We spend a good slice of our days cooped up in our houses but unbeknownst to us; our home may be harboring deadly items that have the potential to have a terminal effect on us. If you are one of the people who would rather be preemptive about this and take a step to securing your future, here are five things you should watch out for.
Kitchen Sponges
Those items you use to wipe up almost anything from any surface in the kitchen can harbor thousands of germs and all these get interspersed in the kitchen as you repeatedly use the sponge to wipe different things. These germs are capable of causing fatal illnesses and so create an idea environment for deadly effect. To turn this round, either boil the offending sponges or throw them in the dishwasher once in a while.
Poisonous Meats
Meats are notorious for stubbornly transmitting salmonella, a deadly strain of bug that can give you a real nasty illness. Luckily, salmonella is destroyed when you cook the meat but chances are this meat could have come into contact with something else that you are not planning to cook… Either when defrosting, or packing or cutting it up, there are a number of chances that it will get into contact with something that you will not cook in high heat. To safeguard your family from this defrost the meat in a separate container and make sure you do not cross-use the utensils used with the meat. Of course also make sure you cook the meat adequately to kill any salmonella.
Legionnaire’s Disease Lurking In your Pipes
This bug resides in your water pipes and every once in a while, can be inhaled when some tap water goes up your nose. This is a diabolical bug caused by Legionella, a bug that is famous for killing over 20 people in a Legion when it was first documented. You may have seen it on TV as a strain of infection that is difficult to cure. To preempt this germ, flush out your pipes once in a while with hot water, this will kill any legionella lurking in the dark recesses of your piping.
Neurotoxic Bulbs
All the hype about fluorescent bulbs forgot to tell us one little thing, those bulbs contain mercury, a heavy metal that can take out your kidneys faster than you can say “Presto!” The bulbs have been approved by many energy rating agencies but falls far short of health institutions. If a bulb breaks and the mercury within gets into your system, the powerful neurotoxin will affect your nervous system and cause most of your vital organs to shut down. What to do? Be extremely careful with them and when they tell you to recycle, don’t just take it as a casual suggestion, DO IT.
Radon Particles
Your house may be sitting on a toxic piece of land and you don’t know it. Many places have depleted uranium in the soil and this result in particles called radon, responsible for causing almost as many cases of lung cancer as cigarettes. These badass particles leak into your home through the basement as they are transmitted from the soil to your house, which then rise through various ventilation shafts to the main house. To safeguard yourself, have a radon test performed on your home every couple of years and if any traces are found, have an expert come in and advice you on how to vent those particles out of your home.
Guest post by Scott Ryan, writing for ANS Coating, a polished concrete services firm. Find out more here
Is Your House Killing You Slowly? Five things To Watch Out For
