We all (well most of us) like to think we keep our homes clean and hygienic. In recent years we have been sold an ever-increasing range of indispensible products for ensuring our homes are fresh, clean and above all safe.

One 'home cleansing' area which has seen more innovations than most in recent times is in the respect of 'fighting unpleasant odors'. It is probably true that to a certain extent unpleasant smells are nature's way of informing us that something is not quite all it should be - so that we can do something about it.

But, in this day and age we have pretty much lost our animal instinct in many ways, and it seems that 'air freshener' manufacturers would have us believe that we cannot possibly put up with anything less than masking every natural smell, or slightly questionable aroma with a layer of potent synthetic chemical perfume!

To help us 'win' the 'household smell challenge' we now have an array of products to choose from: propellant-based air sprays; solid jelly-like substances that slowly evaporate; hard blocks that dissolve with each toilet flush letting off aroma in the process; impregnated materials that supposedly carry the scent of the clean air of a dew kissed meadow!

In more recent times we have seen small 'machines' that release a timed 'wisp' of scented 'smoke' that will apparently keep the kids amused for hours into the bargain - as they watch and wait for the next animated 'puff' (...AS IF!!). Amongst this cornucopia of 'fresh air' inventions we have also had sculpted 'glass-like objects' that could almost be mistaken for an ornament, and latterly - and perhaps most successfully (and insidiously!) - many homes have found a spare electrical socket or two hosting a 'plug-in' air freshener that can be set to an appropriate level of activity to combat the smelliest wet-dog, or the most fetid trainers. Never again will any household have to suffer the nasal burden of real aromas in this amazing surfeit of aromatizing products!

Sadly in the consumers enthusiasm to embrace the latest gadgetry for creating a perfumed environment - we seem to have lost track of what we are actually introducing into the air we are breathing and re-breathing for many hours a day (or night!)

We have created the very opposite to clean air. Somehow it seems as if fresh air apparently smells of synthetic chemical aroma! Far from purifying the air we are actually adulterating it with a vast array of questionable chemicals. Chemicals which we then proceed to breathe, unthinkingly, in considerable quantities.

From the wall-mounted spray in the smallest room, to the 'puffing' aromatizer in the lounge, and on to the night-long activity of the bedroom-based plug-in air freshener - we are surrounded by environmental pollutants masquerading as 'the scents' of fresh air! Quite MAD...if we did but stop to think about it...

Beyond the household environment - where it seems truly clean air is a rare commodity - we may be on the streets of our towns and cities in clouds of combustion-engine-adulterated fumes. Or else we could be on crowded public transport, or suffering the effects of the debilitating office environments thick with copier chemicals, and other volatile compound from unbiquitous plastics, man-made textiles and compound wood based furniture.

Our tips, then, with regard to reducing ourexposure to air borne chemical pollutants that may play their parts in increasing our general health risks through polluting our lungs and even crossing the lung/blood barrier:

Banish any air freshener products, and try and ensure that you breathe both fresh air and clean air as much as you can. If your budget can accommodate it, you might consider purchasing equipment to purify the air - and/or ionize it which many people believe also improves their feeling wellbeing and energy. Too many people have fallen into the marketing men's trap of believing we can only experience the aromas of fresh clean air in our homes with the help of sythetic chemical products! - It is time to stand up and reclaim your household's air...even it it means occasionally putting up with an odd tear inducing whiff of much-worn trainers...(about which more later - too!

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