Promoting Environmentally
Healthy Housing
by Oram Miller, BBEI and Paul
Halvorson, Ph.D
Have
you ever wondered if your home or workplace may be making you sick
or adversely affecting your health? Do you have trouble sleeping
at night or do you suffer from chronic fatigue syndrome? With this
issue, we introduce a monthly column to discuss the impact of environmental
factors on your health and focus on what you can do to make your
home or workplace healthier. This article is a brief introduction
to the topic. Each month we will discuss a particular aspect of
this issue in more detail.
Human Canaries – Universal
Reactors
One of coal mining’s earliest environmental
warning systems was the use of a caged canary. These birds have a
highly sensitive metabolism; if the bird died, the miners needed
to immediately leave the mine. Today, certain people are extremely
sensitive to environmental factors. Their bodies function as an early
warning system pointing to larger health issues that may impact all
people.
Environmental illnesses
are a group of chronic modern conditions that are sometimes referred
to as ‘20th century syndrome,’ ‘universal
allergy,’ ‘chronic neuro-immune disorders’ or ‘functional
somatic disorders.’ These environmental illnesses represent
a unique and not well understood set of diseases in which environmental
triggers play a significant role in producing the symptoms and the
illness itself. People suffering from environmental illnesses may
have allergies, may be sensitive to certain chemicals or molds as
in multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS), and/or may be sensitive to
the effects of electro-magnetic fields (EMFs).
Some people suffer from ‘sick building syndrome’, because
they cannot live, work or function in certain enclosed environments
without becoming ill. One of the debilitating effects of this illness
is that certain people become sensitive to almost everything in their
environment: pollen, mold, animal dander, perfumes, cleaning products,
cosmetics, and a large number of common foods. These individuals
are often referred to as ‘universal reactors’ because
their bodies react to so many environmental triggers. As with the
canary, the illnesses suffered by a few represent a potential health
alert for the rest of us. As some suggest, we may all suffer from
these debilitating side effects in various degrees as our environment
becomes more and more toxic.
Linking the Quality of Health
to Environmental Factors
This concept of environmental
illness is only now becoming understood and accepted. The general
public and health care professionals are beginning to learn about
the ways in which our building practices, the use of standard cleaning
products and personal hygiene practices may have unhealthy and debilitating
side effects. Knowledge exists on what these unhealthy effects
can be, and about what alternatives we can choose to mitigate
the effects on our personal health.
Your home is filled
with electro-magnetic fields (EMFs) that have a subtle but powerful
influence on your energy levels and the depth of your sleep at
night. Not only magnetic fields, but electric fields, coming from
plastic power cords as well as the plastic covered wires in your
walls, can keep you awake at night and prevent the natural production
of melatonin by the pineal gland in the wee hours of each morning.
This negatively impacts ‘stage four’ sleep.
The body must have time for a deeper ‘stage four’ sleep
to maintain its health and assist in recovery from chronic illness.
Sick Building Syndrome and
Its Disabling Health Effects
Those living with disabilities,
one of which is environmental illness, expend much energy in dealing
with the activities of daily living. Why burden yourself further
with the insidious and debilitating effects from exposure to toxic
products, materials and EMFs in your home and work space? Below
are some questions for you to consider.
How does a building make you sick? What are the chemical and electro-magnetic
influences that are unseen but harmful? How can these be identified
and remediated? How does mold develop and what can you do to eliminate
and prevent it? What types of cleaning products are harmful to your
health?
How does an environmental sensitivity manifest itself in the body?
What makes a person chemically or electrically sensitive? How do
people cope with it? How does it affect family members and caregivers?
What strategies work to reduce the sensitivity and help these people
lead a healthier life? What are the specific ways this syndrome affects
people with disabilities?
Promoting Education and Action
A
group comprised of architects, realtors, engineers, environmental
consultants, health care practitioners, educators, and others has
created the Environmentally Safe Housing Initiative (ESHI). It is
a member group of the non-profit organization, Third Way Network.
ESHI members - many of whom have environmental sensitivities - are
all dedicated to solving the shortfall in affordable housing, particularly
for the environmentally sensitive. We have two goals: (1) create
environmentally safe housing; and, (2) educate and engage others
about what they can do to create and maintain environmentally safe
housing. To find out more about this initiative, visit www.thirdwaynetwork.org,
select “Local Groups” and click on “Environmental
Safe Housing Initiative.”
In future articles, we will address these questions drawing from
our personal and professional experiences. In addition, we can introduce
practical steps and products you can use to promote an environmentally
safe home. We will emphasize prevention, minimization, and detoxification.
We will also describe ways to make offices and workplaces more environmentally
safe. Finally, we will explore and discuss public policy and health
issues and share practical visions.
We also invite you to e-mail us to share topics or stories that
are important to you. If you have an interest in becoming more involved
in helping us accomplish our goals, we invite you to attend our next
meeting on Tuesday, January 17 at Third Way Network at 2912 Fremont
Ave. N., Minneapolis. Our group gathers for a potluck from 6-7:00
pm and holds the meeting from 7-8:30 pm.
Oram Miller is a certified
Building Biology Environmental Inspector who is a member of the Environmentally
Safe Housing Initiative. He can be reached at 952-412-0781 or info@createhealthyhomes.com.
Oram and other members of the Environmentally Safe Housing Initiative
group work with Paul Halvorson, Ph.D., Director of the Third Way
Network. Readers can contact Paul at 612-332-1311 x 22 or by e-mail:
Halvorson Paul@ThirdWayNetwork.org.
