Energy Efficient Homes Increase Asthma Risk

As winter carries on, most of us in colder climates try to avoid the bad weather at all costs, which means spending most of our time indoors. And to ensure we stay as warm as possible, we work to keep our homes well insulated and free from drafts and leaky windows. In recent years, as it’s become a very popular form of home improvement to keep heating bills down but as it turns out, this may not be so good for our respiratory health.

Indoor Air Quality Explained

When we think of air pollution, we often envision dirty vehicle emissions poisoning the air we breathe or power plants and the bellowing of toxic fumes out of their towering smokestacks. Sure, outdoor air pollution causes serious health risks to our society, but if you believe outdoor air pollution is the biggest air quality risk to human health, we need to have a talk about the air inside your home, office, gym, and other indoor spaces.

January is Radon Action Month

It’s invisible. It’s odorless. It’s tasteless. It’s the number one cause of lung cancer for non-smokers in America. It may be in your home, and you wouldn’t even know it. It’s radon – a radioactive gas that is thought to contribute to tens of thousands of deaths each year and it’s relatively common. The good news is that if unsafe levels of radon are detected in your home, you can fix the problem. For this reason January is National Radon Action Month, to encourage people to test for radon. So make sure to take action and protect yourself and your loved ones from potential harmful radon exposure.

Wine and Chocolate Help the Heart Fight Pollution

A team from Harvard Medical School examined the heart function of 573 elderly men over 11 years. They found that if the men ate foods containing large amounts of flavonoids on days when air pollution levels were high, they were far less likely to experience the changes in their heart function that could put them at risk of suffering a heart attack. In this article, we will examine flavonoids and the foods they can be found in.