Real Estate

Water, air, and soil – The invisible threats

Understanding indoor and outdoor air, water, and soil characteristics has never been more critical. Environmental dangers, often invisible, can affect your health and the value of your real estate and, except for radon and smoke detectors, are not part of typical home inspections. How often have you wondered, or worried, about the quality of the air you breathe inside your home, the contaminants in your glass of water, or the history of your surrounding property? 

Check your property’s history

What about the soil on your land? What was there before you bought the property? Contaminants may have seeped into the ground from prior agricultural practices, industrial run-off, buried oil tanks, or illegal dumping, any of which can lead to harmful accumulations of heavy metals, pesticides or other toxic substances. Property owners or buyers should engage a licensed environmental consultant to assess potential environmental hazards if they suspect hidden dangers or have little information about prior uses of the property. For example, the owner of a 19th century Connecticut property that had a history as a horse stable, a light manufacturing company, and an auto repair shop wanted to show potential purchasers that there were no existing environmental issues after a number of interested buyers had backed away. A licensed specialist conducted a subsurface analysis of the soil and groundwater with ground penetrating radar, a subsurface utility survey, exterior soil borings, and the collection and laboratory analysis of soil and groundwater samples. The documented conclusion was that no remediation was necessary. After several years on the market the building sold soon after the report was completed.

After passing on a property that had iron mining tunnels beneath it, a sophisticated buyer looked at a long-abandoned farm and wanted to make sure that there were no lurking environmental problems before purchasing and building. The client employed an engineering firm to conduct a full environmental Phase I assessment, which included topography and drainage, geology, hydrology analysis, and site visits and interviews. Local, state, and federal databases; aerial photographs; and other records were searched to determine if the property had a history of environmental issues. The conclusion included the good news that the site was designated as Farmland of Statewide Importance. 

Test your water regularly

Every year homeowners with municipal water, aka “town water,” receive an annual water quality report comparing contaminants to standards established by the government; however, these standards have not been updated to reflect new types of contaminants and revised safe levels. The Environmental Working Group, a respected environmental non-profit that monitors public water systems, publishes updated contaminants and revised recommended safe health levels and also independently analyzes municipal water systems. 

By EWG standards and as listed on their website, for example, the water supplied by the Millerton Water District in New York has 733 times the amount of radon currently recommended and 22 times the level of PFOS even though the district complies fully with required standards. EWG’s analysis found Salisbury, Connecticut’s water had 10 contaminants over the revised recommended levels including 30 times the level of radium. 

Well water should also be tested periodically. State health departments recommend that private wells be tested annually for basic indicators of coliform bacteria, nitrogen, and iron manganese. A recent report published by the US Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Connecticut Department of Public Health, determined that seven percent of the private well samples in the state tested at levels higher than maximum contaminant levels for arsenic or uranium.

Licensed water testers can be found on the Internet who will come to your home and test for chemicals, e-coli, and heavy metals. Mail-in test kits with instructions are available to test all the water that you may be exposed to on your property, including municipal water, well water, rain water, and spring water. 

Specialized tests can determine the presence of microbial contaminants; radiation; minerals including heavy metals such as lead, copper, and iron; PFOS; Chromium 6’ lithium; fluoride (yes it does occur naturally); tungsten; cesium; arsenic; radon; and chemicals from agricultural run-off. One highly recommended company is Tap Score (mytapscore.com) which just created a water test specifically for wildfire smoke contaminants. 

Monitor your home’s air quality every day

While you can employ outside professionals to monitor your air quality on a single day, you can also purchase equipment that will allow you to continuously monitor particulate matter from dust, smoke, pollen, or mold; gases like radon, formaldehyde, and benzene; and even cleaning products – the air you breathe every day. The EPA estimates that 72% of our exposure to chemicals happens at home from formaldehyde, cleaning products, adhesives, pesticides, sheet rock, air fresheners, etc. Easy-to-read units are available for $100 to $300 dollars that will monitor air quality continuously.

Much of the northeastern United States has uranium in the soil and is in a radon hot zone. It is estimated that 28% of homes in Berkshire and Litchfield County, 37% in Columbia County, and 39% in Dutchess County have over the previously recommended maximum level of 4.0pCi/L that is considered dangerous to health, and this recommended maximum has now been reduced to 2.0pCi/L. 

Radon can affect one house and not the one next door, and radon poisoning has no warning symptoms.

Since radon levels are commonly measured during a purchase inspection it’s wise for sellers to measure radon levels and install a remediation system, if necessary, before listing. The average $1,500 cost of a system could save your sale. If, like many eager buyers, you have foregone an inspection, test now for radon – it’s odorless and dangerous and accounts for an estimated 20,000 lung cancer deaths every year in the United States according to the American Cancer Society. Only smoking causes more lung cancer deaths.

Lead detective

Perhaps you never had a home inspector recommend lead testing or just never paid attention to flaking paint in your antique house. Lead is not only present in paint applied before it was banned in1978, but it is also found in vintage glass and dinner plates. It is a neurotoxin that is especially dangerous to children. An EPA report estimated that 20 million housing units in the United States have lead paint issues. 

If you suspect the presence of lead, there are lead test sticks available online or in the hardware store to apply to likely surfaces like window sills and moldings that will give you an idea if lead might be present. A more thorough test must be done by a licensed lead inspector using an x-ray fluorescence analyzer, which identifies lead in all layers of paint. As part of the comprehensive lead inspection, soil, water, and dust samples are collected and analyzed for lead concentrations by a certified laboratory. This non-destructive testing provides immediate, reliable, on-site results and allows for the testing of intact painted surfaces. 

Double check smoke, carbon monoxide detectors, and your fire extinguisher

Although these are “safety” equipment, you may not have looked at yours in a while. Do you have a fire extinguisher easily available on every level of your house, plus your kitchen and garage? Is there an expiration date on the canister? Most extinguishers are good for 10 years. Have you looked at the instructions recently so you know how to use it in case of emergency? 

Premium combined smoke and CO detectors come with 10-year batteries with voice alerts to tell you what the danger is and where. If your home has a propane tank you might want a combined plug-in CO, methane, and propane alarm. All are readily available at your local hardware store. According to the National Fire Protection Association, three out of five home fire deaths occur in homes with no working smoke alarms.

Environmental health recommendations are constantly changing, as are the approaches to monitoring issues and then correcting them from water filtration systems to air purifiers. Create a safer, healthier living environment by assessing and then addressing potential hazards. It’s more important than mowing the grass! •