Resources
Test kits for your home, environmental health doctors, books I recommend, healthy building material guides, and architects who design healthy houses.
Home Test Kits
SimpleLab, owner of the popular MyTapScore for water testing, has expanded its lab services and they.are.AMAZING. On the spendier side, but you can finally do advanced at-home testing for PFAS on couch upholstery or other textiles, mold in walls, indoor allergens, heavy metals and microplastics in just about anything, and other tests for your home surfaces, indoor air, personal care products, outdoor soil, or tap water.
Long Term Monitoring
Here are the continuous indoor air quality monitors and radon detectors I strongly recommend having, since your indoor air is the biggest exposure of your life.
Healthcare Providers
Environmental Medicine Doctors
The NAEM is a group of providers that are trained in environmental medicine, meaning they take the role of your environment into your total picture of health. This database is a great resource for finding a practitioner to work with— be sure to search for providers in two ways— first, by your full state name and second, by its initials— for example, both “Oregon” and “OR.” This method can bring up more results.
Dr. Crista is a mold expert who has a database of providers that have completed her super intensive mold training course. This is a great way to find a provider that can help you if you’re wondering if mold is contributing to your health issues.
Books I Recommend
Healthy Design and Architecture
The books I've read, enjoyed, and found useful in learning about both material health and the more "woo-woo" side of holistic design.
Non-fiction books that read like fiction, each about how our invisible environment affects our health in very visible ways.
Anxiety, Risk, and How to Think About Toxic Exposures
There is so much information about non-toxic lifestyle available, and a lot of it is conflicting. Books about making decisions about what to believe, how much to fear, and how to release any unnecessary anxiety.
DIY care and cleaning for a healthier home.
Healthier Building Materials
Building materials are very complicated, and beyond my expertise! Here are the best resources for healthier countertops, insulation, pipes, flooring, and other structural materials.
a/A Architecture
Free, detailed, and easy-to-use guide from an architecture firm focused on using healthy, conscious, and durable materials. Stricter standards set for human health, and wider range of material options, than other guides.
Informed
Free, easy-to-use, lists ranked from healthiest to least healthy for each category of building materials. Can upgrade to professional-level Pharos database for more specific products with chemical hazard information.
Architect and founder Ana Koleva Miller, RA, NCARB, Fitwel Amb, has 20 years of experience in healthy architecture, and offers a variety of in-person and virtual consults helping you create | acquire | design a toxin-free healthy home.
Parsons Healthy Materials Lab
Another great starting point for general guidance across several categories of building materials, with a clear focus on human health impact.
