cleaner indoor air
VENTILATE
Most properties have higher pollution indoors from all sorts of products off-gassing in your home (vinyl flooring, flat-packed furniture, carpeting…) than outdoors so increase your ventilation by opening your windows. If you are unsure on your outdoor air quality - check DEFRAs website first and plan when to open your windows. Check your outdoor air quality here. Then plan when to open your windows - at a time that will coincide with healthier outdoor air.
Toxic chemicals are emitted from cooking and heating facilities which is why they must be properly vented to the outdoors. To be sure you are not adding any toxic chemicals to your indoor air, be sure to ventilate the room when these are in use: opening a window and using a suitable extractor fan.
2. REMOVE ALL SYNTHETIC SCENTS
Ditch your bleach and high street cleaning products and sprays. Avoid paraffin wax candles, plug-ins, air ‘fresheners’ or sprays intended to mask smells. Fragrances found in cleaning products, candles, plug-ins and other such products for the home often contain a cocktail of ingredients that can be an irritant to your respiratory system as well as potentially having longer term health effects that are detrimental to the body.
If you want to use a scented product only use essential oils. These oils are concentrated extracts from plants - specifically from the aroma compounds of the plant. The essential oil contains a mixture of organic compounds and one of these compounds is an unsaturated hydrocarbon called terpene. Terpenes are responsible for each essential oil’s distinct smell, as well as being responsible for a plant or herb’s distinct flavour such as cinnamon, ginger and clove. Many essential oil scents are used in aromatherapy treatments as they can have a positive effect on the body’s well being.
3. CLEAN WITH NATURAL INGREDIENTS
Clean with white vinegar, lemon juice, bicarbonate of soda and citric acid. When you want a scent in your home, burn a natural wax candle with essential oils or spray a natural room mister.
4. REMOVE WALL-TO-WALL CARPETING and AVOID VINYL FLOORING
Carpets are made with several different layers of material and they can all contain a cocktail of toxic chemicals - from carcinogenic flame retardants to endocrine-disrupting antimicrobials. Vinyl flooring contains phthalates which are particularly harmful to babies and children. They are endocrine disruptors which mean they interfere with the body’s natural hormone system, leading to cognitive and behavioural problems plus health issues later in life such as decreased fertility, obesity, heart disease, prostate cancer.
It is better to lay a natural flooring such as marmoleum, linoleum or cork, or strip your floor boards and oil them. Use natural fabric or vintage rugs for decoration and added warmth.
5. GET RID OF MOULD
If you suffer from mould inside your property, find the source of water ingress. Tackle the problem and remove the mould using neat vinegar on a wet cloth. Always tackle any damp problem before decorating. Covering an existing issue with paint will only keep it at bay for a few months - it will gradually return, and leaving a problem can potentially make it worse. Do not use bleach on mould as it will only serve to mask it and make the problem worse.