In the post-war period, the health risks posed by indoor environments have both transformed and challenged notions of environmental health centred on pathogenic germs. The composition of home spaces, particularly in developed nations, has been fundamentally altered by the introduction of formerly industrial chemicals to everyday products and building materials. Further, the changing nature of building design, cleaning practices and urban life have altered the ‘microbiomes’ of homes, contributing to a rise in certain immune system conditions. This paper contends that to begin to address these concerns, the microscopic elements of ‘indoor ecosystems’, and how they are created and maintained, must become a focal point for research. It proposes an approach that integrates social practice theories and multispecies ethnography to investigate the cumulative composition of indoor spaces. Findings detail the application of this approach to research into the domestic hygiene practices of parents with young children in Sydney, Australia. This approach highlights crucial assumptions about the ways micro-scale agency is embedded in everyday domestic practices that are contributing to sub-optimal indoor environments.

中文翻译：

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微生物、化学品和家庭健康：整合理论来解释超越人类的纠缠

战后时期，室内环境带来的健康风险已经转变并挑战了以病原菌为中心的环境健康观念。家庭空间的构成，特别是在发达国家，已经因将以前的工业化学品引入日常产品和建筑材料而发生了根本性的改变。此外，建筑设计、清洁实践和城市生活的性质不断变化，已经改变了家庭的“微生物组”，导致某些免疫系统状况上升。本文认为，要开始解决这些问题，“室内生态系统”的微观元素及其创建和维护方式必须成为研究的焦点。它提出了一种将社会实践理论和多物种人种学相结合的方法来研究室内空间的累积构成。调查结果详细说明了这种方法在研究澳大利亚悉尼有幼儿的父母的家庭卫生习惯方面的应用。这种方法强调了关于微观机构嵌入日常家庭实践的方式的关键假设，这些方式导致次优的室内环境。