The healthy home

Kya deLongchamps continues with her 12-week series on improving your house. This week she asks is your home making you sick and, if so, what you can do about it

OPEN the front door of any show-house and what do you first notice? It’s that lovely shoulder-lifting ‘new’ smell. It’s hard to describe, but we all know it. It says clean, taut, immaculate, highly desirable. It’s amazing that a breath of fresh air has become indistinguishable from the chemical cocktail that’s jetting from those aerosol cans.

What you might not realise is that much of that perfume is provided by a stew of airborne gases leaking from the paint, furnishings and flooring as the new materials heavy with chemical ingredients settle into their new surroundings. When you make home improvements, put some thought into just your purchases.