Outdoor environmental quality

• What is outdoors can come indoors
• Naturally occurring contaminants in air and soil
• Pollution-related contaminants in air and soils

Naturally occurring contaminants in air and soil

• Dust
• Pollen
• Mold spores
• Valley fever
• Radon

Pollution-related contaminants in air and soils

• Ground-level ozone
• Carbon monoxide
• Sulfur and nitrogen oxides
• Soil chemical vapor intrusion (think Love Canal)

Who regulates my home’s environmental quality?

• Exterior maintenance
  • Roof
  • Windows
• Landscaping
  • Irrigation
  • Pesticides
  • Pruning trees and shrubs
  • Animals

Roof Maintenance

• Remove detritus from roof
• Keep roof drains clear
• Direct draining water away from house
• Check roof penetration mastics for cracking and deterioration

Window Maintenance

• Check caulking around windows and doors.
• Replace broken glazing

Landscaping

• Irrigation
  • Do not over water
  • Prevent sprinkler from spraying on house
  • Do not put planters against house
  • Slope of landscaping away from house
  • Keep hose bibs in good repair don’t let water drip down side of house
• Prune trees and shrubs away from house
• Clean up after animals, both pets and pests
• Use caution with pesticides
• Do not plant vines to grow up the side of your house
• Some vines can actually grow through the mortar of brick/block homes

Nuisance birds pose a health threat

• Pigeons, starlings, crows, etc.
• Over 60 diseases are attributed to birds
• Routes of exposure include:
  • Food and water
  • Inhalation of contaminated dust
  • Transference by parasites (fleas, ticks, mites & other ectoparasites). Direct contact with feces.

Garage

• Don’t store gasoline indoors, or near pilot lights
• Annually inspect water sources
  • water heater
  • softener
• Do not block garage passive vents
• Use caution with storage of cleaning chemicals, paint, and other VOC’s in garage

Water heater

• Gas water heaters should be elevated off the ground
• Make sure the gas water heater exhaust system is in place and unobstructed.
• Check electric water heaters heating elements

Kitchen

• Inspect water sources
• Fridge ice maker
• Under sinks
• Dish washer
• RO system
• Repair water leaks immediately!
• Do not keep a bucket under leak
• Run your exhaust fan while in the kitchen
• Do not put food items in your trash compactor
• Enclose food that gets moldy, such as an orange in the bottom of the fruit bowl

Infrared camera

Bathroom

• Inspect water sources:
  • Under sinks
  • Tubs
  • Toilets
  • Water supply line
  • Wax ring
• Don’t carpet your bathroom, particularly at the sink, tub, and shower.
• Run the water periodically in unused drains.
• Use caution with storage of cleaning chemicals, paint, and other VOC’s in garage

Bedroom

• Dust mites live in pillows, mattresses
• Burning candles
  • Increase particulates in air
  • Scented candles can increase VOCs
  • Candles can cause “ghosting”

Living rooms

• Carpet and pressed wood furniture
  • VOCs and formaldehyde
• Keep it clean

Vacuuming

• Vacuum with High Efficiency Filters (True HEPA is best technology)
• Central Vacuum is better when it exhausts outdoors (also a hearing conservation bonus)

Laundry room

• Inspect water sources:
  • behind wash machine
  • behind dryer
  • under utility sink
• Run your exhaust fan
• Secure the washing machine drain line so it will not jump out of the drain.
• Do not exhaust dryer vents into the garage or the attic
• Make sure vent is free of lint build-up
• Do not block or cover vent

Heating and air conditioning

• HVAC
  • Keep air handlers clean and free of debris build-up
  • Replace filters
  • Make sure filters are right size
  • Check condensate pans and drains
  • Don’t let water pool beneath drain
• Don’t let water run down side of house

HVAC Ducts

• Confirm ducts are connected

HVAC Compressors

• Do not block heat exchangers (compressors)

What to do you do if you done all the maintenance and a mystery odor occurs?

• Clean out pet water bowl
• Check for shrimp left in cupboards
• Cracks and leaks in sewer lines

Kids have constant runny noses

• Wash their stuffed animals and pillows in hot, hot water and dry in heated dryer.
• These harbor dust mites and other allergens
• Clean home to remove pet dander

Asbestos

• When you eat it or breath it, asbestos is bad.
• When you eat it, you can get diseases like gastrointestinal cancer.
• When you breath it, you can get diseases like asbestosis, mesothelioma and lung cancer
• Popcorn ceiling
• Asbestos containing duct tape
• Drywall & joint compound
• Plaster & stucco
• Vinyl floor tiles, floor sheeting & adhesives

Lead-based paint

• If a home was built before 1978, then assume there is lead-based paint.
• Use caution remodeling.

Light Chronic Lead Exposure

• Anemia
• Impotence
• Nervous system damage
• Hearing impairment
• Impaired mental function
• Appetite loss
• Abdominal pain Constipation
• Fatigue
• Sleeplessness
• Irritability
• Headache
• Renal (Kidney) failure
• Miscarriages & stillbirth

When should you call a professional?

• Potentially dealing with a regulated material:
  • Asbestos
  • Lead
  • Meth lab
• When you need issues documented as well as questions answered
  • Seller’s disclosure statements
  • Potential health exposures

When you call professionals

• They may use personal protection equipment when in your home
• Don’t freak out when you see him/her putting on a respirator, disposable coveralls and gloves.