M1.5 Blog Assignment: Environmental Health Home Assessment

-

The San Leandro Dollhouse

My home is located in San Leandro, California. The home, or as I like to call given its size, the dollhouse was built after 1978 with no known lead contamination. It is a small two bedroom, two bathroom small house with a small kitchen and living room. There is a small gated yard and garden where I plant flowers and grow my own tomatoes. The house is located behind another home and hidden from the road.

My home has good air ventilation in the bathrooms and plenty of windows. When we first moved in the beginning of last year, we did experience a bit of a mold problem in one of the bedrooms. The winter/rainy months increased the likelihood of mold and often when we did not use the heater. A humidifier was provided by the landlord to clear the moisture in the air. We have not had a mold problem since then. We have a gas stove and gas wall heater that we turn off when not in use. However, I often realize that this is not always the case.

In terms of disaster preparation and fire escape, my house is ground level. We could potentially exit from any window and through either of the two entrances to my house. We do not have a carbon monoxide detector and are currently working on getting a new smoke detector. We also do not have a fire extinguisher. In the back of my home, I keep a box full of supplies such as non-perishables and water.

I do tend to use air fresheners in the bedrooms. I did not recognize this as a potential health hazard at first, we use them fairly frequently to "freshen" the air. I do not know what kind of contaminants are in the water or what kind of pipes we have. I do have strong smelling bathroom cleaners such as bleach. While I use gloves, I do not cover my face and thereby inhale the chemicals directly whenever I clean.

My home assessment really brought to my attention the importance of recognizing environmental hazards that affect not only my health but that of my family. After reflecting on my findings, I hope to work to improve the environment in my home as much as I can and learn as much information possible.

Solution:

In lessening the hazards that affect our air quality, my family and I could work on lessening our use of air fresheners and wear protective masks when using cleaning supplies. Investing in environmentally friendly cleaning supplies would also be highly beneficial. We also need to be more careful about turning out the gas heater pilot light more often when we are not using it. Getting a fire extinguisher will also be on my list of things to get in order to protect my family from potential fire emergencies. Checking with our landlord to see if we can get lead and radon testing would also be beneficial. Water contamination should also be addressed out of safety, purchasing a water purifier or filter can help lessen the odds of drinking contaminated water.

Thank you for reading! 😀
-Paulina AM








Comments

  1. Sintia ShahbazAugust 26, 2018 at 5:50 PM

    Hello,
    I too live on the first floor, which gives us the easy access to the parking lot in case of a fire. My house has sprinkler systems that would be very helpful during a fire, but as you mentioned having a fire extinguisher is probably more useful. When working on the assessment I thought about the question about air fresheners, I too didn't think they would be so bad for ones health. My husband and I don't use any but after reading this I don't think I will be able to use once since now I know they can be pretty harmful.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousAugust 26, 2018 at 11:57 PM

    Interesting post. As a child growing up in suburban Pennsylvania, we lived in a single-story ranch home but never had to consider any major natural disasters. But now, as a resident in a densely-populated high-rise in one of the most densely-populated American cities, I often wonder about what the evacuation scenario would look like in my building in the event of a natural disaster or fire. It's legitimately worrisome. The ease of evacuation offered by a single story home -- or dollhouse ;-) -- represents an often overlooked safety feature, especially in a region of the country that is so frequently plagued by earthquakes and wildfires.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

M10.2 Blog about MSDS and ToxNet

-
Unfortunately, while interviewing my mother on the hazards of the workplace environment internally and externally, she admitted that her school didn't have Material Safety Data Sheets. When she was hired, she never recalled getting any paperwork or meeting on the potential hazards of the workplace. When she asked the principal, her boss, about whether they had one, he had no idea what she was talking about. My mom basically said that her school is too poor to have an MSDS and the OUSD doesn't bother to spend money on developing such a thing. As for my workplace, they also seemed to be at a loss for what an MSDS was. When I was hired, the only talk of safety hazards were outside the office. We had discuss the importance of protecting ourselves against used syringes on the ground, keeping our hands clean, and getting vaccinated to protect ourselves and our homeless clients from exposure. Other than that, my boss and supervisor didn't really say much else about it. If we hap...
Read more

M10.8 Blog about an occupationally-related disease

-
Image
For my disease selection, I chose Byssinosis or "Brown Lung". This is the first time that I heard of this illness, usually we hear more about black lung and white lung in my opinion. According to the American Lung Association, Byssinosis affects people who work in the hemp, cotton, and flax industry. Workers usually develop Byssinosis by inhaling raw cotton, hemp, flax or other textile dust. It causes asthma-like symptoms and can lead to chronic obstructive lung disease. OSHA recognizes cotton dust as a respiratory hazard and the importance of monitoring exposure and the development of Byssinosis. OSHA has several manuals detailing regulations and procedures on recognizing and handling cotton dust exposure. OSHA has also enforced standards of safety in textile mills and inspection protocols to monitor cotton dust safety. In defining exposure to cotton or textile particles, OSHA stated the following, "Cotton dust means dust present in the air during the handling or p...
Read more