Week 1: Lights and Diseases on the News

Who knew that city light pollution could lead to more diseases. I never thought about this as an environmental thread. However, in a study done by researchers at the University of Florida, artificial lights have been known to spread vector-borne diseases like the West Nile virus. This is specifically interesting for urban cities in California, Texas, and Utah. Living in an urban city in California, this information is somewhat alarming because there isn't really much that can be done about light pollutions. The study focuses on sparrows specifically carrying the diseases to mosquitoes who then can transmit the diseases to humans. Researchers note that if this can happen with one species of bird, then it can happen with others. This makes it an issue towards other vector-borne illnesses such as the zika or malaria virus. At this point, there is not much that can be done but for researchers to gather as much information as they can on the topic of light pollution. So maybe as starters, we can begin turning off our lights at night.


Reference:
Poon, L. (2018). More Lights, More Diseases? City Lab. Retrieved from https://www.citylab.com/environment/2018/01/how-light-pollution-can-fuel-the-spread-of-diseases/550709/ .

M1.5: My Environmental Health Home Assessment

My family moved us into our home approximately 18 years ago. The house is located in Walnut Creek and was built in approximately 1970. Prior to our initial move in, my Dad preferred to do many cosmetic changes which included in a complete renovation of the home. We had a contractor at the time that helped us be up-to-date with any environmental hazards we may have had in our home. As I was going through the Environmental Health Home Assessment, I realized that while our home was built in 1978, there were a lot of updates that were done to make the house less hazardous in 2001 when the renovations were being done. The only "natural" heating source we have in our home is the wood fireplace which is never used. Our AC unit is connected to an outdoor tankless source. We do not have a carbon monoxide detector since we don't use any gas sources within our home environment. With all the recent natural disasters, it makes me nervous that we do not have an earthquake or any other natural disaster plan in place. I will be having a discussion with my family to put one in place. We do seem to have some small spiders and in the wintertime, mice, that make an appearance in or around our home. We have never had the house tended, but we do sometimes use mice traps. If there is ever a case we cannot handle, we call the exterminator. Through this assessment, I realize we use far too many candles, air fresheners, and plug-ins. Something is always improving the smell of our house, and that is not a safe environment to be around. This assessment helped me realize all the different factors that could help improve my families health and prevent illness in our home. I will use this knowledge to make improvements to my families living.