Residents and local department of building inspection should be responsible for home-based environmental health risks. Departments need to enforce safe housing codes such as installation of vents for gas appliances and testing for lead and radon. Residents have an equal part for exposures at home. There is a smoker in my family and the best compromise we came to is for him to smoke in the garage. It's not ideal for anyone's health because we all know secondhand smoke travels and lingers. Our home environment risk exposures are very much affected by all who inhibit the house.
Hi Amy!
ReplyDeleteI think it's really cool that your parent's house was built in the 1940s- I would be interested to see what the documents looked like and what other information you found out regarding the foundation. It would also be really interesting to see if you could track down any information regarding the lead policies in those homes, as I know you mentioned you couldn't find the paperwork.
I agree with you about the responsibility being placed on both residents and local inspection departments to ensure safety; neither party should have to keep track of everything going on in both the neighborhood and the home. I also feel the same way about smoking in the home, and think it's important to realize how far reaching second hand smoke exposure has become.
That's pretty awesome that the home was built in the '40s; I'm sure its beautiful! I too would be concerned about the lack of lead testing results. However, as long as there are no babies or toddlers living there that might put their mouths on the wall or put a piece of chipped paint in their mouths, I wouldn't be too worried. However, now that I think about it, I'm not sure if dust from paint particles would affect the respiratory systems of your family.
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