BAD HOME AIR QUALITY - It can trigger asthmatic events, and it can lead to the development of longer-term breathing issues if your family is constantly exposed to irritants and other unhealthy elements in the air. What many people don’t realize about keeping the air in their homes clean is that it is not just a matter of washing or vacuuming. The detergents and products you use can actually contribute to your poor air quality, and so can many of your home appliances. Installing a new furnace filter every six months is a recommended step in almost every home furnace maintenance schedule. Upgrading your air filter to one that is carbon-activated, HEPA rated, or is specially designed to be hypoallergenic will allow you to trap more and finer particles, making your overall home air quality much better without a lot of effort. Furnaces and air conditioning units are not the only places where you will find air filters working to keep the air in your home fresh and clean. Dehumidifiers, home air purifiers, vacuum cleaners, stove hoods, and clothes dryers all circulate air, and they all have filters that need to be regularly cleaned, as well as ducting and fans that can leak dirty air if they are not properly maintained. Most vacuum cleaners have basic HEPA-rated air filters, but you definitely get what you pay for. Inspecting under sinks and in bathrooms for black mold and cleaning any deposits you find right away is a key way to protect your family’s overall health.

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Bad Home Air Quality.

8 Reasons You Have Bad Home Air Quality

Allergy & Air 

Home air quality is a large part of what makes a house feel inviting and comfortable.

Sometimes, it can even make clean, well-maintained homes feel oppressive or dirty.

It can also trigger asthmatic events, and it can lead to the development of longer-term breathing issues if your family is constantly exposed to irritants and other unhealthy elements in the air.

What many people don’t realize about keeping the air in their homes clean is that it is not just a matter of washing or vacuuming.

The detergents and products you use can actually contribute to your poor air quality, and so can many of your home appliances.

Here are a few areas where you can do quality control on the air in your home.

1. Your Furnace or Central Air Unit

It’s very easy to let furnace check-ups go when you don’t see major problems with your home heating system.

The same is true for air conditioners, both central air units and the portable kind.

Keeping up with the regular maintenance on these units, including inspections and tune-ups that require you to call in a specialist, means that your home air circulation will be more efficient, making it easier for your furnace filter to do its job effectively.

2. Your Furnace Filter

Installing a new furnace filter every six months is a recommended step in almost every home furnace maintenance schedule.

Since air filters are replaced so frequently, it can be tempting to go budget and get lower-end filters with very basic features.

Upgrading your air filter to one that is carbon-activated, HEPA rated, or is specially designed to be hypoallergenic will allow you to trap more and finer particles, making your overall home air quality much better without a lot of effort.

3. Home Appliances

Furnaces and air conditioning units are not the only places where you will find air filters working to keep the air in your home fresh and clean. 

Dehumidifiers, home air purifiers, vacuum cleaners, stove hoods, and clothes dryers all circulate air, and they all have filters that need to be regularly cleaned, as well as ducting and fans that can leak dirty air if they are not properly maintained.

Inspecting and fixing any issues in these appliances, or even just cleaning their air filters regularly, will help a lot with your home’s air.

4. Your Vacuum

Most vacuum cleaners have basic HEPA-rated air filters, but you definitely get what you pay for.

Going for a premium vacuum cleaner with a top-notch air filtration system and the ability to trap the finest particles in your air and carpet can help a lot.

You do need to make sure to clean it regularly and to keep it from over-filling during use to realize the full benefits of this upgrade, but when you clean your home with a top of the line vacuum that is in peak condition, you will notice the difference right away.

5. Bathroom Mold and Other Moisture Issues

Inspecting under sinks and in bathrooms for black mold and cleaning any deposits you find right away is a key way to protect your family’s overall health.

Mold is not just bad for your respiratory system; it can be toxic in other ways as well.

If you find any deposits, clean them with a borax or borax-and-citrus mixture for quick, effective results.

Then, assess the area for any repairs or other maintenance concerns you may need to fix, and dry it out before attempting any repairs.

For bathroom mold, remember to run ventilation fans for about a half hour after baths and showers to help prevent new buildup.

6. Artificial Cleaning Products

You hear a lot about toxins and other health problems, and it seems sometimes like those warnings might be a bit over-the-top.

When it comes to cleaning agents, detergents, and other household chemicals, though, there really are a lot of harsh chemicals with fumes that linger, causing distress for people with sensitive respiratory systems, including children.

You can easily reduce chemical fumes around the house and make it easier to breathe without compromising on cleanliness, though.

Common, natural citrus can be used to make a variety of home cleaning agents that keep your air fresh while they scrub every surface clean.

Other options using tea tree oil, vinegar, or combinations of natural solutions are also available.

7. Smelly, Artificially Scented Air Fresheners

Relying on artificial air fresheners and other scent options, such as candles or incense, means putting adulterants back into the air.

While they do cover the signs of poor air quality very well, they also contribute to the problems that come from having too many fine particles in the air, irritating lungs and throats and leading to problems for people with asthma and other allergies.

Candles and incense are especially an issue, because smoke and other carbon particulates get into the air alongside the artificial scents.

If you need some kind of fresh scent to pick you up around the house, consider dry alternatives that can be made from natural ingredients, such as orange peels.

They will help freshen the house and improve your air quality without adding to existing issues with your air.

8. Going Without an Air Purifier

Last but not least, if you don’t already have a home air purifier, it really is worthwhile to get one. Air purifiers help draw dust and other suspended particles out of the air, making it so your furnace filter doesn’t need to work as hard.

Many are also capable of trapping fine particles that would normally come to rest on the carpet, where your vacuum would have to deal with it.

This is an essential step toward air purity that also happens to have the extra bonus effect of being able to reduce the amount of work involved in applying your other strategies.

Keeping the air quality in your home fresh and clean is an ongoing process, but it does not have to be a battle.

Investing in the right cleaning strategies and the equipment to stay on top of them is a matter of adjusting to a new process, but once you have made that adjustment the day-to-day maintenance becomes easy, and you will be able to enjoy the benefits for years to come.

AllergyandAir.com offers some of the best-rated, most technologically advanced air purifiers on the market to help keep your house or office free of allergens, odors & chemicals that may be harmful to you and your family.

https://learn.allergyandair.com/reasons-for-bad-home-air-quality/

PERFUME POISONING - How to Know If Your Perfume Is Poisoning You - You might think that finding out what’s in your perfume would be as easy as reading the ingredient label. But because of laws that protect fragrance manufacturers from sharing “trade secrets,” almost every perfume sold commercially is crammed with chemicals that aren’t listed individually on the product packaging. Instead, these chemicals are simply covered by the word “fragrance” — a catchall ingredient category that really could mean anything. Because so many ingredients included in perfume aren’t disclosed to the buyer, there are some well-founded concerns over the chemical reactions perfume can trigger. The good news is that immediate, irreversible damage to your health caused by one-time use of perfume or cologne — so-called “perfume poisoning” — is rare. But exposure to topical fragrances can trigger allergies, skin sensitivities, and cause harm over time. Most perfumes contain high amounts of ethanol, a type of alcohol that humans shouldn’t consume. While it can be scary for your child to ingest perfume, it happens pretty frequently and most children recover just fine. The most toxic ingredient in perfumes, colognes, and aftershaves tends to be ethanol or isopropyl alcohol. The scented ingredients in perfume are infused into these alcohols as a way of preserving and stabilizing the product’s desired scent.

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Perfume Poisoning

How to Know If Your Perfume Is Poisoning You

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Because so many ingredients included in perfume aren’t disclosed to the buyer, there are some well-founded concerns over the chemical reactions perfume can trigger in your body. The good news is that immediate, irreversible damage to your health caused by one-time use of perfume or cologne — so-called “perfume poisoning” — is rare. But exposure to topical fragrances can trigger allergies, skin sensitivities, and cause harm over time. The most toxic ingredient in perfumes, colognes, and aftershaves tends to be ethanol or isopropyl alcohol. The scented ingredients in perfume are infused into these alcohols as a way of preserving and stabilizing the product’s desired scent. 

Written by Kathryn Watson 

Medically reviewed by Elaine K. Luo, M.D.  

You might think that finding out what’s in your perfume would be as easy as reading the ingredient label.

But because of laws that protect fragrance manufacturers from sharing “trade secrets,” almost every perfume sold commercially is crammed with chemicals that aren’t listed individually on the product packaging.

Instead, these chemicals are simply covered by the word “fragrance” — a catchall ingredient category that really could mean anything.

Because so many ingredients included in perfume aren’t disclosed to the buyer, there are some well-founded concerns over the chemical reactions perfume can trigger in your body.

The good news is that immediate, irreversible damage to your health caused by one-time use of perfume or cologne — so-called “perfume poisoning” — is rare.

But exposure to topical fragrances can trigger allergies, skin sensitivities, and cause harm over time.

Let’s take a closer look at medical emergencies caused by fragrance products as well as other less serious conditions that can be related to perfume.

When to seek immediate help

Most perfumes contain high amounts of ethanol, a type of alcohol that humans shouldn’t consume.

If your child ingests a teaspoon or more — we aren’t talking about a spritz or two — you need to contact a poison control center at 800-222-1222, or call your child’s pediatrician, right away.

In the meantime, give your child a small, carb- or sugar-heavy snack to keep their blood sugar from dropping to a dangerous level.

While it can be scary for your child to ingest perfume, it happens pretty frequently and most children recover just fine.

Symptoms that someone could be experiencing a serious reaction to a fragrance product include:

·               a spiking temperature

·               boils or large hives

·               drowsiness or a dip in energy

·               confusion

·               dizziness

·               nausea or vomiting

·               slurred speech

·               elevated heart rate

These symptoms warrant a trip to the emergency room.

Ingredients to worry about

The most toxic ingredient in perfumes, colognes, and aftershaves tends to be ethanol or isopropyl alcohol.

The scented ingredients in perfume are infused into these alcohols as a way of preserving and stabilizing the product’s desired scent.

These alcohols are toxic, and may cause symptoms if swallowed in amounts greater than 30 milliliters.

If you’ve noticed redness, itching, or sinus irritation when you’re exposed to a certain fragrance, you probably have a sensitivity to something in it.

But you may not have the best luck finding out what that ingredient is.

One study conducted by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) estimated that only 34 percent of stock ingredients often found in fragrances have been tested for toxicity.

Fragrance products are exempt from Food and Drug Administration (FDA) testing, which deepens the frustration for users trying to find out what’s actually in their perfumes.

Perfumes may include:

·       respiratory sensitizers that trigger wheezing or asthma

·       hormone sensitizers that throw your endocrine system off balance

·       secret ingredients that are harmful to your reproductive system when they build up in your body over time

As mentioned above, most perfume manufacturers are able to avoid actually listing these toxic ingredients on their packaging.

With that being said, here are some ingredient names to look out for, especially if you’re pregnant or know someone trying to get pregnant:

·               phthalates

·               styrene

·               Galaxolide ketone and other musk ketones

·               ethylene glycol

·               acetaldehyde

·               oxybenzone

Symptoms of perfume poisoning

If you’ve ingested perfume, your symptoms may be similar to a person who has ingested a high-proof or heavily concentrated type of liquor.

Here are symptoms to watch out for that could indicate perfume poisoning:

·               swaying while walking or trouble with balance

·               slurred speech

·               lethargy or lack of energy

·               breath that smells of alcohol

·               nausea or vomiting

Treatment for perfume poisoning

If you or your child have ingested perfume, a poison control center or general practitioner will have some advice.

You may be told that plenty of water, a light snack, and carefully watching for symptoms to appear is the best approach if only a small amount of perfume has been consumed.

For cases in which a large amount of fragrance has been ingested, you or your child may be kept in a hospital overnight for observation.

During that time, the affected person will be given plenty of fluid and light snacks to keep blood sugar from dropping to a dangerous level.

Within 48 to 72 hours, the danger of a serious reaction from ingesting perfume will have passed.

Contact dermatitis from perfume

Sometimes a perfume on you or someone you’re physically close to can cause a mild allergic reaction.

Most often, this reaction occurs on your skin in the form of contact dermatitis.

If you have sensitive skin, you probably already know about this condition and what it looks like. Contact dermatitis is possible whenever your skin comes in contact with an ingredient (synthetic or natural) that irritates you.

Symptoms of contact dermatitis include:

·               hives or blisters

·               itchy, flaking skin

·               burning or redness on skin

·               sensitivity to touch

Treatment

Contact dermatitis usually resolves itself before it needs treatment. When you’re no longer in contact with the substance that’s triggering you, your symptoms should subside.

If they don’t, you can try the following home remedies:

·           washing your skin with gentle, dye-free soap and lukewarm water

·           soothing the area with a hypoallergenic, natural product like calamine lotion, aloe vera, or coconut oil

·           using hydrocortisone cream, such as Benadryl, until the itching subsides

Other reactions to perfume

Contact dermatitis isn’t a medical emergency, and even ingesting perfume can be treated and lead to a full recovery. But these are not the only possible toxic effects of perfume.

Some of the chemicals in popular perfumes may be dangerous if they build up in your body, though more research is needed.

Styrene, an ingredient found in many cosmetic products, was deemed a likely carcinogen by the National Toxicology Program in 2014.

Musk ketone, an ingredient widely used in cosmetics produced in Europe, has such a low biodegradability in contrast to its high exposure rate that it’s often found in human breast milk and fatty tissue.

Whether or not this is dangerous is unclear.

Some chemicals in perfume are included for the express purpose of helping your skin absorb the fragrance and make it last for hours on end.

Unfortunately, those same chemicals increase your skin’s vulnerability to soaking in the possible carcinogens, alcohols, and petroleum in your perfume.

Exposure to the phthalates found in many perfumes during early childhood — or even in utero — may pose risks to children’s respiratory health.

And that’s just what we know about fragrance chemicals — there’s a lot that’s still unknown.

The EWG evaluates perfumes based on their ingredients and ranks them based on risk, with 10 being the highest level of risk a product can pose.

Celebrity fragrances, drugstore and cosmetic counter brand perfumes, and fragrances branded as “eau de parfum” or “eau de toilette” are among the worst ranked perfumes based on the available data.

Perfumes that scored a 10 (most risk) based on EWG’s system include:

·           Katy Perry’s Killer Queen

·           Philosophy Living Grace Spray Fragrance

·           Nicki Minaj Pink Friday Eau de Parfum

·           Adidas Moves for Her Perfume

·          marquee fragrances by Givenchy, Vera Wang, and Burberry

The takeaway

Perfume poisoning — toxic reactions that cause long-term damage to your body because of consuming perfume — are uncommon among adults who use perfume as a part of their routine.

Temporary allergic reactions to perfumes aren’t uncommon.

You can even develop an allergy to a product that you’ve used for years because of overexposure or changes to the formula’s ingredients.

Look for perfumes that list all of their ingredients on the label, rather than using the term “parfum” or “fragrance.”

Seek out products whose scent is produced by essential oils, or forego fragrance altogether and look for unscented products.

You can also use resources such as Madesafe.org and the EWG’s Skin Deep to help you decide if a product is worth using.

Kathryn Watson is a freelance writer based in New York City. She covers culture, the arts, and literature in addition to writing about health and wellness. More writing can be found on her website, https://www.kathrynswatson.com/.

Healthline’s Medical Affairs team focuses on ensuring Healthline’s content, products, and services uphold the highest standards of medical integrity. Our dedicated team also manages our extensive clinician network, which provides medical review for all clinical content. Covering the full spectrum of medicine, Healthline’s physicians, nurses, public health experts, and patient advocates help ensure that the information you receive is accurate, evidence based, current, and trustworthy.

https://www.healthline.com/health/perfume-poisoning#medical-emergency

ALLERGIES AT HOME - Is Your Water Quality to Blame? - Municipalities add chlorine and other chemical purifiers to their water systems to make tap water safe for drinking and bathing, but what’s not as widely understood is how some of these chemicals can disrupt our body’s hormones. These purifying chemicals can interfere with our immune systems. When your body’s immune system identifies an allergen like dust, peanuts or shellfish as a potential danger, it will release antibodies to attack the foreign substance, which is what leads to everything from annoying seasonal allergy symptoms like nasal congestion to life-threatening conditions like anaphylaxis. What many allergy sufferers may not realize is that their body might be identifying the chemicals in their home’s tap water as potential attackers. Chlorine, which is primarily added to water to kill bacteria, could exacerbate allergy and asthma symptoms. In fact, research suggests that even the fumes from a steamy shower in chlorine-treated water could trigger an asthma attack.

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Allergies at Home

Is Your Water Quality to Blame?

Jennifer L. Nelson

From peanuts to pollen, millions of people worldwide suffer from allergies, but what they may not realize is that their drinking water could be partially to blame for their symptoms.

Most of us probably don’t want to think about what could be lurking in the tap water that we drink, cook with and bathe in, but studies have shown that certain allergies and respiratory conditions like asthma might be linked to chemicals that are commonly used to clean tap water.

How Tap Water Affects Your Allergy Symptoms

It’s widely known that municipalities add chlorine and other chemical purifiers to their water systems to make tap water safe for drinking and bathing, but what’s not as widely understood is how some of these chemicals can disrupt our body’s hormones.

However, researchers are finding that these purifying chemicals can interfere with our immune systems much like pet dander can cause hives in someone with animal allergies.

When your body’s immune system identifies an allergen like dust, peanuts or shellfish as a potential danger, it will release antibodies to attack the foreign substance, which is what leads to everything from annoying seasonal allergy symptoms like nasal congestion to life-threatening conditions like anaphylaxis.

Though it is possible to be allergic to water itself — an incredibly rare condition known as aquagenic urticaria — what many allergy sufferers may not realize is that their body might be identifying the chemicals in their home’s tap water as potential attackers.

Which Chemicals Are to Blame?

A study conducted in Belgium concluded that chlorine, which is primarily added to water to kill bacteria, could exacerbate allergy and asthma symptoms.

In fact, research suggests that even the fumes from a steamy shower in chlorine-treated water could trigger an asthma attack.

Other research has linked chlorine exposure to conditions ranging from skin and eye irritation to respiratory issues like bronchitis.

In recent years, another type of water purifying chemical that has been called into question is known as dichlorophenol.

Also used to clean drinking water, dichlorophenol is often used to make pesticides — meaning it might just be lingering on some of your favorite seasonal fruits and vegetables this summer.

The link between dichlorophenol and allergies is continuing to be established; one study tested more than 10,000 Americans and found that those with the highest levels of dichlorophenol in their urine were more likely to have food allergies, which currently affect some 15 million Americans.

But the chlorine that could be in your water at home isn’t solely to blame for any adverse allergy symptoms.

Fluoride has also been added to community water supplies for years due to its ability to fight tooth decay, but research has been done that suggests both adults and children who suffer from asthma and allergy symptoms may have negative reactions to fluoride.

How to Filter Your Tap Water to Improve Symptoms

If there’s someone with allergies or asthma in your home, experts agree you should consider filtering your tap water.

The majority of home water filters remove chlorine by relying on a semi-permeable membrane and a process known as reverse osmosis filtration, which also successfully removes pesticides in addition to lead, calcium, and other hard water minerals.

Reverse osmosis filters remove virtually all of the chemicals typically found in tap water, and have proven particularly effective in removing chemicals like fluoride from your drinking and bathing water.

You can also take your home’s water filtration a step further and invest in a shower filter to prevent absorbing the chemicals through your skin, but these filters may not eliminate all chemicals in the water and will likely have to be replaced on a fairly regular basis.

Alternatively, there are whole house filters on the market that are designed to remove all chemicals, including chlorine and fluoride, from every faucet in your home.

When installed on all of your kitchen and bathroom faucets, these filters can provide completely purified drinking and bath water throughout your home.

5 Water Quality-Related Tips To Relieve Allergies

Still concerned about how traces of chemicals like chlorine in your tap water might be affecting your existing allergies or asthma symptoms?

Here are some other water quality-related tips for allergy and asthma sufferers.

Keep Your Showers Short (and Cool)

Long showers in hot water can lead to increased absorption of any chemicals that might be lingering in your home’s water supply.

Allergy and asthma sufferers should consider limiting the amount of time spent in the shower, using lukewarm water, and turning off the water entirely while lathering or shaving.

Choose Bottled Water

For those who are concerned about chemicals in tap water, investing in water purifiers for your faucets will likely be the most economical option in the long run. However, bottled water can provide a safe alternative for drinking water when you’re on the go.

Opt For Organic

Even if you install a top-of-the-line faucet water filter, that doesn’t mean the produce you eat wasn’t previously treated with the very chemicals or pesticides you’re trying to avoid.

Choose organic fruits and vegetables whenever possible, and be sure to thoroughly rinse all produce with filtered water prior to consuming.

Limit Pool Time

Public pools are dependent on increased levels of chemicals like chlorine in order to kill bacteria. So if you or a loved one has severe allergies or asthma, you might want to limit time spent at the community pool.

You can also seek out pools — or treat your own backyard pool — with non-chlorine chemical alternatives like bromine or processes like ionization, which relies on copper and silver ions to keep the water clean.

Use Distilled Water in Humidifiers

Longtime asthma and allergy sufferers probably already know that humidity in that air can improve their breathing.

But if you’re relying on a humidifier to sleep comfortably through the night, you might want to fill it with distilled water.

The minerals commonly found in tap water can form deposits that ultimately promote the growth of bacteria — which, of course, can then be released into the air and potentially worsen your symptoms.

By following the above tips, you can better protect yourself and your family from the allergies caused by poor water quality.

With a little preparation and care, you can fight back against the allergens that lace our water sources, promoting a healthier home.

AllergyAndAir.com specializes in affordable, practical, and innovative products to improve air quality and regulate the temperature in your home.

At AllergyAndAir.com we strive to make online shopping quick, easy and affordable. Our catalog is always growing and we carry the latest selection of products to safeguard your home from allergens, mold, moisture, and more. With three distribution centers across the United States, we can deliver faster than the competition. We have a dedicated call center with product experts to answer your questions.

https://learn.allergyandair.com/water-quality-allergies/