 Things in Your Home That Can Adversely Affect Your Health

Regardless of where you live, there will always be a few dangers for which you need to watch out. Whether you own a home or rent one, and whether you live in a tiny studio apartment similar to apartments near Murfreesboro or a 3,000 square-foot mansion, you’ll want to stay healthy and to make sure each of your family members is as well.

We’ll go over a few common household dangers right now. These are things you might find in your home that can make you sick or worse.

Mold

If you discover there’s mold in your home, you must get rid of it as soon as you can. If you’re not sure what mold looks like, you can find pictures of it online. Generally, it looks like black, brown, or gray splotches.

The reason you need to watch out for mold is that it can cause coughing, wheezing, or nasal stuffiness. It also might irritate your skin and eyes. If you have an immunocompromised condition, it’s particularly bad to live with it.

You’ll notice it growing in damp areas sometimes. It can also grow around pipes or on wood or paper products. You might see it on upholstery, drywall, insulation, carpet, or fabric.

If you live in your own home, you’ll need to contact a professional mold removal company. If you reside in an apartment, you can reach out to your landlord.

If the landlord does not respond quickly, you can always contact a lawyer and bring legal action against them. Mold is too dangerous for you to continue living with it.

Your Carpet

You might not have ever thought that your carpet could make you sick, but it can. Carpet can feel nice under your toes, and it provides a nice cushion as you walk around. However, it’s also excellent at trapping irritants such as dust, dirt, mold, and dust mites.

Certain companies also use harmful chemicals to either make carpet or install it. You can tear up your carpet and put in some hardwood flooring instead if you can afford it. It’s colder in the winter, but you don’t have to worry about all those irritants building up.

If you decide to keep your carpet, you should vacuum it often. You should use a vacuum that has a HEPA filter. Three times per week is ideal if you want to vacuum your carpet, but you should also steam clean it at least once per year.

Carbon Monoxide

Carbon monoxide can also build up in a home, and it can make you sick or even kill you in concentrated doses. It is odorless and tasteless, making it particularly lethal.

In your home, a dryer can produce it. So can a fireplace, a furnace, or a water heater in some instances. You need to make sure you install proper venting.

You can also install carbon monoxide detectors. Some high-end smoke detectors also detect carbon monoxide. You can even get ones that you can monitor using a smartphone app.

If you feel confused, dizzy, weak, or if you have a headache, that could mean you have carbon monoxide poisoning. You might have blurry vision or lose your sense of smell as well.

If you have these symptoms, rush outside and get some fresh air as soon as you can, and then call 911.

Curtains

You may love your curtains. Some nice blackout curtains can allow you to sleep in for a couple of hours on the weekends.

You may not think about your curtains posing any danger, but they can as well. The problem with curtains is that they can catch and hold pet dander, mold, dust mites, and many other allergens.

You can also say this about blankets, sheets, clothes, and other household fabrics. That’s why it’s good to wash all of those frequently.

They’re easier to wash, though, while curtains are more challenging. Still, even if taking them down, washing them, and then hanging them back up is a pain, you should do it at least a couple of times per year.

If you don’t want to go through all that, you can get rid of them and get blinds instead. They might not produce quite the same look, but they’re a way to cut down on allergens and dust.

You should also be careful when you use household cleaning products. They can keep your home spotless, but you can seriously harm yourself if you inhale them by accident as you use them.