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Hazards in Your Environment

What you can do!

Canadians spend a great deal of time indoors, so it's important to ensure that our homes are safe and healthy places to live. This section includes information on some of the more common health risks that may be present in your home environment and their potential health impacts. It also includes simple steps that you can take to reduce exposure to these hazards.

Home health risks come in many shapes and forms. They can be present in the air, water, soil, or in your home. They can be inhaled or ingested or absorbed through the skin.

Some come directly from nature itself, such as radon gas, which can enter the home through the soil beneath the foundation. Other risks come from substances such as lead or from household products.

Children come into closer contact with their environment than adults. They crawl on the floor and the ground, put their fingers in their mouth, and touch and taste things without knowing if they are harmful. They may also be more sensitive to some harmful substances because of their stage of development.

Detecting hazards and adopting good environmental health habits for you and your family are easier than you think. The more you know about the health risks that may be present in your home, the better you can protect your health and the health of your family.

Here are some common home health risks:

• Household chemical products
• Second-hand smoke
• Carbon monoxide
• Radon
• Mould
• Lead
• Consumer products

If you're concerned about hazards to your health in your work environment, please visit the Occupational Health and Safety section or the  Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety website. This site provides information and advice about safe and healthy working environments.

Help on accessing alternative formats, such as Portable Document Format (PDF), Microsoft Word and PowerPoint (PPT) files, can be obtained in the alternate format help section.

Other Resources of Interest

• About the Campaign
•  Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
•  Chemical Substances web site
• Consumer Product Safety Portal
• Hazardcheck Guide - (PDF Version - 4005 K)