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The Healthy Abode: Clean Up Your House's Act
SMW Women’s Health & Fitness Tips
By Tracy Morris, updated 7/9/2008 at 2:53:26 AM

Your home should be your haven. However, a lot of the things we do to make it so might actually be working against our health. Green-up your everyday living space, and you’ll be enriching your quality of life.

We spoke to two different individuals with related perspectives on the definition of house cleaning. Follow their advice to transform your home into an oasis of health:

Avoid Allergies by Spring Cleaning Throughout the Year

Eric T. Sandberg, MD, is an allergist with Kelsey-Seybold Clinic in Houston and an Assistant Professor at Baylor College of Medicine.

Dr. Sandberg says his job as an allergist is focused on helping people find relief by controlling their symptoms, whether or not they go through allergy testing procedures.

Not everyone who has allergy symptoms is truly “allergic”; but ask anyone who is “merely irritated” by allergens, and you’ll learn that the misery is the same.

“Some people with allergies will need injectable medication,” he assures, “but there are others -- inhalers and oral meds -- that provide relief for either allergy or simple irritation, too. Our goal is a patient who feels well, sleeps well, and performs well at school and work.”

An important step for anyone to take is to reduce exposure to the allergens that plague you.

“The most common situation we see is dust mite allergies,” says Sandberg. People more commonly talk about being allergic to dust, but it’s actually the microscopic mites who live in and make up dust that are the troublemakers.

Other very common household allergens are mold, pet dander, and cockroaches.

Cockroaches? Turns out that roach droppings are comprised of a protein that is a component of dust. One needn’t have a houseful of the creatures, either, to have unseen droppings that add to your allergy problems.

Tips to Reduce Exposure to Common Household Allergens

Dust:

Focus on the bedroom. Use dust mite-proof covers on the entire bed and everything that’s on it. You’ll find the covers at your usual shopping spots or online at special allergy product stores. There are even mite-proof covers for futons.

Wash your sheets weekly in very hot water.

Reduce all clutter in the bedroom -- from those stacks of books on your nightstand to the knickknacks on your dresser.

If you have carpet, consider different flooring that won’t harbor dust mites.

Mold:

Eliminate sources of dampness wherever possible.

Interestingly, Dr. Sandberg says, indoor mold allergy isn’t as common as people claim. “The real culprit is the exposure we have to outdoor mold, which is an unavoidable, invisible airborne allergen.”

Accordingly, use air conditioning to lower indoor humidity and so that you can keep your windows closed.

Pets:

If you know you’re allergic to animal dander, but you just can’t resist furry friends, you can cut back the amount of contact you have with their “very stick and long-lasting” (per Dr. Sandberg) dander.

Keep them outside.

If they’re inside, keep them in one area of the house only.

Whatever you do, keep them out of the bedroom at all times.

In addition to cats (the most common animal allergen) and dogs, allergy symptoms can stem from little rodents like mice, hamsters, and gerbils, birds, horses, and rabbits.

Cockroaches:

Keep your dust at bay and you’re on the way to eliminating roach protein.

Invest in heavy-duty pest control if necessary.

A couple of intriguing final points from Dr. Sandberg on de-allergenizing your home:

Go ahead and stick with the cheapest standard air conditioner filters, but be sure to change them at least monthly. The more expensive types not only cost more to purchase, they cause the A/C unit to work much harder, resulting in strain on the system -- the cost of which might far outweigh your air-related allergy symptoms.

The “hygiene hypothesis” proposes that increases in the occurrences of allergies may be related to our cleanliness overkill, particularly in homes with infants. This unproven but highly regarded theory connects children who have had little allergen exposure early in life to the development of allergies later.

As Dr. Sandberg says, “The answer may be a relatively scruffy lifestyle.”

Tips to Reduce Your Exposure to Suspect Chemicals in Your Home

Sarah Dunagan is a Research Assistant at Silent Spring Institute, where she is currently working on an ongoing study linking breast cancer advocacy and environmental justices.

Dunagan says there are over 80,000 chemicals registered for commercial use in the United States, and only a small fraction of them have been tested for safety. “We are constantly bombarded with potentially harmful chemicals. They are turning up in our air, our water, our homes, and even our bodies.”

“Some of these chemicals are especially relevant for women because they may be linked to breast cancer.” Silent Spring Institute is measuring indoor levels of chemicals known as endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) – chemicals that affect hormones – and chemicals that cause breast tumors in animals.

How can a woman protect herself from these chemicals in her home?

Because there are so many chemicals on the market, limiting exposure to one chemical at a time cannot fully solve the problem, and research on the health effects of many chemicals is not yet conclusive. While scientists continue to study the links between these chemicals and our health, there are precautionary steps we can take now to reduce our exposures.

Take Individual Action

Microwave safe. Use only glass and ceramic containers since some plastic containers contain endocrine disrupting compounds that may leach into food when they are heated.

Choose “green” dry cleaning services that do not use “PERC” or ask for “wet cleaning.” Solvents such as perchloroethylene (PERC) have been linked to various cancers. If you must use traditional dry cleaning with PERC, open plastic bags outside and air out your clothes before hanging them in a closet.

Read the labels. Phthalates are endocrine disrupting compounds that have been associated with cancer, impaired fertility, and male birth defects. They are found in hundreds of products, such as shampoos, lotions, perfume, cosmetics, vinyl, and plastics, including toys. Phthalates are often an ingredient in fragrance; look for labels that say “fragrance-free.”

Grill smart. When grilling foods, you can minimize “char” by turning down the heat and using marinades. “Char” contains polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are known to cause mammary tumors in animals. Using a gas grill instead of a charcoal one and trimming the fat from your meat can also help you reduce your exposure to PAHs.

Buy organic. Buying organic reduces your family’s exposure to pesticides. Many of these chemicals are endocrine disruptors that are known to affect brain development, neurological function, and cancer in humans.

Monitor what goes down the drain. Help protect your indoor air and your community’s water supply by using minimal amounts of the least toxic cleaning products and pesticides. Never put cleaning solvents, pesticides, paint thinners, automobile oil, or gas down a drain.

Choose vacuum cleaners wisely. Carpets can harbor pesticides, allergens such as mold, flame retardants, and other chemicals. Vacuum cleaners with strong suction, a brush on/off switch, a multilayered bag for dust collection, and a HEPA filter are the best at preventing the recycling of dust.

Look for furnishings and electronic equipment without PBDEs. PBDEs (polybrominated diphenyl ethers) – chemicals that affect thyroid hormones – are commercially produced flame retardants often added to polyurethane foam, various plastics, and electronics equipment. When possible, choose carpet pads, bedding, cushions, and upholstered furniture made from natural fibers, including wool, cotton, and hemp.

Practice organic gardening and lawn care. Pesticides and herbicides used on gardens and lawns are tracked into homes. Children and pets that play on lawns are exposed, and the chemicals can leach into waterways and drinking water wells.

Avoid “non-stick” cookware and stain-resistant fabrics. These materials contain perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), which is known to cause mammary tumors and developmental harm in animals.

Clean green. Some household cleaning products contain chemicals that can cause respiratory problems and cancer -- and they aren’t always listed on the label. Next time you go to clean, try sticking with the basics such as baking soda, vinegar, and water. Homemade cleaners are inexpensive, easy to make, and just as effective as commercial ones. To find recipes, visit the Green Guide. www.thegreenguide.com/doc/78/cleaningtools

Be a smart fish consumer. Fish from contaminated waters may contain polychlorinated biphenols (PCBs) and other harmful pollutants. PCBs are associated with higher breast cancer risk in women with a gene variation that activates this pollutant. Follow the Physicians for Social Responsibility guidelines for fish consumption. www.psr.org/site/DocServer/HFHF_English.pdf?docID=703

Kick the plastic habit. Plastic water bottles can leach harmful chemicals into water. If you are concerned about the quality of your tap water, use a carbon block filter to remove trace contaminants and bacteria. If you need to take your water on-the-go, use a stainless steel water bottle.

Conserve fuel. To reduce you’re your exposure to benzene (in gasoline) and everyone's exposure to air pollution from PAHs, choose a fuel efficient vehicle, bicycle, walk, or take public transportation, and switch from a gas-powered lawn mower to electric. Benzene and PAHs are mammary carcinogens and some human studies support a link between these chemicals and breast cancer.

Take Community Action

Encourage your community to adopt policies of using less-toxic chemicals in public buildings and using organic practices in the care of green spaces.

Support standards to increase fuel efficiency across the United States economy, switch diesel buses and trucks to cleaner fuels, and reduce emissions from power plants.

Urge elected officials to be sure that regulators heed warning signs from existing research when deciding how to protect the public from potential risk.

Call for more research on how chemicals may affect breast cancer risk.

For more information about what some scientists are doing to study chemicals in the home, please visit the Household Exposure Study page on the Silent Spring Institute website. www.silentspring.org/newweb/research/household.html

To find out more about protecting your health, visit the Women’s Health and Environment Initiative. www.womenshealthandenvironment.org

Read up on controlling allergens inside at the website of the American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology.

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