Today we often talk about environmental pollution and its effects on our health but do you think you are safe in your house?
In our house the modern facility are often the source of toxins. When we use any insect killers to kill ants, mosquitoes and cockroaches in our home, be it in coil form or spray, the chemicals find a way to our body via respiration. Similarly, when we use room fresheners to remove bad odour in our room many toxic chemicals are added to the air that we inhale. Both adults and children can get allergy due to pollutants introduced by use of such products.
In many houses we see people using foam based cleaners to clean carpets and curtains. These are easy to use and save our efforts required to wash heavy carpets & curtains and then drying them, but these cleaners are made up of carbonated chemicals which after cleaning, vanish and mix in the air.
The food that we eat is also not fresh. In earlier days people used to buy vegetables and fruits on a daily basis but due to refrigerator now we buy only twice or thrice in a month. Vegetables and fruits that have been kept in refrigerators for a long time loose their nutrition and taste.
Due to refrigerators people can now keep cooked food for days and the availability of gas stoves and oven has made re-heating possible. However Cooked food also loose their nutrition and taste just like vegetables, if they are kept for long. In some refrigerators carbonated gas are emitted due to leakage of coolants. These gets mixed with the food and can get into our body when we consume such food.
There are many home products which emit harmful rays which cannot be seen by the naked eyes. For example microwave oven that is not shielded properly may emit rays that are harmful when we are exposed to them for prolonged period of time.
It is estimated that an adult spend around 10 -12 hours in his home. For women and children the duration is more. As per experts the presence of dust, components of insect killers, gases ejected by different mechanical equipments, room fresheners, chemicals components of wall paints, components of hair colour , components of detergent used for washing clothes in our home can cause many allergic problems, lung problems, asthma and cancer.Children are more prone, due to their weak immunity.
In Harvard school of public health, Texas, USA, scientist are educating people how various home appliances can cause health problems. In many European countries the government is asking the companies to test the impact of their products on health of consumers before launching the product in the market.
In a study conducted, in Mount Serai School of Medicine, on 2500 people, who have never been exposed to chemical prone environment, the researchers found 91 toxic elements in their body and 53 of them could cause cancer. It shows that we are surrounded by pollution not only outside our home but also within our house. However pollution at home can be controlled by limited usage of appliances which eject harmful rays or products that contains harmful components. For example – sprinkle some turmeric to remove ants or burn some neem leaves to keep mosquitoes away.
