9 ways your own home could kill you

Although they add a flair of beauty to your home, they could be quite dangerous if you have children or pets. Some common household plants like lily-of-the-valley, daffodil, iris, ivy, and mistletoe are poisonous when consumed. These plants have a certain mixture of toxins and chemicals that they use for protection from insects and animals. So when you’re buying plants consider a nice evergreen, a little bonsai tree or small succulents that require barely any care.

2. Bathtub

Sometimes a long bath is exactly what we need after a long day. Apart from the obvious "careful so that you don't drown in a full tub" statement, there are other ways you could get sick or die from your bathtub. Make sure when you’re taking a bath that you are not near any electric devices, which might slip in and cause an electrocution. You also need to make sure that the bathtub is clean and germ free. Some parasites that live in the human gut could escape from out body if there are any (err) poo issues. Ingesting these parasites by accident, you may be facing some terrible health issues.

3. Dryers

One of the most important things to do in your home is to clean out the lint filter in your dryer. Not cleaning out the lint filter can cause a huge fire. Make sure you clean the lint filter after each load of laundry or before you start your next one.

4. Air conditioners

Here in the UAE, the A/C saves the day! If your AC leaks, you have to get someone to look at it straight away. Leakage can cause refrigerant poisoning, which means you might get heart palpitations and seizures. These can ultimately lead to death. What we don’t know is that cooling devices use a cold substance known as Freon, an odourless gas responsible for keeping things cold. If you AC is leaking, make sure to call a professional instead of doing it yourself.

5. Nutmeg

Most households have nutmeg in the spice cabinet, but this little ball of flavour can kill you if you consume too much of it. A sprinkle on some mashed potatoes could spice up your dish, but since nutmeg is a strong hallucinogenic, ingesting too much of it can cause convulsions, seizures, and even death. So keep it on a high shelf and don’t use it in excess.

6. Air Fresheners

Air fresheners are a mix of various different chemicals. Breathing too much in or ingesting it by accident can be deadly. Make sure you also keep them away from any open flames, as they can burn your entire house down.

7. Mothballs

The whole point of mothballs is to prevent your clothes from getting eaten by moths, which is an indicator of how many chemicals are in mothballs. If inhaled or ingested they can cause liver damage, neurological damages as well as nausea, convulsions and sometimes comas. Keep these away from children and overcome your urge to eat them if you can.

8. Mold

Mold causes a very earthy smell in your house. If you don’t look after your house, you can be subject to mould growth. Mould can cause allergic reactions and asthma attacks, while some forms of mould can produce toxic substances called mycotoxins. Although there isn’t much that we know about mycotoxins, they’ve been known to cause nausea, immune system suppression, liver damage, central nervous system damage and cancer. If you have any mould in your home, make sure to act fast in order to avoid any of these issues. Tip: First identify the water damage in your home (that’s what’s probably causing the mould).

9. Falling out of bed

It’s rare, but it has happened. Most people who tumble in their sleep could fall out of bed and die if the fall was fatal. If you know that you move around a lot, then move your bed near a wall or attach a side guard rail to the edge of the bed, like they do for sleep training toddlers.