Your home should be a place where you feel safe and secure. This is the one place you know you can come back to and relax, so obviously you don’t want anything near it which could cause harm to you or your family. I don’t mean to scare you, but there are several things in your average home which can pose a threat to your health and safety. If you’re moving into a new home or you’re simply concerned, here are some ways to ensure your home is safe.

The first precaution you can take is getting a carbon monoxide detector. Carbon monoxide can be released into homes through fuels which haven’t been completely burned. Wood, kerosene, propane among other materials can all release this toxic gas when they’re not burned fully. One of the things which makes carbon monoxide so dangerous is that it’s invisible and odourless. Without alarms, your whole family could be getting poised without you having any idea! Make sure to get at least two alarms, and position them somewhere central on both stories of your house. These can be found at Safe Fire Direct. If you want to be 110% sure, mount them outside of every bedroom.

Another big thing you should check for is asbestos. Up until 2000, asbestos was a fairly common building material, and widely considered to be harmless. Now, we know better. An alarming amount of former construction workers are still suffering from the health problems that come from breathing in asbestos. When materials containing asbestos are damaged, the fibres get released into the air. There, they can be inhaled by your entire household. If your home is fairly old, it’s important to have a thorough asbestos check. You can get professional-quality asbestos services from Plansafe. With enough asbestos fibres in the lungs, you could be at risk of asbestosis, lung cancer, and other nasty conditions.

Finally, check if you should change any pesticides you use. Ants, wasps, mice and so on are annoying, I know. However, you could be using something much more serious to get rid of them. Few people are aware of it, but a lot of pesticides sold for home use contain dangerous chemicals, which can easily contaminate the air in your home. Usually, there aren’t any immediate effects. However, being exposed to these chemicals can increase the risk of neurological problems and cancer in later life. Don’t worry; avoiding conventional pesticides doesn’t mean you have to start inviting bugs in as lodgers! Instead, look around your whole home for little holes and cracks where pests could get in, and seal them off with a non-toxic material. Keeping a stricter cleaning regime can also help prevent infestations. Most domestic pests are attracted by the scent of food.

Cover your home against these three threats, and you won’t have to worry about relaxing in your home. Of course, there’s always more you can do, but these are three of the most insidious and hard to detect problems in a home.