July 2015 – Page 9 – Curtis Strite

With the extraordinary amount of entertainment options available today, it’s becoming easier and easier for people to make excuses to stay indoors. Obviously, it’s good to get some fresh air once in a while, but have you thought about the air you’re breathing inside your own home?
Houses and apartments are becoming more and more efficient, which is good and bad. Efficient dwellings mean reduced energy bills, but they also trap indoor pollutants. An array of common household items such as adhesives, cleaning products, and even your carpet can release stuff into the air you don’t want to be breathing.
There’s a simple fix, though. Certain plants will help clean the air by soaking up the harmful air particles and producing clean oxygen. You just have to remember to water them.
It’s a small price to pay for fresh air.

English Ivy

English ivy is the king of air-filtering plants. It’s insanely easy to grow and soaks up formaldehyde and other carcinogens like a champ. NASA scientists didn’t declare English ivy the best plant for air quality for nothing. Keep in mind that the plant’s fruit, small purplish berries, are poisonous. Make sure to keep any plants out of reach from children and pets.

Aloe

Aloe is known for its healing properties, especially its ability to soothe skin. Luckily, it’s useful for more than lotions. Aloe will cleanse the air of chemical pollutants found in household cleaning products. It’s also a good indicator of air quality. If the leaves start to exhibit brown spots, pollutants in the air have become excessive.

Bamboo Palm

The bamboo palm also made NASA’s list of top clean-air plants. The plant is great at filtering benzene and trichloroethylene out of the air. It does well in shady indoor spaces and can add a nice tropical feel to any room.

Rubber Plants

Rubber plants (and Janet Craigs) are great because they take little to no effort to grow and maintain. They thrive even in dim lighting and cool climates. Like aloe, rubber plants are great at removing formaldehyde from the air. They add a nice exotic touch to your decor as well.

Peace Lily

The peace lily is also a low-maintenance plant that will spruce up your interior. It’s one of few houseplants that regularly blooms indoors, so it has that going for it. Peace lily plants remove formaldehyde along with benzene and several other harsh chemicals emitted by cleaning products. This is another plant that’s toxic to children and pets, which is something to keep in mind.

Snake Plant

The snake plant doesn’t need much light or water either. The plant is a nice addition to any home because it soaks up carbon dioxide and releases oxygen at night. Most other plants do this during the day. It adds a nice boost of fresh air once the sun goes down!

Dracaena

There’s a huge variety of dracaena plants available, but they will all help you purify the air in your home. Keep in mind the beautiful, long-leafed plant needs some room to grow, as some will grow as high as your ceiling. It’s useful in reducing xylene, trichloroethylene, and benzene and adding green space to your home. The leaves are toxic to cats and dogs, so pet owners should be careful.

Golden Pothos

Golden pothos plants are known to be very versatile. You can put them in pots or hanging baskets or even train them to climb. They’re visually striking with their deep green leaves streaked with gold, too. Golden pothos plants are more than an office decoration, though. They are adept at removing formaldehyde from the air as well as carbon monoxide and benzene. Put them near areas like your garage and laundry room to soak up all those harsh chemicals.
Looks like it’s time to make a visit to the garden section of your local home improvement store!

Sunscreens work best when they are used regularly and consistently.

As a pale person, I don’t leave the house without applying sunscreen. Ever. I wear a high SPF sunscreen because after years of experimenting, that is what keeps me from getting burned. Lists of “safe” sunscreens, often only recommended zinc based products. Yes, these products work well, however they are very thick, clog pores, and leave a white residue. Thanks, but I’m not interested in the kabuki look. Again, the key is to use the sunscreen consistently, so finding one that is easy to use, feels good on the skin, and doesn’t cause breakouts is important.

The science doesn’t add up.

There has been great hue and cry over some ingredients in sunscreens. Some even claim those ingredients cause cancer. However, there is no verifiable scientific evidence to prove any of these ingredients cause cancer. The ingredients have in fact been rigorously tested. Here are the facts as reported by numerous independent scientific sources:
Oxybenzone: One of the studies often sited involved mice that were fed oxybenzone. Misunderstanding the results of this study caused some people to claim the chemical, when applied to the skin and not ingested, could cause cancer. This is in no way supported by the results of the study. Research on humans has shown the chemical applied to the skin is safe.
Retinyl Palmitate: This chemical is a form of vitamin A and some people claim it speeds the growth of tumors based on a study that was never published in a peer reviewed journal. There is no evidence retinyl palmitate or vitamin A does anything other than prevent skin cancer.
Nanoparticles: The concern that the small size of these chemical particles would allow them to penetrate the skin, attack DNA, and cause cell mutation is unfounded. Nanoparticles cannot penetrate live skin. The entire point of these chemicals is to apply them to the outside of the skin to create a barrier of protection. Some people are also concerned that breathing these nanoparticles while applying spray-on sunscreen will cause mutation. Experts suggest the only real concern about spray-on sunscreen is that people do not apply enough of the product, which leads to a false sense of protection.

You only need a little sun to get vitamin D.

Go ahead, use the sunscreen. Your body will still convert sunlight to vitamin D. On average, we only need about 15 minutes of sun exposure to get the vitamin D we need. The small decrease in vitamin D conversion that may be caused by a sunscreen in minor. Too much sun exposure actually destroys vitamin D, so relying on diet based sources such as milk products and oily fish may be the better strategy.

Sunscreen is just one tool in protecting yourself from skin cancer.

Experts agree that a full package of sun protection involves sunscreen as well as wearing a hat and other sun protective clothing, staying in the shade when possible, and avoiding tanning beds.
Skin cancer is a serious concern. According to the the Skin Cancer Foundation one in five Americans will develop skin cancer in their lifetimes and more than two million new skin cancers are diagnosed every year. Skin cancer prevention is essential. Be smart about sun exposure, know the facts, and use the sunscreen that works the best for you.