Having a Baby?

A healthy baby needs a healthy home. There are dozens of reasons to have your home tested for unhealthy environmental hazards including mold, lead, VOCs, and other toxins. However, the one that matters most is your new baby’s health. 

Pregnant women are also more susceptible to environmental toxins. Test your home if you are planning to get pregnant or when you become pregnant. We take every precaution when we are pregnant to protect our babies’ health, but often forget about our physical environment. It’s just not what you put into your body that affects a child, but the air you breathe, the water you bathe in, and more. 

Here are the top toxins to watch for: 

Mold 

Here’s a scary fact: infants who live in homes that contain mold are three times more likely to develop asthma by age seven, according to a study published in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. The study determined that early life exposure to mold plays a critical role in childhood asthma development. 

Another study from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and Yale University showed a strong connection between children who were exposed to mold in their first year of life and the development of a persistent wheeze and cough by twelve months of age. 

How can you protect your newborn from developing breathing issues and asthma? Simple! Find out if you have mold in your home. 

RTK Environmental Group provides varying levels of comprehensive mold testing for your home. If we find that levels are too high, we can devise a remediation plan for you to correct the problem. You’ll all breathe a whole lot easier! 

Lead Paint and Dust 

Most people assume that lead poisoning only occurs in urban areas. Nothing could be further from the truth. If you live in a home built before 1978 – the year lead paint was banned – chances are there are layers of lead paint on your walls, windows and other painted components. And for a pregnant mom, newborn, or child, this can be devastating. 

Even small levels of lead exposure from paint chips or lead dust caused when you open and close the windows, repainting or renovation or any disturbance of the painted surface can irreversibly affect a child’s development, according to the Centers for Disease Control, which just lowered the acceptable amount of lead in the blood. Children can easily ingest household lead because it exists in paint chips, tap water, dust, and even in your soil. Lead poisoning is shown to cause autism-like symptoms, ADHD, brain damage, lower IQ, and a host of other physical and mental issues. 

The good news is that lead poisoning can be easily prevented by having your home tested. RTK Environmental Group provides comprehensive, non-destructive lead testing using X-ray fluorescence (XRF) lead-paint testing to identify the amount of lead present in painted or sealed surfaces in your home. We also provide lead dust, water, and soil sampling to determine if other sources of lead are present on your property. If we determine that you do have a lead problem, we will provide you with options for abatement or stabilization to address any issues.  

If you live in a home built pre-1978, you should have a lead test conducted.  

Contaminated Water 

From the moment you bring your baby home from the hospital, they will be in constant contact with your water supply. Every time you clean a dish, prepare a bottle, draw a warm bath, or even wash your hands before you touch your baby’s skin, you are exposing your baby to whatever is in your water supply — lead, bacteria, heavy metals from pipes, arsenic that naturally occurs in groundwater, radon, pesticides, and more. 

Whether you have well water or city water, you should conduct an independent test, as many people are skeptical of the water test results provided by city, state, and federal agencies. A comprehensive analysis of your drinking water is important to the health of your newborn. RTK’s water testing services offer an accurate, unbiased assessment of potential health hazards and environmental risks that will help keep your family safe. 

Indoor Air Quality 

When your baby takes her first breath, you breathe a sigh of relief. Thereafter, you want to make sure the air she breathes at home is fresh and clean. 

Most people never consider the indoor air quality at home. Yet, the air might be tainted by Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) in the chemicals we use to clean our homes, or everyday items, such as new nursery furniture, air fresheners and hair spray. Paints, solvents, cleansers, disinfectants, nicotine, glue, pesticides, radon, and building materials can be added to the list. Even low concentrations of these chemicals can irritate your eyes, nose and throat; cause headaches, loss of coordination and nausea; and can damage the liver, kidneys and the central nervous system – especially in children. 

Radon, an invisible and odorless radioactive gas produced when uranium naturally decays in soil and water, is now the leading cause of lung cancer deaths among non-smokers in the United States. The EPA estimates that more than eight million homes in the United States have a radon problem, with a high concentration of these homes in the northeast. 

RTK Environmental Group’s Indoor Air Quality testing services check for radon, mold, carbon monoxide, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), particles from furnaces and wood-burning fireplaces and stoves, and common allergens. We determine the root causes of your air quality problems and provide a detailed report with recommendations on how to resolve any issues.

Contaminated Soil 

Before you know it, your baby will be exploring their world and getting into everything – including the soil in your yard. Unfortunately, that soil might be harboring a host of contaminants, including PCBs, radon, asbestos, and lead. This can cause health issues, especially if your child ingests the dirt. 

Before you let your little one dig in the dirt for the first time, let RTK test your soil for possible hazardous contaminants.  

So, even before you bring your new bundle of joy through the front door, make sure your home is the safest place it can be. RTK can test your home for dangerous environmental hazards that could be potentially harmful to your new baby. 

Contact RTK today and live well!