Toxic Nation

So a dear, dear friend of mine led me to this website called Toxic Nation which has a list of the Top 10 Ways to Detoxify. Since I'm a bit of a head case right now, and not overly educated on this stuff, it's a great place for me to start. So there they are:

The Top 10 Ways to Detoxify

1. Clean Your Indoor Air Quality
   
2. Eat Organic
3. Choose Personal Care Products Carefully
   
4. Avoid Plastics with Bisphenol A
5. Choose Chemical-free Lawn Care
6. Get Green School Supplies
7. Say NO to Non-stick and Stain Repellents
8. Get Rid of the DEET Insect Repellent
9. No Need for Toxic Cleaning Products
   
10. Avoid Toxic Flame Retardants (PBDEs)

Bear with me, since I'm likely going to be jumping around a bit. Many of these ways to detoxify are related to each other. Also, some are easier to accomplish (in regard to both time and money), so they're easy to accomplish while working on the more difficult ones. Since now is as good a time as any, I'm going to start with number one.

1. Clean your indoor air quality

According to Toxic Nation, the potential for harm comes from pollutants like volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and mould that lead to poor air quality. The solution involves things such as not smoking inside, controlling the humidity in your home, allowing ventilation, dusting and vacuuming regularly, not storing paints, solvents, or varnishes in the home, and keeping fuel-burning appliances maintained.

Hmm....this task appears a little more daunting than I thought. Breaking it down should make it a bit easier to digest though. Environment Canada has a great little online guide to combating Indoor Air Pollution that really spells things out for you. Here are the things they list that you and I can do at home:


1) Do not smoke inside the home.

So this one's pretty obvious and not really an issue for us in our own home. We are an absolutely smoke free home. If any visitors wish to smoke, they have to go outside, no matter what the weather. A little more difficult of an issue is going to other people's homes where people DO smoke inside the house. This is the case with my in-laws. While I will never argue against someone having the right to smoke in their own home, I have, and will continue to assert my right to not subject my child to that. So Steve has talked to his parents and they have agreed to smoke outside for the few hours we visit every few weeks. Is it optimal? No. Obviously not. But I do think it's a decent compromise.

2) Ensure a sufficient air exchange rate (this will help to control humidity and to evacuate some of the gaseous chemicals, as there will always be a certain amount of chemicals emitted in indoor air).

We do have a working air exchanger that helps to control the humidity and redistribute the moisture in the air. This past summer, though, it wasn't enough, so we did have to invest in a dehumidifier for the downstairs area. It felt and even started to smell damp. It wasn't nice. And given that the majority of the basement is carpeted, making it even more susceptible to the growth of mould, it was a good call. In the long run, I'd like to rip out the carpet and install a more environmentally and health friendly alternative.

3) Avoid excessive humidity (not more than 50% RH (relative humidity) in Summer and 30% in Winter)

I think this is very related to #2. I didn't realize til now though that there's an actual tool you can buy to tell you what the RH is in your home. It's called a hygrometer. The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation has a great fact sheet on measuring the humidity in your home. (I guess I'll be adding a hygrometer to my things-to-get list.)

4) Repair and diligently dry out any water damage from leaks, infiltration, or flood and clean any mould.

OK, so this is one we have to get on top of. I KNOW we have at least a small amount of mould in our master bathroom shower. It's in desperate need of being re-caulked. So I'm going to put that on my to-do list for this weekend. I'm just dreading stripping away the old caulk (sorry, can't help but giggle) and finding a bigger problem. Though I guess it's best we find out now, right? Other than that, we're pretty mould-free around here.
 
5) Have any combustion device (furnace, water heater, gas stove, fireplace) inspected by a specialist at least once a year, and properly maintained. 

Oh dear. I guess this is something we'll have to do. I'll put it on my to-do list to call our home inspector and see how much he'd charge to come out and take a look...or at least refer us to someone who could. The good news is that it's only been a little over 2 years since this house (water heater included) was inspected. We don't have any of the other devices, since we have electric heat (no furnace! right?) and we don't have a gas stove or fire place. I'll get our air exchanger inspected as well, while I'm at it!

6) Use any chemical (varnish, paint, cleaning product) according to the manufacturer's instructions, e.g., most of them should be used only in well-ventilated areas.

I'm definitely kicking myself in the ass for using harsh chemical cleaners. If you need to wear a mask while using them, that can't be good. So instead of using them "according to instructions" I'm just going to ditch them altogether. No more bleach or sprays that make you feel like you can't breathe. I'm going to pack up all the caustic chemicals and send them to work with Steve (so that he can properly dispose of them). I'll stick with my Method cleaners and I'm going to learn how to use water, vinegar, and baking soda to keep our home clean. If it's safe to eat, it's gotta be safe to clean with.

As for varnish and paint, we haven't had to worry about that. We've been too busy (lazy?) to do any home improvements since we moved in 2 years ago. We are planning on doing a fair bit of painting this spring/summer though. I'm definitely going to go with low-VOC paints and make sure the doors and windows are open. (Guess I need to add "find low-VOC paints" to my to-do list.)

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So I'm thinking I'm going to need more than a day to tackle each of the 10 Ways to Detoxify. Cleaning your indoor air quality is no easy task! And we've barely scratched the surface, I think. There is a lot more I need to find out more about, including formaldehyde and other specific pollutants. But it's getting late so I think I'll save that for another day.