FOLIO LINE
BY NICOLE TSONG
The Seattle Times
truck spewing exhaust prompts
many of us to hold our breath
when it passes by on the
street. But when it comes to
pollution, your own home might be
just as insidious.
People spend 90 percent of their
time indoors, and your home can be
two to five times as polluted as the air
outside, according to the
Environmental Protection Agency. Poor
indoor air quality can cause health
problems like asthma or sinus issues.
And a lot of those problems are trig-
gered by what is in your house, includ-
ing cleaning products, furniture and
carpets.
“Taking care to recognize your
house is properly ventilated and mini-
mizing toxins you’re bringing into your
home and in your shopping bag is
important,” said Thor Peterson, the
Residential Green Building Specialist
with Seattle Department of Planning
and Development.
It’s not pretty once you break it
down. Mold grows as a result of too
much moisture, dust mites set up camp
in pillows and mattresses, and outdoor
grime and pollution are tracked in on
your shoes. Your furniture might be
off-gassing formaldehyde and, if not
stored properly, paint cans are probably
leaking volatile organic compounds,
which can cause nose and lung irrita-
tion, rashes and headaches.
It gets worse in the winter, when
people shut windows and seal their
homes up to be energy efficient and
trap everything inside.
So what can you do to minimize
your exposure?
For smokers, the No. 1 thing is to
stop smoking at home, said Aileen
Gagney, asthma and environmental
health program manager for the
American Lung Association of
Washington.
For everyone, there are a few easy
steps to get started: Use fewer chemi-
cals, get rid of dust mites and open
windows even in winter.
“With all these chemicals, we’re
really torturing our lungs,” Gagney
said. “It’s invisible, the air is invisible,
but boy, are they (lungs) important.”
FOLIO LINE
Household pollution can be
hazardous to your family’s health
EASY IMPROVEMENTS
To make your home even healthier,
see these home-improvement tips:
Check your ventilation. Moisture
results in mold, particularly in the
bathroom. Test your bathroom’s venti-
lation by placing a sheet of paper
against a working fan. If the paper
sticks, the fan is strong enough. If not,
the motor might be old or the ducts
may need work. Also, make sure air
vents to the outside, not into the attic.
Keep dry. Make sure the crawl
space is maintained and dry, that water
spouts are directed away from the
house’s foundation and that the ground
is graded to drain away from the foun-
dation. Keep gutters clean and clear to
keep water out of the house.
Buy a good vacuum. Air-quality
experts dislike carpeting in general, but
if you have carpeting, use a vacuum
with a HEPA (high efficiency particu-
late air) filter and a dirt sensor, a light
that lets you know when all the parti-
cles from a patch of carpet are vacu-
umed. “A lot of times,
people do not vacuum
as long as they need to,”
Peterson said.
The fewer cleaning
products, the better.
Castile (vegetable oil)
soap, vinegar and bak-
ing soda will take care
of most cleaning duties
at home, Peterson said.
Baking
If you still want to buy
soda is a
products, look for those
nontoxic
with the Good
Housekeeping Seal of cleaning
alternative.
Approval (www.
goodhousekeepingseal. com),
which usually are less toxic and work
better.
Green Seal (www.greenseal.org)
is another organization that evaluates
household products for their environ-
mental impact and toxicity.
One easy way to reduce toxins is to
pick cleaning products without hazard
warnings on them, Peterson said.
“If it says ‘caution’ or ‘danger,’ it’s
HOUSEHOLD POLLUTION
MCCLATCHY-TRIBUNE
M c C l a t c h y - Tr i b u n e
on to dirt and toxins, and adhesives
used to put the carpet together off-gas
VOCs. Experts recommend installing
as much hard flooring as you can, but
if you still want carpet, natural materi-
telling you there are toxins in the prod- als like wool are better than synthetics.
If you buy synthetic carpeting, ask the
uct,” he said.
installer to unroll the carpet in the fac-
But Gagney recommends helping
tory 48 hours before installing to let
the environment by using up what you
the adhesives dry. To find carpets with
already have instead of tossing it, then
lower levels of off-gassing, see
switching to safer
greenseal.org.
products.
Pick safer floor finishes. Floor
Lock toxic com-
finishes often contain high levels of
pounds in a cabinet.
VOCs, so you should choose water-
Paints will leach
based finishes, which are less toxic
volatile organic com-
than oil-based versions. You also might
pounds (VOCs) once
consider finishes that don’t contain car-
they’re opened, as Paints can
will other smelly leach volatile cinogens or toxins, zinc or ammonia
and have a VOC concentration of a
household products. organic
maximum 7 percent by weight, accord-
Either use them up compounds
when you buy them, once opened. ing to Green Seal.
Seal exposed composite woods.
or place them in a locked cabinet in a
Particle board and medium-density
ventilated area like the garage.
fiberboard are made with formalde-
Prevent lead paint exposure.
hyde-based resins.
Homes built before 1978 generally
Formaldehyde is considered a prob-
have lead-based paints, which produce
able human carcinogen, and it can
lead dust when they chip, Peterson
said. Wipe down surfaces in your home cause respiratory problems and off-
gasses for years, Peterson said.
weekly with a lightly dampened cloth
Countertops, cabinets and desks usual-
to minimize dust.
Watch out for the fireplace. Wood- ly include some kind of composite
wood inside.
burning fireplaces are probably one of
If composite wood is made for exte-
the biggest pollutants in your home in
the winter, Gagney said. Fires spew car- rior use, it is most likely sealed and
cinogens and carbon monoxide into the safe, Peterson said.
If it is installed inside a cabinet, and
air, and wood smoke damages lungs.
part of the wood is exposed, it proba-
Eliminate dust mites. Dust mites
bly is off-gassing into your home.
like warm, moist places like pillows,
Look underneath desks, in book-
but also live in furniture. Vacuum
shelves, inside cabinets and under
upholstered furniture, buy covers for
countertops. If there is exposed com-
your mattress and pillows and wash
posite wood, you
your sheets weekly in hot water. The
should seal it, experts
water must be 130 degrees to kill dust
say. Peterson recom-
mites, Gagney said, so if your water
heater is set lower, increase the temper- mends Safecoat, a
special sealant that
ature about an hour before doing your
laundry, or add a kettle of boiling water locks in gas.
The Ikea factor.
to the load.
Change filters. The EPA recom- Sweden-based Ikea is
Ikea products
mends changing filters on central heat- required to adhere to
stricter European are safer for
ing and cooling systems and air clean-
ers according to manufacturer recom- standards for toxins, indoor air
and has phased out quality.
mendations. If instructions are not
available, change every month or two. fire retardants and uses low formalde-
hyde-based resins. It is one of the best
MAJOR CHANGES sources for low-cost flooring and furni-
Replace carpeting. ture that is safer for indoor air quality,
Carpeting picks up and holds Peterson and Gagney said.
R O N B O R R E S E N / B R A D E N TO N H E R A L D / M C T