I discovered so many environmental risks during this assessment, it was especially eye opening since we are planning on remodeling our house. This EH assessment pointed out things we need to update and regulate to our safety standards when it is time to remodel. I discovered using gas dryers and heaters should be ventilated outdoors, and looking at our set up, we saw it was not properly ventilated!
I personally became more cautious of the chemicals being used when we got our puppy a year ago. We have decided to transition a lot of the chemicals we use in our home to make sure it is pet friendly and safe (especially since dogs like to lap up things with their mouths and noses!) We transitioned our cleaning chemicals to non-toxic safe concoctions that use real ingredients like lemons and oils, mixed with baking soda. Being able to educate yourself and others on making your home environmentally safe can do nothing more but benefit yourself and your family members. I am much more aware of my surroundings in my home and have already searched up suggestions for our future remodel on environmentally safety/ healthy choices.
It is important to know the age of your home because of the change of chemicals and materials used to build houses have been traced to cause health defects due to inhaling or being exposed to them. Piping, asbestos and other materials were popular materials used cheaply that caused health damages to large populations.
Wanting to know if someone lives in your basement is important to test for any chemicals known to be more prevalent in these areas, such as car emissions, clean ventilation, and hazardous materials that could be surfacing below the house that may fester in the basement.
Home owners/residents are responsible for home-based environmental health risks.
Hi Terri! I also have been transitioning many of my household products to safer products over the past year or so. At 6 years old, our cat started having unexplained allergies that were likely caused by something in our home but we have no idea what! This makes so much sense after learning about more things that could be potentially harmful. And cats are always on the floor and on furniture and clean themselves constantly so anything they might have picked up on their fur would be ingested. I'm sure we are more aware than most people about exposures in our home and there is likely much more we can do to make our homes more healthy. Hope your puppy is happy and healthy!
ReplyDeleteHi Terri,
ReplyDeleteThe assessment has been very eye opening for me as well. I stopped using chemical based products 4 years ago and even started to use a air purifier in my room. The changes dramatically relieved a majority of my asthma triggers and migraines. I was very unaware of the other possible exposures in the home so am going to do the research to find out the answers to the questions that I could not find.
Terri I am also curious to know where you have found information on future healthy/environmentally safe remodeling information.