Mod 8 Lab

Abstract

Course name Instructor’s name Assignment due date Module 8 Lab Table I: Sustainable Household Inventory Living Rm. Dining Rm. Kitchen Bathroom Bedroom Laundry Rm. Dimensions 16 by 20 feet 14 by 16 feet 10 by 12 feet 5 by 8 feet 12 by 14 feet 8 by 10 feet Main Features Rug, coffee table, art, armchair, sofas, TV, bookshelf Dining table and chairs, sideboard, dishes and silverware Cabinets, kitchen stand, sinks, gas stove, refrigerator, pots, pans, silverware Toilet, bathtub, sink, shower, mirrors, soap dispenser, toilet paper, towels Bed, mattress, dresser, closet, desk and chair, sheets, pillows, bedspread, blankets Washing machine, dryer, bleach, ironing board, iron, detergents, hangers, towels Air Circulation Mechanical air circulation using ducts, doors and windows Room layout and proximity to the living room Ventilation system removes heat and emissions Vents, open window in laundry room Natural and mechanical systems, part of the house HVAC system An exhaust fan facilitates air circulation Windows Present 2 2 1 1 2 1 Items That Could Be Unhealthy (list them!) Rug, cleaning products, mold, dust mites, particulate matter Furniture with flame retardants, dust buildup, food and tableware Cooking stove, deep-flying appliances, cleaning products, mold, air pollution from cooking, VOCs Bathing soaps, detergents, air freshener, dust, cleaning products Accumulated dust, mold, chemicals from cleaning products, air fresheners, emissions from beddings Mold, excess moisture, laundry detergents, dust, softeners Lab Questions Least Healthy Rooms Determining the air quality in my home is the first step in developing a healthy sustainable action. My kitchen is one of the least healthy rooms as a result of air pollution from cooking and cleaning. Emissions from cooking affects air quality and exposure could have significant health effects on the long-term. Additionally, the cleaning products I use have chemicals whose exposure to the skin and body has the potential to cause health risk. Using my gas stove increases exposure to a variety of harmful compounds including nitrogen oxide and carbon monoxide that leads to poor air quality in the kitchen. Emissions from frying and deep frying lead to the buildup of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that further reduces the quality of air in my kitchen (Goldstein et al., 2020). The second least healthy room in my home is the bathroom since it consists of compounds that have the potential to cause short-term and long-term health risks. In particular, high moisture levels in my bathroom could lead to mold and mildew that release harmful spores in the air. A major cause of health concerns in my bathroom is the use of cleaning products such as soaps, air fresheners, detergents, bleach, and deodorants that lower the quality of air in my home. The two rooms are the major focus in the sustainable action plan since they have the greatest health risk levels in my home. Making Rooms Healthier Using cooking methods that amount to lower levels of air pollution is one of the changes I would make in my kitchen. Cooking is the major cause of health risks in the room and it is the focus of my sustainability action for my home. Opting for baking and microwaving would reduce the emissions from cooking activities such as frying and deep frying. The choice of pots and pans determine the exposure to harmful chemicals when preparing and consuming food. I could replace my nonstick pans with aluminum and iron options to minimize the exposure resulting from compounds that would normally stick on pans (Goldstein et al., 2020). Checking labels on cleaning labels would ensure that I use the products that have the least levels of exposure to harmful compounds. Since cooking and cleaning activities are bound to affect air quality in my kitchen, I would reduce exposure by limiting the time other people and myself spend in the room. Changes in my bathroom include ensuring proper ventilation by opening windows and using a ceiling fan. A well ventilated bathroom poses lower risks of exposure to mold and mildew that are a cause of health risks in the bathroom. A moisture control practice that lowers the humidity and moisture levels would reduce the level of indoor pollution in the bathroom. I would check the cleaning products I use in my bathroom to ensure I choose varieties that have the least risk levels of exposure to air pollution and harmful compounds. Overall Concerns One of the health concerns I intend to address right away is the choice of cleaning products I use in my home. I realized that I had not considered how cleaning had affected air quality in my home and the potential health effects from the product choices. While cleaning and dusting my home regularly removes pollutants and molds, the agents I use could cause considerable health risks. Household products contribute to a significant amount of indoor air pollution and pause health risks that I need to address for my home (Hamers, 2018). Additionally, I intend to check all the products in my bathroom and replace them with organic options that result to fewer health risks. While the ventilation in my home is generally adequate, I plan to rely more on natural ventilation by opening doors and windows to complement the HVAC system. I could reduce indoor air pollution significantly by ensuring there is adequate ventilation in all the rooms in my home. Cookware and food containers have the potential to pose health risks as a result of the chemicals I could ingest in my home. My plan is to replace nonstick cookware with cast iron pots and avoid using any form of plastic food container (Hamers, 2018). I intend to minimize the use of candles in any room in my home to avoid exposure to harmful emissions that could pose health risks to occupants. Indoor pollution contributes to a significant amount of the health risks resulting from exposure to harmful emissions and changes in my home could minimize the exposure to various compounds and chemicals. Airflow in the House An inventory of my home showed that there are sufficient windows and doors to facilitate natural ventilation and air circulation. All the rooms are fairly spacious and they have one or two windows to achieve air flow in the house. Additionally, I have a mechanical air ventilation system and vents that facilitates air circulation in my home to reduce exposure to indoor air pollution. Chemical compounds, mold, dust, and aerosols are a major health concern for houses that have inadequate air circulation. Since I spend a significant amount of the time each day in my home, minimizing exposure to indoor air pollution is a priority issue (Porter, 2022). While each of the rooms have windows, the inventory showed that I could achieve better air flow with more windows particularly in the living room and bedroom to achieve better airflow. The combination of natural ventilation and the HVAC system have played a major role in lowering the levels of pollution in my home and reducing health risks. Location of the House One of the health concerns associated with indoor air pollution is the proximity of the home to outdoor facilities that produce emissions. A major highway, an airport, or an industrial center could cause outdoor emissions that worsen the overall air quality of the house. My house is located in the proximity of a major highway and this is a major factor influencing the quality of air in my neighborhood. Automobile emissions are one of the major causes of air pollution and the resulting health risks globally (Shetty et al., 2023). Vehicles emissions include greenhouse gasses and a wide range of pollutants that increase the risk of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. Pollutants such as nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide have cause health complications from long-term exposure and affect the air quality in my neighborhood. The proximity of my home to the highway increases the exposure to particulate matter that increases the risk of health issues related to air quality. Despite taking steps to increase indoor air quality in my home, there are risks associated with its location since the highway in its proximity increases the amount of automobile emissions. Reflection on Air Quality and Health Air quality has improved in the past decade as a result of government regulations on emissions. However, there still exist natural and human made processes that affect air quality and pose significant health risks to the global population (Shetty et al., 2023). Determining the relationship between air quality and health would demonstrate the need for measures to control the exposure to harmful chemicals at the individual and public level. Poor air quality leads to worse health outcomes, increased exposure to diseases, and poor public health on the long-term. The inventory of the air quality in my home demonstrated that I felt sicker when there was poor air quality in my home and in the neighborhood. In particular, my health was most affected when cooking certain foods that required certain activities and spending long time in the kitchen. I felt bouts of sickness after spending a lot of time deep frying and noticed allergies after conducting a major cleaning exercise in my home (Hamblet, 2018). Reflecting on the inventory of air quality in my home, I have realized that such experiences accompanied air pollution from my kitchen and exposure to chemicals in cleaning compounds. Additionally, I have experienced allergies when there are high levels of humidity in my home, particularly in the bathroom. While I take steps to improve air circulation, I have not accomplished this objective all the time. I plan to take steps to improve air quality and take note of health indicators that could be associated with indoor air pollution in my home. Air Quality Apps Despite measures to lower emissions through stricter regulations, natural and human activities continue to cause pollution concerns. Using mobile apps to track air pollution could indicate the level of health risks at any time in cities where data is available. Areas exposed to wild fires and cities with heavy industrial factories are exposed to pollutants that have significant effects on human health. I have installed the AirVisual app developed by the Swiss company IQAir that provided data on air quality in over 10,000 cities (Kolodny, 2021). The app receives air quality data from sensors in cities and locations all over the United States and is ideal for my home. I find the mobile app useful since it provides insights on air quality that facilitates my planning for travel outside my home city. I can track the effects of major pollution events such as a wild fire on a target destination to reduce the exposure to pollutants and plan accordingly. The application provides real-time mapping of air pollution and I have used it to avoid parts that have high levels of pollutants that cause major health risks. Sustainable Action Plan Replace fresheners with essential oils: My sustainable action plan includes replacing air fresheners in my home with essential oils that will naturally freshen my home with minimal impacts to air quality. The inventory of my home showed that household products have a significant impact on air quality since they contain harmful chemicals (Hamblet, 2018). Aerosols can get into the body or on the skin and lead to health complications on the short-term or on the long-term. My immediate action plan involves making purchasing decisions for household products that have the lowest impact on toxin levels at home. Replacing furniture: To reduce exposure to chemicals, I will replace the furniture in my home to options that pose the least health risks to occupants. My choices of furniture did not include considerations on how chemicals could pose health concerns. I will replace furniture that has carcinogens with solid wood furniture for my home to improve air quality. While expensive on the short run, this step will reduce exposure to health complications associated with the flame retardants in my current furniture. Cooking methods: A major cause of poor air quality in my home is cooking and I intend to make changes to limit exposure to harmful compounds. I will spend less time in the kitchen and minimize frying and deep frying my food in favor of more baking and microwaving. Emissions from cooking have had a major impact on the air quality and contributed to pollution in my home. Natural ventilation: Changes in ventilation will improve airflow and reduce the health risks associated with poor air quality. One of the steps in the sustainability action plan it to improve indoor air quality by increasing efficiency of natural ventilation. I plan to increase airflow by opening doors more often to facilitate air circulation in my home. Dusting more often: Dust is one of the most common air pollutants at home and regular dusting in all rooms will improve air quality. I plan to dust my living room and bedroom more often since it is where I spend most of the time in my house and where air quality can significant cause health complications. References Goldstein, A. H., Nazaroff, W. W., Weschler, C. J., & Williams, J. (2020). How do indoor environments affect air pollution exposure?. Environmental science & technology, 55(1), 100-108. https://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.0c05727. Hamblet, K. (2018, May 31). 15 simple steps toward a toxin free home. Balanced Architecture. https://balancedarchitecture.com/toxin-free-home/. Hamers, L. (2018, February 8). Household products make surprisingly large contributions to air pollution. Science News. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/household-products-make-surprisingly-large-contributions-air-pollution. Kolodny, L. (2021, August 8). How bad is the air quality from wildfire smoke? These apps will show you. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/08/apps-to-track-air-pollution-aircare-airnow-airvisual-breezometer.html. Porter, M. (2022, June 9). Here are 37 ways to make your home more earth-friendly. House Beautiful. https://www.housebeautiful.com/lifestyle/a39775440/ways-to-make-your-home-more-sustainable/. Shetty, S. S., Deepthi, D., Harshitha, S., Sonkusare, S., Naik, P. B., & Madhyastha, H. (2023). Environmental pollutants and their effects on human health. Heliyon, 9(9). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e19496.