The definition of residential pollution is the presence of hazardous materials or noises within a home that may negatively affect people. Such residential pollutants may affect your health, just as in the case of workplace pollution, especially if exposure continues over longer periods of time even at low levels. The most common exposure is to air pollution, but also to food contamination and other types of pollution.
The exposure to hazardous materials can occur in several ways through:
Pollution is indeed everywhere and is not limited to places outside of our home. Even inside our houses, we can be exposed to pollution - like, for instance, pollution caused by living in a house built with Chinese drywall. As with workplace pollution, the first step is to become aware that some places are more exposed or more at risks than others. If we identify that we are at a higher risk, then there are many things we can do to change this. In this section, we provide information related to residential pollution and simple things you can do to test and change the exposure and risks, with the final goal of pollution prevention. Anyone who meets one of the criteria listed below could be facing a home pollution issue and may have an associated health risk, even if currently no health problems exist. If any of the conditions below apply (or have applied in the past) to you or your loved ones, read on to learn more about the type of pollution issues, pollutants, and health problems you may be exposed to simply due to the location of your home or objects stored inside your house, from chemical products to electronics etc.
Below is a checklist with locations at higher risk of residential pollution:
Homes within 1 mile from a:
Homes located within 1 block from a: