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bathroom. The moisture rich environment of the bathroom can be a breeding ground for this guy. Your throw rug or shower curtain is the perfect environment to grow gobs and gobs of it. Mold can irritate eyes, skin, nose, throat and lungs and can trigger asthma and other respiratory illnesses. The moisture rich environment can also be a transmittal point for athlete's foot, another icky, but very real health concern for many people.

Your bathroom wastebasket can also be a hidden health hazard. Those tossed tissues have germs on them. Both RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus), the virus that causes respiratory infections in children; and rhinovirus, the virus that causes the common cold, are common germs found in bathroom wastebaskets.

LIVING ROOM

You come home after a tough day, plop on the couch and want to unwind. But, there are health hazards abounding in your living space as well. The very air your breath, especially the stuff that's puffed up in a cloud after you flop on the couch, you know the dusty stuff, is filled with irritants and things that can make you sick. And, that's not all.

The most common irritant in any home are dust mites and their body parts. They can affect both allergic and non-allergic people. If you have furniture, rugs, sheets, pillows or carpet, chances are you have them. If you want to get rid of them or keep them to a minimum, keep your humidity low so they have minimal moisture to survive, say a relative humidity of below 50%. Cover your mattress and pillows with zippered dust-proof covers to keep them out. Vacuum and dust regularly and wash your bedding in hot water. If you have an asthmatic person, or a person with respiratory problems in your home, try to do the vacuuming and dusting when thy aren't around and do not ask them to participate since disturbing the surfaces throws all the irritants into the air and can cause them a great deal of respiratory irritation.

Unless you are grappling for control of the remote, it's out of batteries or you can't find it beneath the couch cushions, you are likely not thinking too much about your remote control when you are watching television. But, your remote control is actually one of the hidden health hazards of your home. The same can hold true for your telephone, your computer keyboard or your PDA, basically anything you touch without having washed your hands. This is because fecal matter that is adheres to your hands from using the bathroom without having washed your hands or from diapering

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