I understand that the questions on the safety assessment test tool pointed to an environmental health risk because there are many household items that we use daily that can increase the indoor environmental pollution that can cause health risks. Through this exercise, I discovered about some of the possible indoor pollutants that can be present in a household and how they can cause and increase health risks due to indoor air pollution. Household activities such as using cleaning products, air fresheners, and pesticides can increase and affect air pollution levels in a home. It is important to know when our houses were built because many homes built before 1978 there were not tested for lead and it could be a possible environmental and health risk living in a house before the year 1978. It is also important to take into account if someone lives in the basement because it can also increase indoor health risks and vulnerability to other illnesses by double due to humans burdening chemicals and using cleaning products, personal cosmetics, dry cleaning pesticides, disinfectants etc. One entity responsible for home-based environmental health risks is the Environmental Protection Agency. Some of the roles they have include waste management and enforcing environmental laws.
Interesting article I found: http://ojin.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ANAMarketplace/ANAPeriodicals/OJIN/TableofContents/Volume122007/No2May07/HomeEnvironmentalHealthRisks.aspx
Hi, Vanessa! Thank you for the added article that you included. Your insight on household activities made me think that we could possibly be doing more harm than good when we use cleaning products, air fresheners, and pesticides. Though our intentions are good, these products are actually affecting the air quality in our own homes. Thank you for your post!
ReplyDeleteVanessa,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing. I think you are spot on with the info you provided. Our environmental safety is beyond just the materials our homes are built with. It extends to the things we use within our homes and the combinations these chemicals/materials make. I am much more vigilant about the things I bring home after doing this assessment.