THE DIRT
Dust can cause eye, skin and airway irritation, headaches, fatigue and allergies.

A recent study revealed that  everyday household dust is contaminated by a variety of dangerous chemicals including alkyphenols, brominated flame retardants, organotin compounds, phthalates and short chain chlorinated paraffins. All of which have been found to have adverse effects on human health. Read the report.

The average person spends 80 to 90% of their time indoors making indoor air pollution a serious matter. The air inside our homes is now thought to be more polluted than the air outside. Read about indoor air quality.

Research by Dr Peter Dingle and team at Murdoch University  has shown that conventional vacuum cleaners are only capable of removing large particles of dirt and debris and leave behind a large volume of dust. Conventional vacuum cleaners were found to merely bring dust up to the surface of the carpet.  Vacuum cleaners with porous dust bags continually redistribute the dust via the exhaust.

'Airborne dust levels during and directly after cleaning with conventional vacuum models, are 2 to 10 times higher than before vacuuming'
Read more in Sick Homes 2 by Dr Dingle

G SPOT

I can't claim to be the one to do the vacuuming in our house but Tony does such a great job!   We have invested in a high quality vacuum cleaner which filters the air to higher than HEPA standards. 

COME CLEAN

Here's some hints to help you reduce dust and improve  indoor air quality.................

Open windows and doors for some fresh air!

Slow down when you vacuum. We all want to get it done quickly however staying in one place for longer will ensure more dust removal. We recommend some good music to get you in the mood!

Leave shoes outside or at least get people to wipe their feet on a door mat to stop large particles being stomped through your house.

Choose your vacuum well, motor power is not that important, but cyclonic or centrifugal action is. A charcol or carbon filter may also help to remove air pollutants. The use of a HEPA filter (High Efficiency Particle Attenuator) or similar level filtration, is also important.

Filter Queen (WA) offer vacuums, air filtrations systems and water distillers. The vacuums use bagless cyclonic filtration and work to  a higher filtration level  than HEPA standards. The product range is great for allergy and asthma sufferers.

Australia wide Filter Queen (Australia) website has loads of info and will help you find a local stockist.

Allergy Buyers Club offer a range of vacums in the US that they have found to be the most effective for allergy sufferers.

Allergy Matters  in the UK offer a range of HEPA filter vacuums and loads of products for the allergy prone.

Continue to reduce your chemical exposure by choosing truly safe products to replace conventional cleaning and personal care items.