Carbon Monoxide

A carbon monoxide detector ($20-$60 from your local hardware store) is considerably cheaper than a coffin (or several)

Because you are priceless and irreplaceable I will be especially annoyed if you croak for preventable and stupid reasons. Carbon monoxide poisoning is high on the Stupid List. It is a sneaky killer that has no color, odor or taste so you could be gone before you notice you are going.

1. Never bring an OUTSIDE heater of any kind INSIDE your house, your garage, your camper or your car. Not even once. Not ever.
2. Go to your calendar right now and make a note to have your central heating system checked for leaks by a professional once a year. Don’t assume because your system is fairly new that it can’t have problems.
3. Always use your fireplace flue correctly. If you forget, put a reminder note on your mantle.
4. Of course, it is tempting in cold weather to warm up your car in the garage. Never. Not even one time.
5. If you have a wood stove, make sure that the door has a really snug fit.

Be well. Breathe beautifully (for a very long time.)

More About Dust Mites

Dust mites are always a breathing hazard to you and especially to young children in your home. Mites are microscopic monster-movie critters that don’t bite but poop a lot. It’s their poop that gives you a lifetime allergy for which there is no cure.

1. Google “dust mites.” Know your enemy. Outsmart them because they outnumber you. A typical mattress may contain 100,000 mites. There are new anti-mite products available that cost a bit extra but then what is the price of an asthma attack?

2. Mites feed on dead skin cells. Your pets shed more skin cells than you do. Treat their bedding with the same care as you do your own.

3. Cover all mattresses and pillows with plastic or mite-proof covers. If you spend many nights in hotel rooms, take along your own pillow cover. Put a Post-it note on the inside of your door to remind you to remove it when you leave.

4. Keep your bedroom temperature below 70 degrees and the humidity below 50%.

5. Invest in a HEPA vacuum. It’s worth the money.

6. Wash your blankets, pet bedding and the children’s stuffed toys every two weeks in hot water. Warm water does not kill mites. Wash sheets every week.

7. Go synthetic. Replace all down and feathers with man-made stuffing. Replace all wool with nylon. Get rid of carpet and drapes in the bedrooms. Dust with a damp cloth.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

LINK: Sleeping with Monsters

Guard Your Child's Lungs

When your children and grandchildren are grown, many of their adult breathing problems will have originated with respiratory mistakes made in childhood. Because so many pulmonary problems are IRREVERSIBLE, it is crucial that we devote ourselves, as responsible adults, to PREVENTION. Prevention is far cheaper and less painful than chronic bronchitis, breathing allergies, asthma, and even lung cancer. Many toxic substances that can be temporarily irritating to adults are devastating to young lungs.

1. Keep ALL second-hand smoke and smoke-polluted materials away from children.
2. Have all filters, fireplaces, and vents checked and cleaned regularly.
3. Allow for good overall ventilation in your home (especially basements and bathrooms) and try to air things out even in winter. Appliances should vent to the OUTSIDE.
4. Be cautious with any spray or aerosol product around children – air cleaners, cleaning ingredients, pesticides, disinfectants, moth repellents, hair spray and such.
5. Ventilate well when you bring in new furniture, carpets, flooring and drapes. Research the adhesives and padding being used before you purchase. Freshly dry-cleaned clothes aren’t so swell either.
6. Vacuum often. Keep a child’s room free of anything that catches and holds dust. Keep the pets out of your child’s room since pet dander and dust mites are a lethal combination.
7. Be careful choosing the lawn and garden ingredients you use around a child’s play area.
8. Never idle your car in an attached garage.

Be well (you AND the kids). Breathe beautifully.

The Blind Nose

Advertisers have done a terrific job convincing the public that laundry, carpets and draperies cannot possibly be clean unless they reek with a company’s cheap perfume. Repeat anything long enough and consumers will believe it.

Pity your poor nose because it is bombarded every hour of every day with heavily scented capert cleaner, room freshener, furniture polish, scented toilet paper, kitty litter, hand soap, perfume, after-shave, deodorant, hair spray, foot powder, moth balls, candles and always – the laundry. Your pulmonary system was not designed for any of this and will eventually be on overload.

This is not 17th century France where perfume was designed and refined to mask horrific odors that would curdle our modern senses. Remember your nose goes “blind” a few seconds after you splash on that half-cup of after-shave. You quickly lose any sense of how you smell but others do not.

A great purple cloud of fragrance that continues to hover around you is rarely appreciated and can trigger allergies in defenseless bystanders, especially young children. It is easy to offend the pulmonary senses of friends and co-workers who never complain for fear of hurting your feelings. Ask a friend if they think you need to cut back a bit.

Scent is not a sin. Nor should it become a mindless indulgence. Another person should be able to register your particular fragrance only when they are close enough to hug you. We wish you many hugs.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.