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| Childhood home |
I grew up in a predominantly Latino community in a small farming town in the East Bay called Brentwood. I lived here from birth (1989) to 2008 when I moved out for college. After doing some research, I found out that my childhood home was built in 1971, a time in which lead paint was still used in homes. Because of affordability, much of the individuals moving into this neighborhood included low to middle-income Latino families. The commercial property surrounding the neighborhood housed 1 walking-distance grocery store with very limited organic options and multiple fast food outlets such as Taco Bell, KFC, and McDonalds as well as multiple liquor stores with access to highly-processed foods. A bus route passed right next to my home, which introduced higher exposure to vehicle exhaust and the neighborhood was located off of one of the busiest streets in town. In thinking about this, I can imagine the multiple daily exposures to chemicals that I came across when engaging in simple daily activities surrounding my home. This doesn't include the secondhand exposures that my dad brought into the house via his underground construction job where he was most likely exposed to high levels of lead as well as asbestos and other work-related chemicals.
Although most of the exposures I came across were in low-doses, the cumulative and long-term impact matter. Chemicals can be toxic at very low levels and unfortunately, the developing brain and body of the fetus and child can experience irreversible damage. This is even more true for low-income communities of color who have lower quality housing, food access, jobs, and education. Something as simple as living in an older home exposed us to more dust and possibly more lead.
However, these environmental conditions shouldn't be forgotten or overlooked. Many of these environmental conditions exacerbate negative health and thus, providers in the community should be aware of and prepared to address these when seeing patients. By considering overall health through the upstream lens and developing a system that will take all of these factors into consideration when providing medical treatment, we are taking a necessary step to understand the effects and possible solutions to environmental exposures and the impact they have on our health.
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| Only grocery store in the neighborhood |
Although most of the exposures I came across were in low-doses, the cumulative and long-term impact matter. Chemicals can be toxic at very low levels and unfortunately, the developing brain and body of the fetus and child can experience irreversible damage. This is even more true for low-income communities of color who have lower quality housing, food access, jobs, and education. Something as simple as living in an older home exposed us to more dust and possibly more lead.
However, these environmental conditions shouldn't be forgotten or overlooked. Many of these environmental conditions exacerbate negative health and thus, providers in the community should be aware of and prepared to address these when seeing patients. By considering overall health through the upstream lens and developing a system that will take all of these factors into consideration when providing medical treatment, we are taking a necessary step to understand the effects and possible solutions to environmental exposures and the impact they have on our health.
Thank you Nalleli for sharing so much about your life in a Latino community. I am predominately surrounded by many Latino families so I can relate to many of the things you see in that community. I agree that environmental conditions should not be forgotten or overlooked. Providers should address these things when seeing patients, and especially look into what environmental factors are affecting their health. Developing a system in place to determine that is one of the first step of addressing vulnerable populations.
ReplyDeleteHi Nalleli,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your experience and life living in the Latino community. I agree with and Snay about the need for "upstreamist" in healthcare. The health issues that most of us experience is directly linked to our environmental exposure and the question of where you live isn't asked because we don't the resources to address the answer.