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Don't panic! Simple steps can ensure home is healthy place
August 28, 2006
Bill Reed
Freedom News Service
Feeling safe and comfortable in your home?
Well, don't! You're living in a toxic wasteland, a poisonous stew of chemicals and air pollution.
OK, OK, let's start over without the drama.
True, people are becoming increasingly concerned with the health and safety of their homes, from the air quality to the water. And some profiteers have turned this trend into scare messages, complete with close-ups of dust mites lurking in your pillow and killer mold poised to attack your family.
But there are less hyperbolic resources available on the subject. Two recent books on creating a healthy home are "Home Enlightenment" by Annie B. Bond and "Creating a Safe & Healthy Home" by Linda Mason Hunter.
Although these authors aren't looking to sell you particular products, they are on the hypersensitive side. Bond, for example, was hospitalized for gas poisoning in her workplace and is acutely aware of any chemical exposure. She can scare you silly with 400-plus pages detailing the problems with everything from toothpaste to tomatoes.
"Sometimes we're obsessing, and sometimes maybe we need more information," said Ron Schiller, indoor air quality coordinator for the Environmental Protection Agency regional office in Denver.
"Some people are just like the hypochondriac - they're always worrying about their health. Then again, some people are chemically sensitive and they react to many things."
Schiller is receiving more and more calls from panicked homeowners who read about mold on the Internet or suddenly begin suffering from a bizarre collection of symptoms they blame on toxins.
"There's a buck to be made, so if they can get people in a panic, there's a benefit. They have a financial stake in making people afraid," Schiller said. "If you believe everything you read on the Internet, man, you'd be scared to death."
The key is to become more aware without getting panicked, and to take simple and practical steps to clean up your home without shelling out hundreds of dollars on needless products.
We've pared down the warnings of author Annie B. Bond in "Home Enlightenment" to 17 common offenders, and placed an asterisk by the items that the EPA's Ron Schiller also singled out. And, because we don't want to leave you in the lurch, we've included some of the experts' solutions to the problems.
1 Cleaning products
n "One of the biggest sources of indoor air pollution is cleaning products," Bond writes. Opened bottles can leach toxic chemicals into the air, and most of us know the dizziness and nausea that come with using cleaning chemicals without ventilation (a risk exacerbated by houses sealed up for winter). The effect is especially dangerous when the chemicals are stored in the kitchen near food, she says.
Solution: Investigate "green" cleaning products such as the Seventh Generation brand, or switch to cleaning products such as baking soda and vinegar. If you can eat it, it's not toxic.
2 Water
n Municipal water is OK, but it's treated with chlorine, which isn't the friendliest substance around, she says.
Solution: Use a water filter for your drinking water. Reverse-osmosis filters are great (especially for well water), but a replaceable carbon filter will do the trick.
3 Markers/pens
n Felt-tipped markers and pens are icky. The solvent-based gel pens release chemical fumes that can make kids goofy.
Solution: Trash the old ones and buy water-based markers and pens.
4 Desk
n Particleboard, pressed wood, fiber board - it's that stuff at Target that looks nice but it's made from tiny bits of wood smashed and glued together. It's used in desks, bookshelves, countertops and cabinets. The trouble is, there's a bunch of formaldehyde in the glue that seeps into your house over time, especially when the fake wood heats up in the sun or next to a vent. Formaldehyde is a carcinogen, and, worse, it's a horrible reminder of high school biology.
Solution: Buy wood or metal instead of particleboard. (Check out estate sales and used stores for good prices on real wood.)
5 Plastic furnishings, accessories
n You know that "new" smell when you open up a plastic gadget? Yeah, well, that's the smell of chemicals flying up your nose.
Solution: The "offgas" from plastics isn't a huge deal, but you should ventilate the room really well when you lug in a new computer. At least until that "new" smell is gone.
6 Wallpaper
n Wallpaper, popular in bedrooms but used all over the house, is often vinyl or plastic. Even natural fibers are usually attached with glue containing fungicides or mildewcides.
Solution: Tear it down.
7 Linens and mattress
n "Most mattresses are chemical wastebaskets full of potentially healthdamaging material," Bond writes. Pesticides, herbicides, fire retardants and stain-resistant solvents are all sleeping with you at night. The only thing worse than that are polyester sheets with a no-wrinkle coating — all aboard for Chemical City.
Solution: You can start with a cotton barrier cloth encasement to lock in that nasty stuff in the mattress. Next time around, look for an organic wool mattress, she says. Buy some organic wool or cotton sheets while you're at it. The "organic" is nice, because then you know they didn't spray your cotton fields or your sheep with pesticides.
8 Pillows
n Dust mites thrive in humidity. Also dangerous are foam and other synthetic pillows that waft gas into your face all night.
Solution: Wrap your pillow with a cotton (not polyester) barrier cloth, or buy wool or cotton pillows. Buckwheat hull pillows are getting popular (look for organic, U.S. grown), and down pillows and comforters are heaven for those who aren't allergic.
9 Dishwasher detergent
n Back to the chlorine. It kills nasty germs in your drinking water, it kills the black stuff in your bathtub and it kills weeds. See a pattern here? Chlorine is often found in dishwashing detergent. Besides covering your eating surfaces with chlorine, it also wafts into the air whenever you open the dishwasher after a load.
Solution: Look for dishwashing detergents without chlorine.
10 Gas stove
n Good cooks swear by them, but gas stoves emit nitrogen oxide and pollute the indoor environment. Some studies indicate that gas stoves worsen respiratory symptoms and asthma.
Solution: Upgrade to a gas stove with an automatic pilot or, better yet, go electric.
11 Garbage disposal
n Presenting the garbage disposal, an all-natural source of ickiness. Mold and bacteria fester in rotting food that's trapped inside.
Solution: Run the garbage disposal every day and deodorize weekly with two cups of distilled vinegar.
12 Carpet
n In her cheery way, Bond writes that carpets can be a "sinkhole of allergens and toxins." Carpets are made using dozens of chemicals. Carpeting can hold mold and mildew, fine particulates and pet dander. The glues often have antimicrobial and fungicidal pesticides. There are no federal regulations on the chemicals that can be used in manufacturing carpet, and the fumes are most intense the first few months after installation.
Solution: Great news on this one, as the Carpet and Rug Institute recently unveiled a testing program to obtain its "green label." If a carpet sample has acceptable levels of various VOCs (volatile organic compounds), it gets the CRI green label.
"They realize people are starting to get concerned," Schiller said. "I think they have the right idea with this program."
For existing carpets, get a vacuum with a HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) filter, and investigate sealing agents from AFM Safecoat & Safechoice. If you can afford it, get wood floors and natural wool carpeting that is tacked down instead of glued.
13 Pesticide applications
n Spraying pesticides in your house, garage, basement or yard could come back to haunt you.
"Just remember you're going to be breathing that later on," Schiller said. "Even in the lawn, people walk through and track it in."
Solution: The best fix is to stop spraying chemicals to kill mice, ants or moths. Look for nontoxic bug-killing solutions if pests are a problem. Also, if you've sprayed pesticides for several years, consider testing your house for chlordane. Now outlawed, chlordane was once commonly used and, according to Bond, you don't want this stuff near you. Get professional removal if residual chlordane is in your home.
14 Radon gas
n Not all problems are manmade. Radon is a natural, odorless, radioactive gas from the soil, and is the second-leading cause of lung cancer.
Solution: Test your homes' radon levels. Call the nonprofit National Safety Council (1-800-557-2366) to buy a test kit.
15 Wall paint
n As we all know, lead paint is bad. But even new paint can contain high levels of VOCs that spew chemicals into the air.
Solution: If your house was built before 1978, check the walls for leadbased paint before you rot your family's brains. (Lead-testing kits are available at most hardware stores.) If you've gotten the lead out, then look for new paints with low VOCs. Glidden even makes a zero-VOC paint.
16 Furniture
n We've already covered the formaldehyde emitted from lots of new furniture. You also should be wary of the offgas from synthetic upholstery, fire-retardant chemicals, and stain protectors.
Solution: This idea could actually save you money - look for used or antique furniture that shed that "new" smell long ago instead of buying new. And just say no to stain-repellent sprays (and the costly extended warranties that come with them) on new furniture. Do some research to find furniture companies that use natural fiber upholstery and avoid chemical sprays.
17 Furniture polish
n "We all know the smell that we identify as commercial furniture cleaners or polishes - lemon with a touch of engine oil," writes Bond. If you didn't guess, she doesn't like the petroleum products in furniture polish, particularly if you're going to spread it on a table where you eat.
Solution: Make your own furniture polish. Bond offers this recipe (among others): three tablespoons of lemon juice with a few drops of food-grade linseed oil or jojoba oil. Soak your cloth in the mixture and go to work.
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