Blog #1 My Home Assessment

1. Did you discover any environmental risks in your home by completing the home assessment? Yes! By completing my home assessment I realized many things about my current home, and considered past risks associated with my many living situations throughout my life. 

My current home was built in 2014- although the original 1942 structure still partially exists. Our living room and original foundation/roof were retained when we purchased and remodeled our home into it's current modern iteration. The old windows, interior paint were all removed. The exterior paint still remains, deeply buried under many layers. I also wonder if the original insulation still remains inside the walls...

We do not have a basement or attic that is accessible. But the crawl space under the home is where we store many items. Christmas decorations/lights/lawn tools/ chemicals and old paint cans. We do not use a pesticide company but do locally spray pesticides around areas of our home in response to ants/spiders or other pests. We have gas appliances, gas heater and a wood burning fireplace (1942 original). We are connected to San Diego city water supply and have all new pipes since 2014. We also have smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in each room. We do not allow smoking in our home, but often burn candles. I do not use air fresheners, but do often diffuse essential oils. We do not have any mercury thermometers. My husband welds and works on his own cars, so we have many metals and volatile gases stored in our garage.  We have had rodents and a few have actually died in our wall. Our neighbors tend to leave poison out and they make their way under our home for their final resting place. 

We commit to eating organic produce whenever possible, and subscribe to the rule of avoiding the "dirty dozen".  I love the resources provided by the Environmental Working Group for produce shopping.

Although many risks were identified in our current home, such as poor ventilation of our fireplace, chemical storage in garage and under our home, moisture accumulation under house due to proximity to the ocean, improper battery storage, pesticides, cleaning products, paint, etc... 

I spent time reflecting on the many old, dingy apartments I have lived in throughout my life and the risks associated with those years. I lived with lead paint, mold exposure, lead pipes, lived in a dark basement, had regular pesticide exposures from monthly pest services. I also used to place air fresheners in every room when i lived in some of these dwellings to mute pet odors and other bad odors from mold and funky roommates at bay. In our previous home, we had a large mold problem. My husband actually became critically ill from this while renovating our previous home and was hospitalized for over a month and nearly died from his concentrated black mold exposure. After having professional mold removal, we sold that home and moved to live in a healthier environment. 

I then went through our home and examined the products we use to clean, bathe, beautify and sterilize our home.

Even organic beauty products have many ingredients and chemicals..

Each day I use:7 facial products (makeup & skincare)
3 hair products

Each product contain many toxins..makes my house feel "clean" but I will be making some changes to these choices.
I do not want to contribute to further bleaching of the oceans..

Better choices?

I have always tried to be considerate of my choices of products, but never 100% subscribed to eliminating chlorines, phosphates or other chemicals in my purchases. Mostly out of ignorance, and also cost. 

In the last decade of raising kids, my consciousness has certainly been elevated when purchasing cleaning and skin products for my children. I also only burn candles with natural oils and made with beeswax. I use ocean safe sunscreens and only organic products on my kids skin, hair. I try to avoid buying clothing that has been treated with fire retardant and always wash new items before allowing my kids to wear them. We also no longer us flea medicine on our dogs skin and have him take a pill that is a lower exposure of pesticide for my kids who lay on the dog. 

I have a cleaning service each week and allow them to choose the products they are comfortable with- this is a choice I will need to address. 

 After listening to the many lectures presented in modules 1-3 and the toxicology EnviRN lectures- I will be making some more drastic adjustments to my purchasing and use of chemicals in my home.

I also realize how important understanding this information and the concept of cumulative exposures for our more vulnerable populations and ourselves in the healthcare environment. Not only should we be educating ourselves on how products effect our health, but the health of our planet. Also, learning how the FDA and EPA only have information on the risks associated with single chemicals, and do not publish the synergistic effects of combined chemicals or risks of how they are used together is mind boggling to me. We need more advocacy for policy and funding for research on how chemicals impact all life on this planet. 

I found a great resource with basic education and teaching points for patients on common household exposures from the Cleveland Clinic. Another great resource by Environmental Working Group provides information about how to make your home healthier and be a more informed consumer. 

Looking forward to making changes and being a more educated advocate for patients, peers, friends and family!