The Healthy Home
An Attic-To-Basement Guide to Toxin-Free Living

By Linda Mason Hunter

Published by Rodale Press, 1989; Pocket Books, 1990.
Available from iUniverse.com - $20.

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The Healthy Home is a classic resource guide for anyone interested in home ecology. Everything you need to know to make your home a safe and comfortable place is here, in one indispensable volume. Among the many subjects covered (all approached in a positive tone) are indoor air quality, hazardous household products, and how to buy a piece of furniture that does not cause back problems. Also included are tips on soundproofing, safety, detecting carcinogens, and an appendix of products and services.

The author first became interested in home ecology in 1986 after reading an Environmental Protection Agency report on indoor air pollution and its effect on health. "It's a tough subject to deal with," she told The New York Times, "because you don't want to scare folks. But the home is a place where people can take control." A lot of what is "healthy" in houses are things human beings veer toward instinctively, she says, like "bathing a room in breezes and natural light."

If you can't find The Healthy Home in your local bookstore or library, you can order it through iuniverse.com or Amazon.com.