11 Major Health Hazards Hidden Around Your Home

Your home is meant to be a sanctuary for you and your family, but, unfortunately, due to the many health hazards hidden around the house, this is often not the case. Many people assume that most household dangers are obvious and out in the open, like your oven and kitchen knives, but these sneaky risks can easily cause accidents, illness, and injury, and can sometimes even have fatal consequences. If you want to protect yourself and your loved ones, then you need to know what these hazards are. With that in mind, here are eleven that you need to watch out for.

1. Detergent Pods

Detergent pods have been on the news a lot recently, with children and adults alike chomping down on the bags of laundry detergent and making themselves seriously sick. These cleaning products are colorful, bright, and do look like sweets that most children would want to taste. As well as the internal problems, they can also cause damage to the skin and eyes. For this reason, you should store them in a sealed container somewhere that your children can’t find or reach.

2. Cleaning Products

Unfortunately, it’s not just the colorful pods that can cause harm to you and your little ones. Many different cleaning products can, especially those that are chemically-based. In fact, these type of cleaners can trigger a range of issues, from asthma to cancer. With that in mind, you should consider switching out your regular household cleaners to natural alternatives, like lemon juice and vinegar. These have none of the nasty side effects, but work just as well, if not even better.

3. Blind Cords

Children and toddlers die every month from being tangled in cords for blinds and other window coverings. It’s for this reason that many people advise switching to shorter cords or cordless blind coverings when baby proofing your home. If you have young children or pets in your home, then this is always a sensible idea. You could also consider curtains, just as long as they’re short enough that they can’t be pulled down or climbed.

4. Unwanted Pests

No one chooses to have their home invaded by rodents, insects, and other pests, but that doesn’t mean that you take the necessary precautions to keep them out either. You need to block up any potential entrances, like leaks, cracks, and holes, and contact professionals, like ABC Pest Control as soon as you notice signs that there could be pests in your property. If you don’t, yourself and your family could get sick or develop asthma and other respiratory issues.

5. Clothing Hampers

Clothing hampers may not look that dangerous, but they can actually cause a lot of harm in some circumstances. Depending on your style of clothing hamper, they could have sharp areas that cause cuts or a springy design with wires that pop out and result in injury, especially to eyes. Children like to use these containers as forts or tunnels, but ideally, they should be kept off limits. You should also replace your hamper the moment it gets damaged or starts to fray.

6. Broken Detectors

Working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors should be installed in every single level of your home and in or around every sleeping area. Unfortunately, many homes contain ones that are broken or missing batteries, while others simply don’t have any at all. To protect everyone in your house, you need to make sure that you test your detectors at least once a month and that you replace them every ten years. If you don’t, you put every person in your home and others at risk.

7. Button Batteries

Button batteries can be found in everything from watches to hearing aids and even toys. As small as they are, it’s clear that they’re a choking hazard, but they’re much more dangerous than just that. When a battery like this is ingested, it can sometimes open up, leaking corrosive fluid that damages the airways, heart, chest, and more. If anything in your home contains batteries like this, it’s crucial that you don’t leave your children alone with them.

8. Household Magnets

Household magnets are another potential choking hazard that can also cause internal injuries. To keep young children and pets safe you may want to refrain from having any in your home at all. If you happen to be a big fan of magnets, then you should be fine with larger ones that can’t be swallowed. There have been magnets on the market being sold as children’s toys, but many have been recalled due to the risk. For this reason, you should keep these away from your kids.

9. Hard Candy

Lollipops, boiled sweets, and other hard candies are a major choking risk for adults and children alike. To keep yourself safe, you should avoid eating such sweets while walking around or talking. You should also make sure that you supervise your children when they are eating their own. Of course, children can get into a habit of helping themselves to sweets when you’re not around, so you should probably avoid keeping this kind in the house or store them somewhere out of reach.

10. Prescription Medication

Like the detergent pods previously mentioned, many types of prescription medication look colorful, attractive, and candy-esque to children, resulting in them taking pills they certainly shouldn’t. If you’re on any kind of medication, you need to make sure that these pills are kept out of sight and out of reach of your kids. Never leave drugs out because of the “childproof” packaging, as they often aren’t as safe as they claim to be.

11. Falling Televisions

Your television may look sturdy on your desk or media console, but one small tug on the cord or knock on the surface could cause it to topple over, injuring anyone standing too close. For this reason, you need to make sure that your TV is kept on a sturdy and low base, pushed back as far as it will go. You may also want to anchor it to a wall or the base it’s sat on. Also, avoid storing anything on top of your television so that your children have no reason to grab for it.

Your home may not be a safe haven right now, but, with the advice above, you can definitely make it one.