Potential Health Hazards in Your Bathroom

What’s lurking in Your Bathroom?

Arguably, your home is where you’d feel safest. In terms of hygiene, you’d usually also feel that your home is much cleaner than outside. However, that doesn’t mean that it’s completely clean either. There are still potential health hazards within your home. Within your bathroom, there might be even more. Unfortunately, the bathroom is probably filled with microbes and germs from human waste. That’s unavoidable. And for the most part, it shouldn’t cause you to fall sick. However, there are also other potential health hazards living within your bathroom. In order to keep yourself healthy, you should be mindful of these potential hazards and try to reduce them as much as possible. If you feel like you’re in need of a change of bathroom utilities, head on over to https://victoriaplum.com/pages/black-friday for some great deals.

Mould and Mildew

It’s far too easy for mold and mildew to grow in bathrooms. After all, they thrive in wet and warm conditions and bathrooms are exactly that. We also shed skin in our bathrooms and these can further encourage growth. Mildew is a kind of mold that often grows in bathrooms. It is gross to look at and can spread quickly on surfaces. From your floor to any wood surfaces to towels, mildew can grow and spread through spores. It is not toxic thankfully. However, their spores can still be irritating when inhaled. Therefore, it would be best to remove all traces of mildew when discovered. Aside from mildew, there are also other types of mold that can grow. Some mould can be extremely toxic and dangerous for us. Therefore, it’s important to get rid of any mold.

A great way to prevent the growth of any mold is by ensuring that there’s good circulation within your bathroom. If you have a bathroom fan, be sure to turn it on after a shower. This will help to reduce the dampness of your bathroom. If you have towels, don’t leave it lying on the floor. This will take longer to dry and will make your bathroom moist.

Light Switches, Door Knobs and Faucet Handles

Ideally, everyone would wash their hands after using the toilet. Unfortunately, however, not everyone does so. Therefore, points of contact such as light switches, doorknobs, and faucet handles can be covered with undesirable germs and microbes. If any of these microbes or germs are infectious bacteria like E.Coli or Listeria, your whole family can quickly fall sick. Therefore, such places are potential health hazards. To reduce this risk, handwashing should be encouraged. Additionally, these spots should often be cleaned with disinfectant wipes. If anyone in the family is ill, they should be cleaned even more.

Water

The water in your bathroom can also be another source of danger for you. Depending on where you live, the water quality you receive might differ. If you are lucky, you might live in a country with drinkable tap water. If so, the only thing you’d have to worry about is whether or not your house pipes are okay. With older pipes, they may begin to break down and rust or other metals might begin to mix into your water. If you have lead pipes, this will be an even bigger issue as lead is especially harmful.

Alternatively, your water supply may be cleaned with chlorine. This is good because it helps to kill bacteria. However, excessive chlorine can also be highly irritating for asthma and bronchitis patients. The chlorine might even aggravate their illnesses and cause issues. If you are someone with these conditions, you should be careful when taking long showers. A good way to counteract this would be to get a showerhead filter.

If you feel unsure of your water, you can get a testing kit to check the quality of water. If you find that the water is harmful to you, make complaints to your health department or landlord.

Showerheads

Showerheads are a necessary part of every shower. It’s almost impossible to not use them. However, showerheads can also harbour treats within them. This is because the inside of a showerhead is wet and may never fully dry. Therefore, they can become breeding grounds for dangerous microbes like Legionella pneumophila or Mycobacterium avium. When they are used, they might then release these microbes into the air. These microbes can then be inhaled into our bodies. If you have a poor immune system or lung issues, these microbes could be dangerous for you. Therefore, it is advised that you change your showerheads frequently.

Candles

Candles are great to have in the bathroom. I myself love lighting a candle or two when I’m taking a bath. They add a sort of luxury and calm to your bath routine and are simply amazing. However, candles can be dangerous too! This is especially if they are made from paraffin wax. Paraffin wax is then made from petroleum and hence, when you light such candles, you’ll be releasing hydrocarbons like benzene into the air. This is bad for you! Additionally, some candle wicks may also contain lead. Again, this would be harmful to your body.

Additionally, some candles may be strongly-scented and this could be a cause for irritation for some. Instead of creating a calming atmosphere, they might cause you to feel worse. If you do want to use candles, you should look for candles made from beeswax or soy. Try and find those without metal in the wicks too. This will be the best and safest choice for you! If you know that you can’t stand strong smells, find milder scents too. This would allow you to enjoy candles without harming yourself!

Conclusion

For many, the bathroom is a safe refuge. It’s the one place where you’re often completely naked. It’s a place to clean yourself of the day’s dirt and stress. As such, it’s the one place that you would want to feel completely safe. You would not want to feel like there are tiny, hidden dangers lurking about. As such, you should be careful of the potential health hazards I’ve listed in this article. Be mindful and try to reduce as many hazards as you can. Remember, health is wealth.