Environmental Home Health Risk Assessment: Am I safe in my home?


My husband and I bought our home in 2016, it was built in 2013 and shortly after we found out that we were expecting. My son is now a year old, and as new parents we've gone through great lengths to ensure the health and well-being of our growing family. However, going through the environmental health risk assessment made me wary of my responses: it's somewhat unsettling to me that I marked N/A to quite a few questions. I was under the impression that since our home is relatively brand new I wouldn't have significant environmental health issues or concerns. Before the birth of our son, I meticulously researched and only purchased and utilized products that were environmentally safe for our household. But as my infant now turned into a toddler, I've unconsciously become less conscious of our home health. I buy all organic foods for my son, but not for myself or my husband. I clean all of my son's clothes, living space, food utensils and toys with green Eco-friendly products, however I don't use the same products for the rest of the household.The purpose of the assessment tool was not only create a visual but also enable the user to evaluate and mindfully assess their home health.
1-In the home assessment, why did we want to know about the age of your home? The purpose of questioning the age of my home is to see if it was built before 1978, because prior to that  home's were often painted with lead based paint. Consumption of paint chips from older homes can led to lead toxicity and eventually lead poisoning. Children are often severely impacted leading to neurological damage.
2-Why would we want to know if someone lives in the basement? Living in a  basement, especially in older homes is an environmental health hazard. Lack of  proper ventilation increases the risk of exposure to mold and  carbon monoxide. In addition, because the basement it the lowest part of a house it also increases susceptibility to underground gases, such as radon. 
3-Who is responsible for home-based environmental health risks?  As homeowners, we're responsible for the evaluation of our home environmental health risks. Before we purchased our home we had our home safety evaluated, but I've come to realize regular assessment of our home is crucial and necessary.

Comments

  1. UnknownAugust 25, 2018 at 5:56 PM

    Hi Claudia,

    I wanted to start off by congratulating you on your son! He is adorable and I want to send praise your way for the effort you make to provide him with environmentally friendly options in his every day life. One thing that stood out to me was your mention of organic food options for him. In regards to produce, I'd suggest doing a full transition not only for you son, but for your husband and yourself as well. Although you may be purchasing organic produce for your son, residue and pesticides may transfer over from the non-organic options that you may be storing near the organic ones. In addition, you mention eco-friendly products. If you're not yet familiar with Environmental Working Group, I highly suggest looking into their Guide to Healthy Cleaning (https://www.ewg.org/guides/cleaners#.W4H6OZNKj2Q). I use it often to look at the health scores of the products that I use within my home and it's a great way to at least eliminate the hazards that we have control over within our living spaces. Keep up the great work!

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  2. snaymallickAugust 27, 2018 at 10:29 PM

    Hi Claudia,

    Congrats on your beautiful home and adorable son! It's great that you have been taking initiative to make your home a safe environment for your son. I wish you the best in that! I agree that this exercise did shed light on making our homes a safe environment and how there are little things that we completely forget or do not acknowledge. One thing that I did take note of that you mentioned was the use of eco-friendly products in your home for your son. I do not use eco-friendly products for myself and would like to use some! Do you have any suggestions or thoughts on what you use? I usually use things that contain a lot of harmful chemicals. I would be curious to what you use to make your home safe. Thanks for the knowledge!

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