How to Make Your Home a Safe Haven

Every day, you step outside into a world you cannot fully control. The air in traffic, the EMFs radiating from nearby cell towers, the chemicals on conventionally grown produce at the grocery store – these exposures are real, and for someone navigating chronic illness- they contribute to a total body burden beyond what they can clear, assaulting health and driving inflammation.  Today we are going to discuss in detail what lifestyle influences you can modify to make your home your Safe Haven. A place where restoration, repair and improved function can occur at a cellular level. 

When you home is not your ‘safe bubble’, then the threshold for what you can tolerate becomes smaller and smaller over time. Healing can become an uphill battle when your living environment is quietly adding to the toxic burden your liver and immune system are already working overtime to manage.  It is not uncommon for patients to make progress, but never able to reduce supplements or achieve that remission we are striving for. Time and again, when we dig deeper, I find an environmental piece to the puzzle that has not been addressed.  

This article is your invitation to look at your home differently; not with overwhelm, but with intention. You do not have to do everything at once. Start where you can, and build from there. True healing happens in layers. Making your home a life-lifting environment will help accelerate your healing, reduce the volume of supplements you need to achieve it, and help secure the remission when you begin to feel ‘well’.  

Table of Contents

• Air Quality: What You Bring In
• Water: The Foundation of Healing
• EMFs and Radiation: The Invisible Load
• A Word on Food
• Before You Buy
• Before You Build

Air Quality: What You Bring In 

This is where most people can make the biggest impact the fastest. The single largest source of indoor air pollution is often what we choose to bring into our homes. Conventional cleaning products, synthetic laundry detergents, pesticides, air fresheners, scented candles, and personal care products off-gas chemicals into the air you breathe around the clock. Many of them contain known endocrine disruptors, carcinogens, and neurotoxins. Your skin is a permeable membrane – 60% of what you put on your body enters the bloodstream – and the same principle applies to what you breathe in your living space.

It is also important to note that not all chemical assaulting your health have an odor. Odorless products can be equally offensive. In addition to personal care produces and cleaning supplies, it is important to understand that all textiles, paints, flooring, furniture, mattresses and even some clothing (flame retardants/dry cleaning) can be equally toxic to the body.

Cleaning Products and Laundry

Start by swapping out conventional cleaning products for cleaner alternatives. Brands like Seventh Generation, Molly’s Suds, Attitude, and Truly Free are solid options. Read labels carefully, even “natural” products can contain synthetic fragrance, which is a catch-all term that can represent dozens of undisclosed chemicals. Consider using white vinegar, baking soda, and hydrogen peroxide for cleaning. These typical household items are not only effective, they are often more economical than store-bought cleaners. A quick search will return a number of DIY sprays, solutions, and cleaning options that you can utilize in many areas of your home. 

For laundry, conventional dryer sheets are among the most chemically loaded products in the average home. Replace them with wool dryer balls that will last for years, and if you miss the fresh scent, simply add a few drops of your favorite essential oil (pure, high quality essential oils only- Doterra are my favorite) directly to the balls and allow them to dry over night, and then use them to accelerate the drying time (less energy), reduce static and wrinkles on your clothes. Citrus scents can add a clean, gentle fragrance without synthetic chemicals- to help with focus and attention. Hawaiian Sandalwood, Cedarwood and Frankincense are all calming to the nervous system. Vetiver is very grounding. I generally tell my patients to avoid lavender- certain lavender constituents can activate estrogen receptor pathways and/or reduce androgen signaling in cell models.  

An ozone generator used in the washing machine cycle is another powerful tool for sanitizing laundry naturally, particularly for bedding, towels, and anything that holds odor or needs a deeper clean. In my home the ozone generator has saved us money in a few different ways and is well worth the investment in my opinion. The generator only works with cold water, so no more hot water when laundering clothes has us saving money on electricity. And my whites are whiter, brighter, and in general the fabrics feel softer.  This is the one I use: O3PURE Ozone Generators (10%OFF w/ this link). 

Should you miss a scented candle or “plug-in” scent in your home, consider purchasing an oil  diffuser. With distilled water and essential oils you can also make any number of sprays, including a “febreeze replacement”. 

A Simple DIY Bug Spray

For pest control, step away from commercial insecticides entirely. They are endocrine disruptors that can alter the way your body produces hormones –  and hormones control every facet of health, from blood pressure and memory to weight and energy. Instead, try this simple homemade spray:

Natural Bug Repellent Spray

• 2 oz witch hazel
• 2 oz distilled water
• 15 drops peppermint essential oil
• 10 drops cedarwood essential oil
• 10 drops lemon eucalyptus essential oil
• 5 drops clove essential oil

Combine in a small glass spray bottle, shake well before each use, and apply to skin or spray along entry points, baseboards, and windowsills. For outdoor pest control, food-grade diatomaceous earth sprinkled around the perimeter of your home is highly effective and non-toxic to humans and pets.

Testing Your Home’s Air

If anyone in your household is experiencing chronic sinus congestion, unexplained fatigue, brain fog, respiratory symptoms, neurological changes, or mental health challenges, mold and more importantly the mycotoxins they make, should be on your radar. A Visual Contrast Sensitivity test is a good first screen, it can indicate whether mold toxins are affecting brain function before symptoms become more severe.

For a full picture of what is in your home’s air, here is what to test for and how:

Mold and Bacteria The only mold testing I consider truly adequate is the ERMI Test (Environmental Relative Moldiness Index), coupled with the Hertsmi-2 Test. Unlike surface swabs or Peachtree dishes, the ERMI analyzes the DNA of mold species present in settled dust, and the Hertsmi-2 will tell you if any of the 5 most toxic molds are producing mycotoxins (endocrine disruptors) in your living environment. More importantly, always work with a professional environmentalist, not just a mold remediator, who understands air flow dynamics and humidity exchange as well as the compounding effect of other toxins in the home on your health. Poor air circulation will keep a home sick regardless of how many purifiers you run. I refer patients to Terry Wright at pureairdoctor.com, he has worked with my family and patients for over a decade and extends a $200 discount to Fundamental Healing patients through that link.

Radon Radon is a colorless, odorless radioactive gas that seeps from the ground and accumulates in lower levels of the home. It is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States. A simple test you can purchase on Amazon for around $35.00 is an AccuStar Check. It is important to note when checking Radon levels that the World Health Organization dropper their ‘safe’ range from 4.1 to 2.7 in 2023 for short-term exposure. If you do not have a radon mitigation system in your home, you might consider running one to be sure your exposure is in a safe range. Keep in mind that you ideally would not want it to be above 2.0 for short-term exposure since long-term could climb higher. The Environmental Protection Agency still has their range at 4.1, and that is too high in my opinion, especially with the rise in cancer, immune dysregulation we see in our country. 

VOCs and Formaldehyde VOCs (volatile organic compounds) off-gas from paints, adhesives, flooring, cabinetry, and synthetic textiles. Formaldehyde is a specific VOC of concern found in composite wood products, new cabinetry, and laminate flooring — and it off-gasses for years. Be sure all old paint cans, thinners, and chemical solvents are removed from inside the home and in a detached garage. For testing, Home Air Check offers a single-use rental kit that detects over 500 VOCs, active mold, and formaldehyde, with results in about five business days. Keep in mind that mold spores are the most active in the spring and fall (rain seasons) and testing during that time could yield very different results in your home. Portable multi-parameter air quality monitors are also available on Amazon for continuous monitoring. A resource I love for understanding off-gassing from home textiles and materials is Green Building Supply — an excellent starting point when making choices about furnishings and finishes.

For Apartments and Rentals If you are in a space you cannot fully remediate, then getting out is the best option. I typically recommend patients use the Hertsmi-2 collection kit with a one day turn around time (about $130) to screen potential environments. Since this test does operate off of collection of settled dust, and cleaned apartment could be a challenge to sample, you might consider pulling the area where the furnace filter has the air intake and wiping inside it. This can be done with the Hertsmi-2 swifer collection kit. They also offer a Hertsmi-2 Vacuum collection kit for apartments with carpet. Finding a place without carpet is always going to be your best bet since when it is ‘cleaned’ the moisture used for steaming makes it a better breading ground for mold. 

Water: The Foundation of Healing 

Clean water is the foundation of every healing protocol I build with patients. Your body requires it for every detoxification pathway, every cellular process, every phase of restoration. The challenge is that tap water in most municipalities contains fluoride, chlorine, arsenic, pharmaceutical residues, and heavy metals – a burden your liver has to process on top of everything else it is already managing. 

Bottled water is not the answer. Soft, flexible plastic leaches endocrine-disrupting chemicals, BPA, and heavy metals like cadmium into the water, especially when exposed to heat or frozen. The softer the plastic, the more toxic it is to your body. Plastic can cause estrogen imbalances where fat tissue is signaled to produce more than your body was designed to have in circulation. 

Know What’s in Your Water

Before you filter, know what you are filtering. If you are on city water, you can gain insight into the quality of your municipality’s water on the  Environmental Working Group’s Tap Water Database. This site allows you to enter your zip code and see exactly which contaminants have been detected in your local water supply, and at what levels compared to health guidelines. It is a sobering and eye-opening exercise. It is also important to understand that the water company is going to provide you with possibly just 1/10 ‘less than’ the amount that has been proven to be toxic to your system. Toxins do not influence us in isolation, unfortunately they have a compounding effect.  

If you are on a private well, testing is entirely your responsibility – and it matters. I personally use and refer patients to Reynolds Water and Conditioning of Southeastern Michigan (they  have been in business for over 35 years and offer a free in-home estimate at 248-705-2817) and  PureAirPureWater (free consult too). Both will test for over 800 different analytes including arsenic and iron levels. Arsenic tends to be very high in well water in my area, so we have an arsenic filter right after our house filtration system before it feeds to the rest of the home and my reverse osmosis. We also want to reduce the amount of iron we consume since iron overload can damage organs and when it is elevated (serum or the store as ferritin) it can act like a heavy metal to your body. You can learn more about this by reading the book Iron the Most Toxic Metal by Jym Moon. 

Filtration

A reverse osmosis (RO) system at the kitchen faucet is the gold standard for water to clean  your produce, and safely hydrate/cook. For whole-home protection, a large carbon block filter combined with a fluoride and arsenic block at the point of entry makes a meaningful difference in what reaches every faucet in your home. In our home we have the RO reservoir tank plumbed to our refrigerator ice maker too. 

Transport your clean water in glass or stainless steel that is not lined with a lot of nickel- look for 18/0 stainless steel when shopping for the safest containers if you have a nickel allergy. Yeti is 18/8 (only 8% nickel which is much less than the average IMO).  I typically avoid plastic all together for drinking. Never store water in soft plastic, never heat food in plastic, and eliminate the microwave so you are not consuming radiation and food depleted in nutrients that you spend good money on. 

Water consumption isn’t the only area we need to pay attention to. Bathing (or showering) in hot chlorinated, fluoridated water for ten minutes every morning is a real and reducible exposure that goes directly through your skin or breathed into your lungs. For the shower, I recommend an Aquasana filtered showerhead for those that are not able to afford a whole house filtration system. This typically needs changing every two months with municipal water. It is important to remember it is not pulling out fluoride. 

EMFs and Radiation: The Invisible Load

This may be the most underestimated section in this article, and I say that having watched it quietly undermine healing in patient after patient. EMF exposure – from WiFi routers, smart meters, cell phones, tablets, and nearby towers – increases glucose metabolism in the brain, disrupts melatonin production, agitates the nervous system, and accumulates as a chronic stressor on the immune system. Research continues to surface surrounding the impact of  prolonged EMF exposure on neuro inflammation, digestive dysregulation, and increased brain tumor risk. Gaming in young people has been studied and linked to ADD/ADHD and more mood swings. Many countries have issued BlackBox warnings on cell phones that the United States has not adopted. Children are particularly vulnerable – a developing brain’s wiring can be measurably altered with prolonged exposure. 

Practical Steps to Reduce Exposure

• Move your WiFi router away from the side of the home you have bedrooms and turn it off at night. Using a power strip, Christmas Tree timer or kill switch can dramatically improve sleep quality. In our home we have a kill switch outside the master bedroom in the hall that turns the electrical outlet off in the basement that the modem and router are plugged into. 
• Never sleep with a phone near your head. Putting it on airplane mode is not good enough, it will still sync at times. Power it down and get it out of the bedroom whenever possible. 
• Keep phones off the body during the day. Ideally 18”-2ft away from you. Move to wired earbuds or speaker for calls, and never carry the phone directly against vital organs. If you are going to do this, you might consider wearing some protective clothing that is specifically made with faraday material or military grade mesh to reduce exposure. 
• Use a hardwired ethernet connection for computers whenever possible instead of WiFi. Get a Cat6 line off of amazon and run it from your router to the computer. You might need a Cat6 to USB converter to do this, but it is worth reducing your exposure. Be sure you are putting the computer on airplane mode with wifi off to reduce what it emits while you are using it. In our home we have lots of ethernet jax where we can plug in for a direct signal. 
• Apply a blue light or red light filter on devices used in the evening – screen light suppresses melatonin production starting two hours before bed. You can learn how to do this at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ji1hEpotd0 
• For children under two years: no screen time involving cellular or WiFi data. For children over two years of age: no more than 20 minutes twice daily- including television until at last the age of five. If you have a child with delayed speech or behavior challenges, they should not be using devices at all.
• Check cell tower activity near your home at speedtest.net/ookla-5g-map
• Consider a Faraday bag for your phone, especially when sleeping or traveling, to block all incoming and outgoing signals completely. I have been using SafeSleeveCases (10% discount with this link) for about a decade now to protect myself when I do need to have my phone on me. I also have a faraday wrap by Radia Smart (10% DISCOUNT CODE: Fundamentalheal) I use in the office for an extra measure of protection, realizing nothing is 100%, but always striving to reduce exposure wherever I can.  

What About the Smart Meter?

Smart meters emit pulsed radiofrequency radiation and are often placed on exterior walls shared with bedrooms or living spaces. If yours is on a shared wall, there are a few options worth exploring: contact your utility company to request an analog meter opt-out (some Michigan utilities allow this- if they give you kickback, you can always ask for a doctor’s note to submit that states it needs to be turned off due to electromagnetic hypersensitivities- I do this a lot for patients), or install smart meter shields –  RF-blocking covers designed to reduce emissions without interfering with meter function. Safe Living Technologies carries these. Radia Smart (10% DISCOUNT CODE: Fundamentalheal) also has bed canopies and other shielding solutions I recommend to patients with significant EMF sensitivity. GetLambs Clothing provides undergarment protection. I have been wearing their shirts under my scrubs in the work place for about a decade. 

Measuring Your Home’s EMF Load

A Trifield Model TF2 meter allows you to take real-time RF, magnetic, and electric field readings throughout your home so you know exactly where the hotspots are. This is the tool I recommend to patients who want objective data before deciding where to focus. You can find it on Amazon or at safelivingtechnologies.com. Realize that 5G is never a constant and things will sync throughout the day, and update at night, so one reading is only a snap shot. Ideally, taking multiple readings over different days and times throughout the week is the best way to assess risk. 

A Word on Food

I will dedicate a full article to nutrition in the coming months, because it deserves that kind of attention. But food belongs here because what you bring into your home is part of your environment.

The goal is whole foods, as close to their original form as possible, organic is a must. Only organic produce comes in our home. When it is season we enjoy it! When it is not in season, then we look forward to when it is. 

When you step outside, you are navigating a food system saturated with glyphosate, GMOs, artificial additives, and ingredients your body was never designed to process. Your kitchen is where you take that power back. The more processed something is the more depleted it is nutrients and the more metal it contains. 

You can learn about the amount of glyphosate in foods, even organics, at the Responsible Technology glyphosate database. Dr. Stephanie Seneff has done extensive research on how glyphosate interferes with many different facets of health and biochemistry. You can learn more about her research at learntruehealth.com/glyphosate and watch her discuss it here. You can down load an audible by her on Prime that depicts the history of Glyphosate called Toxic Legacy.

The Organic Consumer’s Association is also worth bookmarking to stay up-to-date on what is happening in the food system.

A practical place to start: the EWG’s Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen guide tells you which produce items carry the highest pesticide loads (prioritize organic for these) and which are safer to buy conventional when budget is a factor. It is important to note that the ‘Clean Fifteen’ do contain some genetically modified foods. If you are purchasing something processed you might also consider downloading the Yuka App to scan the barcode and learn what is in it that is and may not be on the label. Realize that not all ingredients need to be on the label. Anything that makes up less than 2% of a product can be omitted. This is why eating whole foods is so important. 

Whatever you bring home, wash it – with and ionizer is my best advise. I have been using an AquaPure for 3.5yrs in my home. It generates an ionic charge that binds the chemicals and impurities in food and it works to do this with unrefined salt. It also works to pull bacteria and mold. I have had fruit I am cleaning start to disintegrate in the water (grapes/berries) when they are not good internally. It is important to mention that the FDA permits up to 13% contamination of organic foods with glyphosate, and in 2023 legislation was passed that allowed organics to be sprayed after they are harvested as well as processed USDA labeled organics to have non-organic ingredients in them. 

Cook with clean fats such as ghee, coconut oil, or tallow. Olive oil is meant to be kept at a cooler temp to maintain all of the beneficial properties. Since avocado is a very high histamine food and most of my patients struggle with inflammation, I tend to ask them to avoid avocado and avocado oil for at least the first 6-9 months.  Eliminate refined sugar, processed foods, and anything your great-grandmother would not recognize. Keep it real, keep it whole, and keep it in your control.

Before You Buy

If you are in the process of purchasing a home, this is one of the best opportunities you will ever have to uncover what you cannot see, smell, or taste – before you sign. Standard home inspections do not cover the environmental factors that can drive chronic illness. Before you close, investigate the following:

• Mold and air quality: Request an ERMI/Hertsmi-2 test and consult an environmentalist, not just a mold inspector. Ask about the home’s ventilation history, any evidence of past flooding, and humidity control. See above section on Air Quality for the links and resources I recommend.
• Radon: An AccuStar charcoal canister test kit from Amazon is a simple, affordable first screen, especially important for basements and lower level. See above section on Air Quality for the links and resources I recommend.
• VOCs and formaldehyde: Ask about the age of cabinetry, flooring, and insulation. Recently installed composite wood products and laminate flooring can off-gas formaldehyde for years. See above section on Air Quality for the links and resources I recommend.
• Water source and infrastructure: Ask about pipe material and age. Request a full water test for bacteria, nitrates, heavy metals, arsenic, and PFAS. Use the EWG Tap Water Database for city water, or Michigan EGLE resources for well water
• Smart meter location: Confirm the smart meter is not on a wall shared with a bedroom or main living space
• Cell tower proximity: Check speedtest.net/ookla-5g-map and consider bringing a Trifield TF2 meter to the showing for real-time readings
• Plumbing materials: Older homes may have lead or copper pipes; confirm before purchasing and factor a system for improving the water want to keep you and your family safe into the budget you will need for things to be done before taking occupancy. 

Before You Build

Building from the ground up is a rare and extraordinary opportunity, one most people approach with aesthetic and budget considerations while unknowingly making decisions that will affect their family’s health for decades. If you are in this position, here is what I wish every builder and buyer knew before breaking ground:

• Materials and finishes: Specify zero-VOC or low-VOC paints, stains, adhesives, and sealants throughout. Choose solid wood cabinetry over composite or MDF. Select natural flooring such as hardwood, stone, ceramic tile, or natural linoleum, over synthetic carpet or laminate. Research all textiles at greenbuildingsupply.com before purchasing
• Ventilation: Design for intentional air exchange. We have a fresh air intake on our HVAC (something that was not code when building homes until around the year 2000- so homes that have the HVAC replaced that were built before this time should request it). Ensure all bathroom and kitchen exhaust fans vent to the exterior, not into the attic. Make sure baffles vent properly, there are enough soffits for the square footage (this is a corner that was cut a reputable builder that constructed my prior home) and insullation is not covering them. For homes that have soffit vents every so many feet near the gutters, make sure they are cut true to the size the vent represents- this was not done in my prior home. And consider sealing the attic and creating a negative pressure with attic fans so that the air in the attic does not mix with that in your living space. 
• Water infrastructure: Plan for a whole-home carbon and fluoride/arsenic filtration system at the point of entry, plus an RO system under the kitchen sink, or under the kitchen mounted in the basement. Specify non-toxic plumbing materials and avoid PVC where possible. 
• EMF-conscious wiring: Work with an electrician familiar with building biology principles. Run hardwired ethernet throughout the home so WiFi is optional. Position the electrical panel away from bedroom walls. Discuss shielded wiring in sleeping areas. Confirm smart meter placement before construction is finalized and request an analog meter from your utility companies for health reasons. I don’t advocate for a “smart” home. Go with a traditional thermostat, hardwired cameras and doorbell, turn the wifi capabilities off on your new appliances. 

Your Home Is Your Healing Ground

God designed the body with a remarkable capacity to heal – but that design depends on the body not being perpetually assaulted from every direction. When you begin to reduce the toxic load in your home, you take the pressure off of the bottle necked liver that is struggling to move fat soluble toxins to bile for elimination. Once the pressure is removed, the trickle can start to flow and healing can begin. 

You do not have to change everything overnight. Start with one simple step—swap out your cleaning products, move the router out of the bedroom, or take a closer look at your local water report—and build from there. Small, intentional changes add up, creating meaningful momentum over time. With each shift, you move closer to what your home was always meant to be: a space that supports, restores, and promotes true healing.

If you are looking for personalized guidance tailored to your unique health picture, this is exactly the work we do at Fundamental Healing—I would be honored to support you.

The information shared in this article reflects lifestyle modification recommendations and educational content. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, or cure any health condition. Please consult with your healthcare provider before making significant changes to your health routine.