M3.4 Air Pollution

Greetings Readers,

On this blog story we will focus on Air Pollution.

Using your zip code (or the zip code from your family home, find out the following and enter info in your BLOG.

• Who and what are the top polluters in your zip code?

Travis Air Force Base

• What percent of the homes in your zipcode have lead-based paint?

1%

• Are there Superfund sites in your zip?  

 Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) or better known as Superfund is an act that allows EPA to clean up contaminated sites. It also forces the parties responsible for the contamination to either perform cleanups or reimburse the government for EPA-led cleanup work.

• What can you tell us about the Superfund sites that are near where you live?

Travis Air Force Base is a Superfund site for Fairfield, CA. They have won a few environmental awards based on their work as a superfund site.

• What did you learn about the air quality in your zipcode?

The air quality is rated as good 92% of the days of the year

• How about the water quality? 

Low average for the water quality

• How did your zipcode fair on a social justice / environmental justice basis?

My zip code faired pretty well on social justice and environmental justice. We are doing things to improve the quality of life for people living in our county.

M3.3 Environmental Justice Blog

Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter! When you initially heard this chant and followed the movement you might only focus on police brutality and injustice but have you ever connected the Black Lives Matter movement with environmental injustice?

Think about this, in 1983, the U.S. General Accounting Office conducted a study that found three out of four of the off-site commercial hazard waste landfills in Region 4 (South) were located in predominantly African American communities  (Bullard & Johnson, 2000). 

This is just one example of how the United States intentionally doesn't consider African American and other Blacks as people that deserve to live healthy and happily. The Atlanta Black Star talks about 8 examples of environmental racism with examples as close as Richmond, CA. According to the Atlanta Black Star, "The people of Richmond, particularly African-Americans, are at significantly higher risk of dying from heart disease and strokes and more likely to go to hospitals for asthma than other county residents" (Atlanta Black Star, 2015).

Things that we can do to prevent environmental racism is to advocate for the vulnerable population, support politicians that are aware and ready to make a change and support programs that are already in the works to make a change from a grassroots standpoint.

M3.2 Vulnerable Populations

Hey everyone, today we will focus on vulnerable populations and what it means to make changes that actually work for those populations. 



Why are we still ONLY focused on sedentary lifestyles and diets when addressing obesity in the US?  Why are we not also looking at ways to decrease exposures to those chemicals that may be contributing to the epidemic?


While watching Dr. Rishi Manchanda's video What Makes Us get Sick on Youtube, I notice that he hit a lot of key points in regards to the health of vulnerable populations and how one's zip code could be a defining factor for health and wellness. Hearing that lead is found in 100% of children regardless of race or ethnicity and BPA is found in 96% of children is really frightening.  These toxins, such as BPA, lead, BPDE and many more are changing the level of intelligence in children and also the way that the body processes many functions. These various toxins are linked to both obesity and diabetes. Toxins cause inflammation and immune dysregulation. So instead of making consumers feel bad about illnesses that are supposed to be preventable from their end, we should encourage and highly pressure a lot of these manufacturing companies into making products that aren't filled with toxins because those products are contributing to the obesity epidemic.

M3.1 Biomonitoring

I received some news that I wasn't happy to receive. Today I received some laboratory results from a body burden test and found out that I have levels of the chemicals listed in the picture at levels that aren't "safe" to the body. These results leave me with a lot of questions and has me wondering why I have these various chemicals in my. body to begin with. It also leads me to believe that I am not protected by the government or any of the corporations that product these chemicals. It also leads me to wonder if I work in an environment that has these chemicals at a staggering rate. According to the CDC, phthalates are in a lot of products that we use on a daily basis, like soaps, shampoos, hair sprays, and nail polishes. Receiving results such as these is the large push I need in order to check the chemicals that I'm using and to switch to products that don't contain chemicals such as these.

M2.3 Household Products

Greetings fellow bloggers and readers,

In this blog post, I will be reviewing some of my favorite household products and their potential environmental harm factor.

First up we have:

Glade Room Spray in white cotton. I absolutely enjoy the first crispness of white cotton so when they bottled it and sold it, I was stoked. Unfortunately , this product has a rating of 1 which means SLIGHT RISK for ACUTE EXPOSURES. 1 of course is better than 2-4, but it is still alarming. Which brings me to my other product.

 Febreze 2-wick candles (Pine is the best scent 😍) fortunately doesn't have a negative rating pertaining to acute exposures so that makes me feel like going out and buying a few more candles. Overall, Febreze might not be the most high quality candle, as far as ingredients, but the limited negative effect on the environment will keep me as a customer.

I scored 5/5 on MOMS CLEAN AIR FORCE quiz because although I was raised to use bleach and other harsh chemicals to clean, I feel that I've gained a lot of knowledge about products over the years and the information has stuck a bit.

M2.2 Personal Care Products

Greetings all,

This blog post is about personal care products and their personal environmental impact on the people that use them. I am a woman that absolutely loves facial and body products. I love trying new things and I don't have any skin allergies so it opens the box even wider for things that I am able to try. 

Since I am constantly moving around, I need a deodorant that will protect me from bad body odor. I currently use Degree MotionSense, but on the Skin Deep cosmetics database, they have a 4 out of 10 score which means moderately hazardous. This alarms me because this is a product I use each and everyday. 

I will be making a conscious effort to find deodorant that doesn't have a hazardous label on it.

Degree motionsense deodorant

The second product that I use daily is Listerine Total Care mouthwash. This item also has a 4 out of 10 which means it moderately hazardous, and that is based on additive exposure and bioaccumulation. When I am using something as frequently as I use mouthwash, I don't want harmful chemicals to accumulate over time in my mouth or through my body. 

I will be on the hunt for a more environmentally conscious mouthwash very soon.

Listerine Total Care

I think that is very important that consumers know and have access to knowledge about the products they use on a daily basis. It is good to be at least mindful of what you are using so that you can make a change if that is what you decide to do. 

M1.5 Environmental Home Assessment

Hi everyone!

I was tasked to do an Environmental Assessment Tool on my home and I am a bit surprised to see how I'm not doing too well. My favorite things ever are smell goods (air fresheners, candles, incense etc) and I am a bit disappointed that I didn't know their impact on my environmental health. Also I don't have an emergency plan nor do I have an emergency kit so that is something that I need to get ASAP. 

I can't help that I currently live in a really old home built in the 60s, but I can do the things I need to do in order to be more environmentally friendly and safe.