Living in your healthier home.

You can reduce your exposure to lead and chemicals in the household with a few simple habits:
• Keep dust to a minimum by mopping and dusting often. "Swiffer' mops can be more effective than vacuuming.

• Open windows from the top, so dust doesn't blow in from the window wells.

• Take off your shoes when you come in and leave them at the door.

• Wash your hands alot.

• Have a healthy diet of whole foods to offset toxins in the soil and air.

• Use baking soda and lemon juice to clean. This is toxic-free, and as a bonus, the fizzy reaction is a fun activity for your child. (You can use vinegar, but lemon juice smells better).

• Use glass or metal containers. Choose plastics that are labelled 1, 2, 4 or 5.
Plastics labelled with 3, 6, 7 can leach harmful chemicals, especially when exposed to heat. Don't use plastic in a microwave or wash in a hot dishwater.

• Safer for Your Baby: A Guide to Living Better With Fewer Chemicals. www.saferforyourbaby.com. A comprehensive yet easy-to-read guide with lots of useful information.

Whether you rent or own, find out about any lead in your home. It is especially toxic for little children. There are laws about lead safe housing to protect renters and home buyers and many helpful resources to help clean it up.

Massachusetts Department of Public Health
Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program
www.mass.gov/dph/clppp/clppp.htm

MassHousing - Get the Lead Out! (Massachusetts Low-Cost Financing for Lead Paint Removal)
www.masshousing.com/portal/server.pt (Look under Consumers then Homeowners)

LeadSafe Cambridge (English, Spanish and Portuguese)
www.ci.cambridge.ma.us/CDD/lead

Cambridge-Somerville Healthy Homes (Cambridge Public Health Department--Asthma and Lead Home Intervention Program) (In English and Spanish)
www.cambridgepublichealth.org/prog_serv/healthy_homes.html

If you are doing renovation or repair work on your home, there may be other toxic material to dispose of (fiberglass insulation, adhesives, sealers). Here's a very useful website for responsibly disposing of all that.
www.wastecap.org
The Recycling Services Directory (RSD) lists places to recycle/properly dispose of various materials. Some are drop-off places, others will collect. This includes items such as automotive batteries, carpeting and more.

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