Comprehensive Guide to Safer Living Spaces For Chronic Illness

Having safer living spaces is a major part of feeling safe in your home, thereby enhancing parasympathetic rest. There are a number of considerations to keep in mind when building or moving houses or purchasing a new home if you have MCAS or a complex chronic illness.

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What is MCAS?

“Mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS) is a serious, chronic health condition that affects all organ systems. It increases the risk of anaphylaxis, which can be fatal. Complications of MCAS can include organ damage. It is often disabling. It is often found alongside other conditions such as Ehlers Danlos Syndrome and POTS. It is not well known among medical providers. It is difficult to test for. Treatment revolves around blocking mast cell mediators with things like antihistamines and mast cell stabilizers. Most people are not able to manage their diseases simply by avoiding triggers. Most people need medication, and often, a lot of it. Most people have symptoms every day and sometimes experience bad mast cell attacks and anaphylaxis. MCAS is in no way a mild or minor health issue. It should not be minimized and neither should the experiences of the people living with it.” – Mast Attack

Location

The one variable you can’t change once you purchase a home or lot is the location, so it pays to evaluate the site beforehand carefully. Are there high-voltage power lines nearby? If they are within a block of your house you will likely experience the effects of them which can vary from an increased charge in the ground which can affect how much dirty electricity is given off in your home and the extent that magnetic fields are an issue in your home. This building biologist recommends living at a distance of at least 200 meters from high-voltage power lines. US studies have not linked proximity to power lines with cancer, a matched-case study in the UK showed that children living within 600 meters of power lines had an increased risk of leukemia.

Besides power lines, you will want to check into whether trains run within a few miles of your home. If you are sensitive to noise trains can be significantly bothersome! DC electric railways also produce magnetic fields, both from traction currents, but they also leak magnetic fields into the earth. Living close to train tracks may be detrimental to your health and you should consult a building biologist about your particular site.

Proximity to roadways is another environmental consideration when home-buying.

According to CDC, more than 11 million people in the United States live within 150 meters (or approximately 500 feet) from a major highway (Boehmer et al., 2013).  The vehicle traffic on these roadways is a major source of noise and air pollutants, such as particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, and ozone, which are known health hazards (U.S. EPA, 2010a, b, 2009, 2008)

– Transportation.gov: Proximity To Major Roadways

You will also want to be aware of the types of businesses nearby to make sure that you are not too close to toxic chemicals. For instance, commercial farms spray pesticides and herbicides on their crops which can drift to your property. As well, traditional dry cleaners use chemicals to clean clothes that are toxic to human life.

Tetrachloroethylene, also known as perchloroethylene, or perc, is the predominant solvent used for dry cleaning.

– The Lung Association

Other considerations when choosing a location to buy or build a home are:

• Is the local drinking water healthy?
• Are there any cell phone towers nearby?
• Does the home have a smart meter installed? Smart meters emit radio frequencies. People with smart meters in their homes have reported a sudden increase in dizziness, ear pain, memory problems, heart palpitations, anxiety, and sleep problems. The US safety limit for RF radiation is 1,000 micro-watts per meter squared. However, some smart meters produce up to 60 times this amount. That means the radiation from smart meters is equivalent to the output of 160 wireless devices such as cell phones. Smart meters are continuously transmitting data and producing RF radiation in and around your home.
• Is the local air polluted?

Age of the home

Your homes protect you from outside elements, but they can have indoor elements that can negatively impact our health. These factors will vary with the age of the house, as different construction techniques over the years created unique air quality concerns unique to that time.

Older homes tend to have air leaks that can allow in dust and particulate while newer homes are “too tight” and tend to hold in moisture and harmful volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

EMF concerns in safer living spaces

There are many sources of man-made and naturally occurring electromagnetic radiation that we are commonly exposed to. The following is a summary from Building Biology Institute:

AC ELECTRIC FIELDS – Sources: AC voltage in electrical installations, cables, appliances, outlets, walls, floors, beds, high-tension and other power lines

AC MAGNETIC FIELDS – Sources: AC current in electrical installations, cables, appliances, transformers, motors, overhead and ground cables, power lines, railways

RADIOFREQUENCY RADIATION – Sources: cell phone technology, RF transmitters, broadcast, trunked radio systems, line-of-sight systems, radar, military, cordless phones

DC ELECTRIC FIELDS – Sources: synthetic carpeting, drapes, and textiles, vinyl wallpaper, varnishes, laminates, stuffed toy animals, TV or computer screens

DC MAGNETIC FIELDS – Sources: steel components in beds, mattresses, furniture, appliances, and building materials; DC current in street cars, photovoltaic systems

RADIOACTIVITY – Sources: building materials, stones, tiles, slags, waste products, devices, antiques, ventilation, terrestrial radiation, location, environment

GEOLOGICAL DISTURBANCES – Sources: currents and radioactivity in the earth; local disturbances caused by faults, fractures, underground water courses

SOUND & VIBRATION – Sources: traffic noise, air traffic, train traffic, industry, buildings, devices, machines, motors, transformers, sound bridges

Check out this post for more information on identifying and remediating EMFs.

Do you know your typical symptom progression?

One of the keys to understanding the level of your bucket is knowing your symptom progression. It is helpful to keep track of the symptoms you are having and to evaluate whether they are escalating. Symptom escalation means that the level of your bucket is rising.

Knowing your symptom progression in a symptom flare is the key to developing your own rescue plan. In this post, I discuss how to determine your own symptom progression. Once you know what typically happens in your symptom progression you can design a rescue plan to address those symptoms.

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Ensuring building wiring safety

Per the building code, the wiring in your home is meant to protect users from electric shock and fires. But if not properly installed, electric wiring can create its own hazards. Unshielded wires, dimmer switches, and improperly grounded electric systems create what is known as “dirty electricity.”

Dirty electricity is a ubiquitous pollutant. It flows along wires and radiates from them and involves both extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields and radio frequency radiation. Until recently, dirty electricity has been largely ignored by the scientific community. 

– Electromagnetic hypersensitivity: biological effects of dirty electricity with emphasis on diabetes and multiple sclerosis

Reducing toxic off-gassing in safer living spaces

Modern building materials, flooring, cabinetry, paints, finishes, and window treatments contain formaldehyde and other toxic chemicals.

Hazardous building materials include asbestos, lead, mercury, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), chlorofluorocarbons, and radioactive sources; they are found in buildings of any age or condition.

– Terracon

If you are building your own home from the ground up you can have more control over the building materials used. But if you are moving into a newly built home you may want to consider “baking” the home to assist it in off-gassing at a greater rate before you move in.

“That new house smell is a mix of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) coming from the building materials.

Strategies to mitigate and reduce the VOC levels range from diluting the air, absorbing the VOCs, speeding up the off-gassing, sealing in the off-gassing, containing the off-gassing to create a safe room, and lastly chemical breakdown of VOCs.” – My Chemical Free House

Moisture concerns for safer living spaces

To keep your home safe from mold growth you want to make sure that water stays out and doesn’t build up inside through normal living activities.

Managing water entry points through the building envelope, by regular inspection and maintenance of the roof, and penetrations in the wall such as caulking around windows and doors is critical to minimize water intrusion. Cracks in basement walls and grading around the building will impact water migrating into the basement. Water leaks are the internal source of bulk water and all plumbing should be inspected for leaks periodically to ensure faucets are secure, caulking is in good condition around tubs, and toilets are secure to the floor.

– Managing Moisture Factsheet

Besides making sure to buy or build a home that keeps water out, another big source of water issues is water vapor:

Water vapour can also severely damage a home, typically over a longer time frame. Kitchen and bathroom fans should be operational, used, and exhausting to the outside through properly installed hard, insulated ductwork.

– Managing Moisture Factsheet

If you do discover a mold issue in your home it is critical to deal with it quickly and to mitigate the damage. See this post for more information.

Radon Gas

You will also want to test any new living environment for radon gas.

Radon in air is ubiquitous (existing or being everywhere at the same time). Radon is found in outdoor air and in the indoor air of buildings of all kinds.  EPA recommends homes be fixed if the radon level is 4 pCi/L (picocuries per liter) or more. Because there is no known safe level of exposure to radon, EPA also recommends that Americans consider fixing their home for radon levels between 2 pCi/L and 4 pCi/L.

– EPA

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