The Home Environmental Sourcebook: 50 Environmental Hazards to Avoid When Buying, Selling, or Maintaining a Home - Softcover

This is a scary book in some ways. One doesn't enjoy thinking of one's home, after all, as a potential deathtrap and someplace that can make one sick. You, like me, may be surprised at the number of potential hazards in the materials and systems of your "Home Sweet Home." However, reading this book can help you locate and fix potential hazards before they kill you or make you ill, so in that sense, it is a hopeful and helpful book filled with information you may not want to know, but should, for your own good.

Prospective home buyers need all the help they can get, and a good look at environmental hazards that may threaten their investments is welcome. Davis and Schaffman's example of such a thing is a bit of a tough read, but then, most readers will use it as a handbook to consult about particular concerns. It explores an impressive array of those, ranging from drinking water to radon to the proximity of radio and communication towers. It explains each potential hazard, assesses the risks to health and wealth each can pose, and advises means for addressing the problems associated with each. The information relayed is likely to remain timely, for while technology stumbles forward at a merry pace, both eliminating and causing environmental problems as it does, existing homes--especially "vintage" ones--just get older, eventually manifesting or perhaps magnifying their original drawbacks and pitfalls. Armed with this heroic guide, domicile consumers may enter the contemporary real estate jungle with a bit more assurance that they will emerge safe and (financially) sound. Mike Tribby