A recent nation-wide surveys shows that environmental home safety is a chief concern among Americans. This same survey also showed that though Americans are concerned with home safety, they do little to protect themselves from common home health hazards.
“People are aware that pests can spread germs that cause disease, but in the rush of everyday life we can still forget to take actions to protect ourselves… there is a gap between awareness and action.”
- Dr. Emily Zielinski-Gutierrez, behavioral scientist for the CDC’s National Center for Zoonotic, Vector-Borne and Enteric Diseases,
Hidden Home Threats: Pests
Mosquitoes
Because they typically are not found inside homes homeowners often neglect mosquitoes. However, mosquitoes cause more human suffering then any other pest or organism: “Over one million people worldwide die from mosquito-borne diseases every year.” Mosquitoes carry nearly a dozen diseases, including West-Nile, which can infect people, as well as a handful of diseases that dogs and horses are susceptible to. Mosquitoes need only a thimble full of water to breed and survive. The key to preventing mosquitoes in and around your home is to minimize the amount of standing water near your home. Standing water can often be found in gutters, potted plants, birdbaths and poorly drained lawns and flower gardens. Keeping these areas around your home dry will greatly decrease the likely hood of mosquitoes around your home. If you are going to be around mosquitoes outdoors, wearing a mosquito repellent with DEET will protect you when mosquitoes cannot be avoided.
Ticks
Ticks are another outdoor pest that are often forgotten. Ticks, like mosquitoes, carry over a dozen different illness, including Lyme disease. Ticks are most likely to find their way into your home via your pets. Dogs are very susceptible to tick bore illness, and like humans, pick them up in tall grass and wooded areas. The type of tick illness it may be carrying varies with geographic location, however, creating a tick-free zone is the same regardless of location. Ticks live in tall grass and brush, so keeping leaves cleared and the lawn trimmed is the most effective way to keep ticks out of the yard. If you live near a wooded area, keeping a 3-foot wood-chipped or gravel path will help prevent tick migration from the wooded area into your yard. We do offer services for ticks that are effective and guaranteed.
Rodents
Rodents are relentless, they can squeeze through holes the size of a dime, and quickly repopulate. Rodents are also double trouble in that they carry numerous diseases as well as pests, like ticks and flees, that also carry diseases. To prevent rodent infestations: seal up, trap up, and clean up.
Seal Up
Rodents often enter your home through small gaps and holes. Some key places to check and seal are: inside, under, and behind kitchen cabinets refrigerators and stoves. Sealing inside closets near the floor corners, around fire places, around doors, especially glass sliding doors are also key places. Along with sealing up, removing brush and trimming tree branches away from your home will help create a rodent barrier and lower your chance of rodents wandering into your home.
Trap-Up
If rodents do wander into your home, it is important to immediately set-out traps. A single female mouse is capable of reproducing up to 140 mice per year! Setting out traps immediately will help prevent this rapid reproduction. Place traps in areas you suspect rodent traffic. Traps should be placed against the floorboard because rodents prefer to run next to walls or other objects for safety and do not like being out in the open.
Clean-Up
Cleaning up serves two purposes. First and foremost, it minimizes the chances of rodents coming in contact with you. If rodents make it into your food, it is likely they will then pass on any diseases they may be carrying. Rodents are also less likely to wonder in if there is no food to attach them. Keeping food in sealed containers, counters clean and free of crumbs, as well as floors clean, will minimize your chances of a rodent infestation.
Cockroaches
Cleaning up crumbs will not only help with rodents, but also a possible cockroach infestation. Cockroaches carry germs that can trigger sickness as well as causing sever asthmatic reactions. Cockroaches thrive in warm areas where food and water is accessible. The simplest and most effective way to prevent an infestation is to keep the kitchen clean. Keep both floors and counters crumb free. Cockroaches thrive on crumbs kicked into dark corners. Cockroaches also thrive on things like pet food, so, picking up pet food each night, as well as keeping garbage sealed, will minimize the attraction for cockroaches.
Hidden Home Threats: Other Concerns
Pest poisons/Chemical cleaning products
Sometimes even the most diligent crumb patrol is not enough to prevent a home invasion. We then often turn to pesticides and chemicals to irradiate pests. But, beware, these chemicals themselves can become a home hazard. The United States poison control center reports they answer a call about a possible poisoning every 13 seconds. More than 90% of these exposures occur in the home! Pesticides are used in 3 out of 4 homes, and therefore are a major home poisoning agent. Other home products that could potentially become a poison include: cosmetics and personal care products, household cleaning products, pesticides, prescription drugs, and pain relievers. Many cleaning products are harmful, not just if they are consumed, but also if their fumes are inhaled.
Luckily, preventing a poisoning mishap is simple. It is a good idea to always keep chemicals in their original container. All the health hazards are listed on the containers as well as preventing in accidental inhale of bleach trying to identify an unmarked container. It is also a good idea to keep all cleaning/pesticide products together and locked. A simple magnetic cabinet lock like this one, are easy to install, operate, and are affordable. Plus, there are no pinched fingers, a common occurrence with old cabinet locks.
Of course, it's always best to hire a professional to take care of your pests.
Lead Poisoning
While pesticides and cleaning products are poisons you bring into your home, lead could possibly already be in your home. Lead is a dangerous metal and when consumed affects all of the body’s critical functions. Lead poising often occurs over months or years, so there are no immediate signs of lead exposure. Lead poisoning is most likely to occur in homes built before 1978. Homes built before 1978 were likely painted with lead based paints. Therefore, peeling paints and dust from these older homes contain dangerous trace amounts of lead. According to the CDC, approximately 24 million housing units have deteriorated paint with lead and elevated levels of lead-contaminated house dust. Children under the age of six are most at risk because they tend to put their hands or other objects, which may contain lead into their mouth.
The best way to prevent lead poisoning is to know when your home was built. If you have an older home, the state and local health department should be contacted to do lead paint testing. If you live in a new home, lead can be present in the soil around your home. Therefore, prevent children from playing in bare soil. This problem can be fixed by substituting a sandbox for the bare soil around your home.
Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
Carbon Monoxide is an odorless, colorless gas that is produced as a by-product of burning fossil fuels. Around your home, carbon monoxide is produced any time you burn fuel in cars or trucks, small engines, stoves, lanterns, grills, fireplaces, gas ranges, or furnaces. Carbon monoxide can build up indoors and poison people or animals that breathe it in. Symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning are as follows: headache, dizziness, weakness, upset stomach, vomiting, chest pain, and confusion. These symptoms are often described as flu-like. These flu-like symptoms kill 500 people a year in the U.S.
Carbon Monoxide poisoning is easy to prevent through ventilation and monitoring. Generators should not be run near your home and, if your garage is attached to the house, your car should never be run in the garage. It is also important to annually check the chimneys, stoves, and hot water heaters to make sure they are functioning properly and ventilated properly. Carbon monoxide monitors, which look and function like smoke detectors, should be installed near sleeping areas. In California when we change the clocks twice a year is a good time to check the battery on your carbon monoxide filters.
Radon Poisoning
Radon is a cancer-causing radioactive gas. Like carbon monoxide, radon cannot not be smelt, seen, or tasted. Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the U.S. behind smoking. For non-smokers, radon is the leading cause of lung cancer, causing 20,000 lung cancer deaths a year. Radon is not a commercial produced chemical; rather, it is a natural byproduct of the decay of radioactive materials. These radioactive materials, like uranium, are found in the soil and groundwater. The average home is exposed to radon through the foundation of their home. As radon is produced, it seeps up through the soil, and into homes through cracks in the foundation and walls. Radon is soluble, so it also can seep into groundwater.
Radon, like carbon monoxide, is easy to detect. Radon detection kits can be bought from your local hardware store for as cheap as $10. If your home has high levels of radon, getting your home sealed and safe again can often be done for under $500. Here is a list for California of professional radon mitigators.
Mold
Molds are fungi that grow in damp warm places, both indoors and outdoors. Mold gives off allergens and irritants that can be especially troublesome for people with respiratory issues such as asthma, or a history of upper respiratory tract infections. Mold grows in wet humid areas, so it is most likely to be found in bathrooms, under sinks, and in basements. Mold will not grow if moisture is not present. So, the best way to prevent mold hazards in your home is to make sure all pipes are functioning properly. For example, there should be no dripping water under sink. Bathrooms should be ventilated by a fan that deposits exhaust outside. If mold is already growing in your home, you must take precaution when cleaning it up. When cleaning mold you should always wear gloves, a mask, and long sleeves. Mold on hard surfaces can be cleaned with a simple water and detergent solution. However, if mold has grown into absorbent or porous materials, such as carpet or ceiling tiles, those surfaces should be completely thrown away and replaced.