Environmental toxins are all around us whether we are aware of them or not. In order to protect your physical health and mental health, it’s vital that you protect your home atmosphere and remove any air pollutants that might be lurking. Over time, if you let these substances build up your body can start to suffer from uncomfortable reactions and overall fatigue. Luckily, you don’t need to be an expert in environmental medicine to begin taking small steps towards cleaning up the air around you. it’s not too hard or expensive to protect your home from any harmful environmental toxins. Let’s walk through ten easy ways to clear out your home and protect your body in the long run.

Removing Environmental Pollutants

Even making simple changes to your home will help your health and the overall safety of your home. Some changes can be a bit complicated while others are easy fixes, but the choice is ultimately yours for what to deal with. Among environmental pollutants like monoxide or pesticides lurking around corners of your home, studies have linked too much exposure with nervous system damage, brain complications, asthma, allergies, various types of cancer, and unexpected fatigue. However, you can decrease your exposure and risk of these problems with the following habits:

1. Get rid of the dust. Having extra house dust really tampers with your physical allergic reactions and mental health. It also contains dangerous chemicals in the form of tiny particles like fire retardants, pesticides, and sometimes even bug feces. The best way to get rid of all the dust bunnies to replace your home’s carpeting and wipe down any vinyl surfaces that may be dirty. This can be a bit expensive though, as buying all the materials really does add up in fees. If you would rather save some money, opt for elbow grease to cleanse the surface level, vacuum every week, and invest in an at home carpet washing machine to scrub everything down.  
2. Don’t continue smoking. If you’re someone who tends to smoke inside your home, it’s about time to quit. An estimated 40% of all children who live in a smoke invested home may develop severe asthma and sometimes even cancer issues later on in life. Since it’s costing the health of yourself and your living partners, opt for quitting the habit and stick to it before it’s too late.
3. Make sure your paint is clean. Lead paint and even radon is extremely unhealthy for your living space and can cause serious brain damage to any young children around. What’s worse is that the lead can sometimes trigger a pleasure response in some people and lead to long term addiction. Avoid the environment pollution by checking in with your local health department to run a test of a paint chip sample from your home. They will be able to measure how much lead is in the substance and will recommend whether or not you should remove it and paint over the area with a less toxic paint.
4. Never use pesticides in your home. These chemicals are meant to kill for a reason, as it can cause severe chemical burns on your skin and will cause serious breathing issues for younger children. Promote a healthier environment by preventing pests from coming into your home in the first place by washing your dishes at all times, cleaning up tables or cutting boards, vacuuming the floors, dusting off untouched spaces, and keeping food containers tightly sealed. A little goes a long way!
5. Limit your cans and plastic goods. While these materials aren’t environmental pollutants, they can easily transfer toxic chemicals into the foods you eat every day. If you are regularly using plastic water or baby bottles, immediately go for a safer glass alternative that will not transfer BPA. BPA is clinically associated with various cancers that can form years later after overexposure. When you cook your foods, make sure you take out any plastic container or cling wrap that was covering it before. Heat easily melts plastic and can release a highly dangerous chemical that leads to burning eyes, toxic food, and a strong odor. Additionally, eat less canned foods so you are limiting any potential risks from the metal casing.
6. Eliminating toxins in your water is crucial. Avoid drinking water straight from the tap by installing a water filter. Many choices today are inexpensive and highly efficient to ensure your water is safe and healthy for you to drink. In addition, avoid drinking bottled water at all costs as the water is only regulated by the FDA. The FDA requires much less strict regulation laws than local water surveys that usually test for bacteria and other toxins. If you’re on the go, fill up your handy glass water bottle instead!
7. This may be a no brainer, but make sure you are always washing your hands or are using a hand sanitizer. After we get home from school or work, our hands have picked up thousands of harmful bacteria and chemicals left on surfaces we touched. Don’t let these environmental toxins harm your health further by letting it enter your home. Always make sure to wipe down your phone screen as well to cut down on germs and prevent sickness as well!

Better Safe Than Sorry

There’s always a good reason to keep your home clean and free for environmental pollutants. For the sake of your health and sanity down the line, you’ll be much happier you took extra time to clean up the corners and practice safer cooking instead of suffering from sickness. To make it easier, invest in just five to ten minutes a day or an hour each week to wipe down every dirty surface, dispose of foods sitting in plastic containers, or vacuum dusty areas. You’ll be glad you did!