Below is my completed Environmental Health Home Assessment. I found the assessment to be really eye-opening because there were a number of things I had not considered as potentially harmful that I now want to go back and re-assess and it also reminded me of things that I have wanted to change for a long time but have still not got around to actually changing.
As I was completing this questionnaire, I found myself feeling grateful for the home I currently live in many times because a lot of the questions kept reminding me of how terrible my old apartment was. For example, my old apartment was in a much older building and did not have many of the modern amenities and safety measures that my current home does. It also had an insect and rodent infestation but because it was a rent-controlled apartment in San Francisco, there was no hope of the landlord doing anything to address any of our health and safety concerns. I thought the assessment asks about the age of our home to assess the risk of having asbestos in the walls and was surprised to learn that lead paint was allowed to be used in homes until 1978 so older homes actually put us at risk of lead poisoning. That is really frightening. The assessment asks about living space in the basement because it can present the potential for mold and radon. It can also increase the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning if appliances are in the basement. An attached garage can also leave us with the potential for increased levels of carbon monoxide. The building I live in now has a garage on the ground floor of the building and I am unsure if this puts us at an increased risk since I live a few floors above it. Additionally, I had no idea that apartments had water that could come from wells but I checked and we do not. Most significantly for me personally, this assessment reminded me that I have wanted to create a disaster plan and buy supplies in case of an emergency for my apartment. I am going to work on a plan for my apartment and order supplies this weekend. Finally, I was surprised that incense can have toxic chemicals in them. I always try to buy candles and incense as well as cleaning products that are all-natural, organic and use very little artificial fragrances. Overall, I think I have been doing a moderate job managing my home safety, but I think there is a lot of room for improvement and this assessment made me more aware of potential risks that I have not been paying attention to. I hope to use this assessment as a guide to making my home safer over the next few weeks. I think that home-based risks should be a joint responsibility between the people who live there, renters (me) and the people who own the property, landlords. However, I have had pretty bad experiences with landlords because I live in a city where landlords have a lot of power and there is such a high demand for affordable apartments that landlords take very little responsibility for things like home-based risks. This assessment helps me feel more empowered and prepared to take on this responsibility myself and work to reduce my home-based risks even further.
As a renter, you should feel empowered and safe in your home. If the landlords aren't concerned with their tenants, then they shouldn't be landlords, because no one wants to share a space with rodents and roaches.
ReplyDeleteI also will have to pay more attention to the incense and candles that I purchase to make sure that they are safe for me and the overall environment.