Chemical Sensitivity - What To Do

February 4, 2009

_http://www.greenhome.com/info/articles/the_air_we_breathe/10/_

(http://www.greenhome.com/info/articles/the_air_we_breathe/10/)

by Scott Morris

The National Research Council estimates that about 15% of the US population

experiences environmental illness and hypersensitivity to toxic materials and

chemicals. The National Academy of Sciences expects this to rise to 60% by

2010. When you consider that a quarter of a million new chemical substances

are created each year, and that worldwide use of pesticides has exploded from

2.8 million tons in 1972 to 11.4 million tons in 1980 to 46 million tons in

1990, the Academy's estimates don't seem all that farfetched. Research has

shown that most people's daily exposures to volatile organic compounds (VOCs)

and

pesticides are far greater indoors than outdoors, even in communities where

chemical processing plants are located. Industrial emissions tend to

dissipate into the large sky, while the chemicals we bring into our homes and

work

places become much more concentrated in the closed-in spaces where we spend

most of our time.

Some sources of exposure are obvious, like the various household chemicals

we have stored in our bathrooms and garages, or the pesticides on the foods we

eat. We breathe in other toxic chemicals, such as _formaldehyde_

(http://www.greenhome.com/info/toxipedia/F) , from the outgassing at room

temperature of

all sorts of household materials, including building boards, wood and

carpeting adhesives, furniture, synthetic carpets, insulation, and bedding,

among

others.

Still others we bring into our homes from outside in the form of

contaminated dust particles. Indoors, these chemicals often persist much longer

than

they would outside, where they would be exposed to the elements that help break

them down.

One of the most immediate courses of action each of us can take to limit our

exposure to toxins is to focus on the indoor spaces where we spend the

majority of our time. The following suggestions focus on what we can do at home

or

at the work place.

Keep Dust to a Minimum

Dust is a primary agent for many toxins in the home. Children and infants

are especially vulnerable as they go through critical early development.

Moreover, they typically ingest five times more dust than adults - 100

milligrams a

day - by rolling around on carpets and sticking their fingers and toys in

their mouths.

Urban infants typically ingest 110 nanograms of very toxic benzo(a)pyrene -

equivalent to smoking three cigarettes daily. House dust also exposes

children to _cadmium_ (http://www.greenhome.com/info/toxipedia/C) , _lead_

(http://www.greenhome.com/info/toxipedia/L) , and other heavy metals, as well

as

polychlorinated biphenyls and other persistent organic contaminants. What can

you

do?

* Take your shoes off, and leave them at the door. Using a

commercial-grade doormat can reduce the amount of lead in a typical carpet by a

factor

of six. Some pesticides can persist for decades in carpets, where sunlight and

bacteria cannot reach to break them down. Researchers from the University of

Southern California found DDT in the carpets of 90 of the 362 Midwestern

homes they studied, 20 years after DDT was banned.

* Bare floors are best, rather than wall-to-wall carpets, which trap a

lot of dust. Or consider using large area _rugs made from natural fibers_

(http://www.greenhome.com/products/home_furnishing/rugs_and_carpets/) that

don't outgas toxic chemicals or require the use of toxic adhesives.

* If you do use wall-to-wall carpet, tack-strip instead of gluing the

carpet.It will be easier to remove and recycle, and there will be no glue to

outgas.

* Most vacuums only remove larger dust particles, while kicking up the

finer particles. Open doors and windows when you vacuum, and send children

and pets out of the room.

* Avoid indoor pesticides. Even when used as directed, these chemicals

can circulate in dust particles well beyond safe levels for weeks after

application.

Improve Ventilation

* House plants in every room absorb many of the toxic gases that a

modern home traps inside. Spider plants, philodendron, and golden pothos have

been shown by NASA research to absorb as much as 80% of formaldehyde in a room

in 24 hours.

* Improve the ventilation of your kitchen, bathrooms with showers, and

your laundry room. Most people's highest daily exposures to chloroform (a

carcinogen in animals) is from water vapor from hot showers, boiling water, and

washing machines.

* Ionizing air filters can remove particles as small as 0.1 microns,

but the cheaper models tend to emit ozone and electromagnetic fields.

* Ban smoking indoors. Our biggest exposure to the carcinogen benzene,

a VOC, comes from indoor cigarette smoke, despite the fact that automobile

exhaust constitutes 82% of _benzene_

(http://www.greenhome.com/info/toxipedia/B) emissions.

Clean and Green

Most household cleaning can be done with a squirt bottle of 50/50 vinegar

and water, or with some liquid soap and baking soda, writes Debra Lynn Dadd in

her book, Home Safe Home. Here are some other ideas:

* Use baking soda and hot water for basin, tub, and tile cleaners.

* For drain cleaners, use baking soda and vinegar or trisodium

phosphate (TSP) with salt; or use hydrogen peroxide and a plunger for serious

clogs.

* For hand dish washing, use a plain liquid soap, such as Dr.

Bronner's, or rub your sponge with bar soap, and slice a fresh lemon in the

dishwater. For automatic dishwashers, use equal parts baking soda and borax.

* Use about a cup of baking soda, white vinegar, or borax for laundry

detergent.

* Use sodium hexametaphosphate instead of chlorine bleach.

Sign In

Chemical Sensitivity - What To Do

Recommended Posts

Guest guest

Link to comment

Share on other sites

Join the conversation

Support the Ashram

Join Groups

Top Downloads