Living near construction: Should I be worried?

Question:
A large apartment complex is going to be built in my neighborhood, starting next month and lasting through the year. There is already a lot more congestion and many more construction vehicles near my house. Will this construction activity be dangerous to my health? What can I do to minimize the impact of this construction?

Response:
As you are already witnessing, construction has many impacts on surrounding neighborhoods. Construction tends to be loud, dusty, and bothersome. If the construction includes demolition, some of the generated dust may contain pollutants, such as asbestos or metals, that are potentially harmful. Also, construction is likely to increase congestion in your neighborhood -- both from usual and rerouted traffic and from construction vehicles. This increased congestion generally means more pollution for your neighborhood.

Since scientific studies have shown that construction dust and traffic pollution (in particular from trucks and other diesel-powered vehicles) have negative impacts on health, I think that it would be wise to reduce your exposure to construction-related pollution. This is especially true if you or anyone in your household are old (say over 65) or very young, are in poor health, have an existing heart condition, are diabetic, or are asthmatic.

There are some very easy and inexpensive ways to reduce your construction-related exposures. As a first step, you should keep your home's windows and doors closed and avoid being outside, especially when construction is occurring. If your home is right next to the construction site, these simple steps will be particularly important and can be accompanied by other measures, such as placing any room air conditioners as far away from the construction as possible, since air conditioners can draw air from the construction directly into your home. You could also improve seals around your windows and doors and/or get an air cleaner.

Also, you may want to check with local citizen groups that work with (or sometimes against) developers to minimize health risks for surrounding neighborhoods. I have often advised local citizen groups to understand the impacts of construction or development in a neighborhood and have found them to be effective and well informed advocates for their neighborhood. At their best, citizen groups work with developers to make sure that in the end, the construction will result in an improved neighborhood with more green space, bike paths, and common areas. You could check with the citizen groups about these plans and to make sure that the construction site is following exposure reduction measures required by local and state governments. In Massachusetts and other states, for example, trucks are not allowed to idle for more than 5 or 10 minutes and can only load and unload in pre-assigned areas -- both measures designed to minimize construction impacts on the surrounding neighborhood.

Home Renovation and Asthma Attacks

Question:
I am renovating my home. Dust is everywhere and my daughter has had several asthma attacks as a result. We have since moved to my parent's house. How will I know when it is safe to move back home?

Response:
Since the dust generated during your renovation is primarily made up of large particles that settle quickly onto surfaces, it is likely that dust levels inside your home will quickly settle back to normal as soon as your home renovation is over. However, there will probably be a lot of dust on your floors, walls, and other inside surfaces. This deposited dust can be resuspended (or lifted back) into the air when you move around your home or with the air drafts.

Before you move back home, I would clean all surfaces in your home, including floors, walls, furniture, and vents, to make sure that they are free of dust. I would clean non-carpeted surfaces using a wet wash cloth (or mop) with soap and carpeted surfaces using a vacuum cleaner with HEPA bags. The HEPA bags will make sure that any dust picked up by your vacuum cleaner stays in your vacuum cleaner. [I think that HEPA bags can be used in most vacuum cleaners, but am not sure.]

As an extra precaution, you could measure indoor particle levels and check whether they are back down to normal levels. Without (and sometimes even with) connections, this is not so easy to do, as portable, easy-to-use and reliable particle measurement devices are difficult to find and are quite expensive. Particle measurement devices are used primarily by people in research or the government; as a result, they are not made for the mass market. A possible option would be to ask an environmental consulting firm to make the measurements for you. I think that this option is probably not worth it (unless your problem is big), as it would be very expensive and your request may be too small for them to take the job. A second option may be to borrow equipment -- with some guidance and instructions -- and make the measurements yourself. You will need some connections to make this second option a true possibility. I may (with the emphasis on may) be able to help in this regard. If you are interested, drop me a note and I will see what I can do.