Consumer Awareness: Home Safety Protection

April 24, 2024

Consumer awareness is about empowering the consumer to make informed decisions regarding products and services in the marketplace. This includes understanding features, important product information, your rights, and how to make a complaint if you are unhappy with a product or service. It also involves being aware of potential safety hazards.

Why consumer awareness is important:

  • Increased Confidence: Knowledge empowers you to navigate the marketplace with confidence, knowing you’re making informed decisions.
  • Protection from Unethical Practices: Knowing your rights helps avoid scams, misleading advertising, and unfair contract terms.
  • Promotes a Fair Market: Consumer awareness fosters a marketplace where businesses are held accountable for fair practices and quality products.
  • Safety: Consumer awareness campaigns often target important safety issues to protect consumers from harm.

Many resources from the Federal government are available to help you become a more informed consumer about home renovation and paint safety. The following are two best-selling publications from the Government Publishing Office Bookstore that offer consumers valuable home safety protection information.

Lead-Safe Certified Guide to Renovate Right. This booklet provides basic facts about lead and your family’s health and how to choose a contractor if you are a property owner. It includes information on preparing for the renovation or repair job and what to look for during and after the job.

Protect Your Family from Lead in Your Home describes the hazards of lead-based paint in homes built before 1978, shows how lead gets into the body, the health effects of lead paint, what you can do to protect your family, and where to go for information. It lists State health and environmental agencies, EPA regional offices, and Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) regional offices. Spanish version available here.

By becoming a more aware consumer, you can protect yourself and your family and make informed choices.

The GPO Online Bookstore – Easy Access to Federal Publications

HOW DO I OBTAIN THESE RESOURCES?

Sign up to receive promotional bulletin emails from the US Government Online Bookstore.

Shop Online Anytime: You can buy a vast majority of eBooks or print publications —with FREE Standard Shipping worldwide— from the U.S. Government Online Bookstore at https://bookstore.gpo.gov.

Order by Phone or Email: Call our Customer Contact Center Monday through Friday, 8 am to 4:30 pm Eastern (except US Federal holidays). From US and Canada, call toll-free 1.866.512.1800. DC or International customers call +1.202.512.1800.  Email orders to ContactCenter@gpo.gov

Visit a Federal depository library: Search for U.S. Government publications in a nearby Federal depository library. You can find the records for most titles in GPO’s Catalog of U.S. Government Publications.

Find more than a million official Federal Government publications from all three branches at www.govinfo.gov.

About the author: Blogger Trudy Hawkins is the Senior Marketing & Promotions Specialist in GPO’s Publication & Information Sales Office supporting the U.S. Government Online Bookstore (https://bookstore.gpo.gov).

2 Comments | Consumer Product Safety Commission, Consumers, Environmental Protection Agency, safety | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Trudy Hawkins

Protect Your Family from Lead in Your Home

December 8, 2023

Protecting your family from lead in your home is crucial for their health and well-being. If your house was built fifty-plus years ago, lead-based paint could be hidden under refreshed coats of recent vintage or more up-to-date colors. Lead is a toxic metal that can cause severe harm to children, particularly those under the age of six. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) warns that lead exposure can cause various issues, such as cognitive impairment and learning difficulties. It can also damage the nervous system and kidneys.

The EPA provides comprehensive guidance on protecting your family from lead hazards in your home. Here’s how to identify potential lead sources:

  • Lead-based paint: Homes built before 1978 are more likely to have lead-based paint.
  • Lead pipes: If your home was built before 1986, it may have lead pipes, which can contaminate your drinking water.
  • Lead-contaminated soil: Lead from deteriorating paint or other sources can contaminate soil around your home.
  • Lead-containing products: Avoid using products that contain lead, such as certain cosmetics, toys, and traditional medicines.

Protect Your Family from Lead in Your Home from the EPA provides important information on protecting your family from lead. This easy-to-read booklet highlights the dangers of lead from paint, dust, and soil in and around your home, which can be dangerous if not managed properly. For example, children who seem healthy may have dangerous levels of lead in their bodies. The EPA suggests testing children for lead levels even though they may appear healthy. Also, disturbing surfaces with lead-based paint or removing lead-based paint improperly can increase the danger to your family. (The Spanish version is available here).

Preventing lead exposure is essential for protecting your family’s health and well-being. Taking proactive measures and seeking professional guidance when needed can create a safe and healthy home environment for your loved ones.

The GPO Online Bookstore – Easy Access to Federal Publications

HOW DO I OBTAIN THIS RESOURCE?

Sign up to receive promotional bulletin emails from the US Government Online Bookstore.

Shop Online Anytime: You can buy a vast majority of eBooks or print publications —with FREE Standard Shipping worldwide— from the U.S. Government Online Bookstore at https://bookstore.gpo.gov.

Order by Phone or Email: Call our Customer Contact Center Monday through Friday, 8 am to 4:30 pm Eastern (except US Federal holidays). From US and Canada, call toll-free 1.866.512.1800. DC or International customers call +1.202.512.1800.  Email orders to ContactCenter@gpo.gov

Visit a Federal depository library: Search for U.S. Government publications in a nearby Federal depository library. You can find the records for most titles in GPO’s Catalog of U.S. Government Publications.

Find more than a million official Federal Government publications from all three branches at www.govinfo.gov.

About the author: Blogger contributor Ed Kessler is a Promotions Specialist in GPO’s Publications and Information Sales Office.

Images and additional content provided by Government Book Talk Editor Trudy Hawkins. Trudy is the Senior Marketing & Promotions Specialist in GPO’s Publication & Information Sales Office supporting the U.S. Government Online Bookstore (https://bookstore.gpo.gov).

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Posted by Trudy Hawkins

Environmental resources from the Federal Government

June 4, 2015

environment 1It’s time, once again, for World Environment Day (WED), a globally-celebrated day for positive environmental action. Established by the UN General Assembly in 1972, WED is celebrated annually on June 5th and inspires worldwide environmental awareness, attention, and action.

2015’s theme is “resource efficiency and sustainable consumption and production in the context of the planet’s regenerative capacity, as captured in the slogan ‘Seven Billion Dreams. One Planet. Consume with Care’.”

There are countless resources from the Federal Government on the topics of environmental protection, conservation, sustainability, green initiatives, and footprint reduction, just to name a few.

The White House has pioneered many initiatives focused on energy, climate change, and our environment. You can read more about all these initiatives, get the latest news, and even sign up for energy and environment updates via email at https://www.whitehouse.gov/energy.

And let’s not forget the obvious authority on tackling these issues, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). From epa.gov, you can get important facts and information about a host of environmental issues, including: air, chemicals and toxics, climate change, emergencies, greener living, health and safety, land and cleanup, pesticides, waste, and water. Of course, you can also access laws and regulations that are in the works to support these issues. And with summer nearly here, you can also get sun safety tips and learn about insect repellents. You can even locate resources in your own community to address local environmental challenges by inputting an address, zip code, or location name.

USA.gov offers a browseable list of .gov resources on the topics of “environment, energy, and agriculture.” From there, you can also sign up to receive updates when there is new information available on these topics.

earth-from-spaceGPO’s Catalog of U.S. Government Publications offers access to a wide variety of related publications and resources from across the Federal Government. Here is just a small sampling:

GPO’s Federal Digital System also provides free access to countless pieces of legislation and Federal regulations on the topic. Here are just a few:

earth 2The U.S. Government Bookstore offers a wide variety of U.S. Government publications related to this important and timely topic.

Take a look at our 19 collections of publications related to the topic of Environment and Nature.

There are U.S. Government publications on topics ranging from Environmental Protection and Conservation collection to Biofuels and Renewable Energy to Earth Day and more!

Celebrate World Environment Day by taking in all of the environmental information resources provided by the U.S. Government, and share this information with others.

HOW DO I OBTAIN THESE RESOURCES?

Click on the Links: For the free resources, click on the links above in the blog post.

Shop Online Anytime: You can buy eBooks or print publications —with FREE Standard Shipping worldwide— from the U.S. Government Online Bookstore at http://bookstore.gpo.gov.

Shop our Retail Store: Buy a copy of any print editions from this collection at GPO’s retail bookstore at 710 North Capitol Street NW, Washington, DC 20401, open Monday–Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., except Federal holidays, Call (202) 512-0132 for information or to arrange in-store pick-up.

Order by Phone: Call our Customer Contact Center Monday through Friday, 8 am to 5:30 pm Eastern (except US Federal holidays). From US and Canada, call toll-free 1.866.512.1800. DC or International customers call +1.202.512.1800.

Visit a Federal depository library: Search for U.S. Government publications in a nearby Federal depository library. You can find the records for most titles in GPO’s Catalog of U.S. Government Publications.

About the author: Kelly Seifert is the Lead Planning Specialist in GPO’s Library Services & Content Management division.

Leave a Comment » | Environment, Environmental Protection Agency | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Trudy Hawkins