EPA
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Thanksgiving is a holiday where everyone gets to sit by the dinner table and spend the night eating with friends and family. It makes you appreciate what you have and who truly makes you feel thankful. While you’re at the dinner table with turkey and dressing, there may be something sinister lurking about in your…
Posted in: indoor environment -
Every day in the United States, about 130,000 computers are thrown away. The recyclable material that makes up a computer includes plastic, metal, and glass. Even the attachments you use with your computer can be recycled, like the keyboard, the mouse, the computer speakers, external hard drives, printers and scanners. While most electronics can be…
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Health problems and laminate wood flooring are back in the news. The cause of alarm centers around formaldehyde, a known-carcinogenic, that is used in some pressed wood products like laminate wood flooring. Formaldehyde is found in a variety of home and consumer products. It is used in plywood, particleboard, medium-density fiberboard (MDF), wood floor finishes,…
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Every January we recognize the winners of the Radon Poster Contest. This year there were four winners in Georgia. Congratulations to the winners and thank you to all who entered. The posters were great! A special thanks to Southern Radon Reduction who provided prizes for the winners. The posters do a great job of increasing…
Posted in: Healthy Housing -
For the next few weeks people and leaders around the world will be talking about climate change, emissions levels, and renewable energy sources (i.e., hydroelectric power, wind, solar, geothermal, wood biomass, ethanol, biodiesel and waste biomass.) Two of the top energy users – the United States (U.S.) and China have made several positive steps towards…
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I may have brought bedbugs home from my vacation. What an awful souvenir! I travel a lot, but this is the first time I have had an encounter with bedbugs. Maybe staying at all those convents and monasteries in Europe instead of five star hotels protected me from these unsavory pests. In reality, bedbugs can be…
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Every year 72,330 women die from lung cancer. Lung cancer has killed more women than breast cancer since 19871. Of those who survive, only 18% survive five years2, meaning lung cancer has one of the highest mortality rates of all cancers for women. So, why is it that only 1% of women consider lung cancer…
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During the holidays Americans produce excess amounts of trash, much of which comes from holiday entertaining. In 2012, Americans generated around 251 million tons of trash. That’s 4.38 pounds per person per day! According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) we are recycling 34.5 percent of what we throw away, which is much higher…
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In 2013 there were 16,655 reports of children under 6 exposed to poisons that are easily found in our homes. In most homes you can find batteries, laundry detergent, medications, household cleaners, pesticides, gasoline, and paint, along with other household products. Many of these products, especially those that look like candy, can poison children. In…
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You could be adding to the pollutants in your home with the cleaning products you use. Studies conducted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency show levels of several common organic pollutants are two to five times higher inside homes than outside. These indoor pollutants come from volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released from a variety of…
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Lead is a highly poisonous metal that can have serious health effects, especially for children under the age of 6. It only takes a small amount of lead to severely affect their mental and physical development. Lead-based paint and lead contaminated soil are the most common sources of exposure. House paint in the U.S. no…
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Mold is all around us. It grows on any organic substance, as long as there is moisture and oxygen. You can’t eliminate all of the mold and mold spores in your home, but you can reduce mold by controlling moisture. Mold can trigger allergies or asthma attacks in children and adults, so it is important…
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We spend close to 90% of our time indoors, much of which is spent in our homes where we are exposed to a variety of contaminants and allergens that can trigger asthma attacks. In the U.S. almost 25 million people are affected by asthma. This includes about 7 million children. The asthma triggers in your…
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Where did you walk today? Think about all the places your feet have been in the last 24 hours and then imagine the contaminants found in those places. Every time you walk into your home with your shoes on you are tracking in the contaminants you encountered throughout the day. About 30 to 40 percent…
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Compared to adults, babies and children have a higher breathing rate and less developed lungs. This means babies and children can be more susceptible to environmental damage to the lungs than adults, like in the case of radon. Radon is the leading cause of lung cancer among non-smokers. It’s a naturally occurring, radioactive gas that…
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Injuries in the home are the number one killer of children in the U.S. Most of these home injuries could have been prevented. An example is single-use laundry detergent, also known as Laundry pods. They are convenient to use, but can be very dangerous to children. What can you do to make your home safer?…
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This past week was Lead Poisoning Prevention Week. It was good to have a week focused on lead poisoning, but we really need to pay attention to the dangers of lead year around. Lead poisoning is often preventable. The most common sources of lead poisoning are lead paint chips and dust. In 1978 lead was…
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Rain rain go away, come again another day. Better yet, go west to where the wildfires are burning. We have enough rain here in the southeast! As of August 18, Atlanta had received 46 inches of rain. Compare that to 25 inches at the same time last year. With all that rain comes mold. The most…
Posted in: Healthy Housing -
Here comes company… It is a given fact that every one of us has visitors in our home throughout the year. Sure, some of us entertain more than others, but whether we like it or not we all have the occasional house guest. If it’s not family visiting during the holidays, then it’s the delivery…
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Are you an “energy vampire?” If you live in an apartment in the central part of the building you may be sucking energy from neighboring flats. In Hungary people who live in the central apartments are referred to as energy vampires. (In the U.S. this term has a slightly different meaning.) The European Union…
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I just returned from a themed cruise to the Caribbean that featured classic movies and movie stars from the past. It was just what I needed – rest and relaxation sprinkled with movies, good food, good times, and a therapeutic saltwater Jacuzzi and pool. On the cruise I got to wondering about the environmental impacts…
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Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States and number one cause among non-smokers. You may think this is just a problem in the north or for homes with basements. Not true! Radon kills about 21,000 people each year, more than drunk driving. One in fifteen homes in the U.S.…