Pollutants such as formaldahyde and benzene can be produced from certain furniture, carpets, plywood and drapes.

Other sources of benzene are gas cans, gas powered lawn mowers that are stored in garages that are attached to house.

If elimination of these sources is not an option an air purifaction device would be obvious choice.

Toilets, air conditioning coils, heating/cooling ducts and humans are producers of bacteria. The right plan in these cases would be an air purifier device.

Carbon Monoxide is caused by incomplete combustion of appliances that depend on combustion to operate.

ELIMINATION IS ALWAYS THE ANSWER WHEN IT COMES TO CARBON MONOXIDE!

FIND THE PROBLEM-FIX THE PROBLEM!

Leave this to a company that is well-versed in carbon monoxide.

Pet and human dander are controlled through proper humidity control (mechanical ventilation) and air purifier filters.

By using combination of source control (elimination), ventilation (dilution) and good air purifier filters and/or purification system ,your environment will be much healthier.

A pioneer in residential contracting, Ed is a thirty-year industry veteran trained in the “House Is A System” approach to HVAC design. He was formerly a building analyst instructor, providing certification training for New York's Home Performance with ENERGY STAR® program.

So, what can we do about it?

* For ethnic foods you already enjoy, go through ingredients and make substitutions and deletions.

* For new experiences, look more to Oriental and Asiatic recipes than to "farmer" or "noble" foods from France or Germany. But leave out sugar which was added by missionaries in China, Japan, India, and more. For that matter, leave sugar out of Italian recipes and others.

* Realize that traditional soy foods can provide all essentials found in meats, without one having to declare one's self a vegetarian. (But add high calcium foods if you cut back on dairy and meats.)

* Learn that fruits, or fruits with nuts, can taste very sweet, yet provide fiber, minerals, vitamins which are totally absent from man made sweeteners.

* Avoid deep fried foods. Learn to use non-stick cook ware and sprays, pressure cookers, microwave ovens, crock pots, et cetera.

* Instead of butter, use newer spreads that contain no hydrogenated oils. For sour cream, use non fat yogurt or a rich blend of non fat powdered milk in water.

* I seldom use cornstarch, but find whole wheat flour can also serve as a thickener.

* Instead of fatty sausage or bacon, fry small patties of lean ground beef, or slices of extra firm tofu.

* Replace lard, bacon drippings, tallow with un hardened plant oils, and try using less.

* Leave out ham hock or bacon chunk when making soup.

Here are some examples of my experiments.

My former wife was great for preparing Tex-Mex foods. For Tacos, she used a mix made by a prominent USA spice company. When I saw (and tasted) that salt was early on list of ingredients, I volunteered to make my own. I obtained some salt free chili powder, some dried garlic flakes and oregano, and mixed with a small amount of whole wheat flour. My version became favorite with wife and two teen agers.

I have written elsewhere about replacing part of lean ground beef with soy tempeh or extra firm soy tofu, mashed, in such dishes as meat loaf, stew, pasta / spaghetti, and mock steak.

Be inventive. Enjoy flavorful foods through a long life.