What You Need to Know to Make Your Home Healthier (Off-Gassing and Other Sources of Poor Indoor Air Quality)
I’m not talking about the few hours immediately following Thanksgiving dinner, okay. That’s a different type of off-gassing. So, what in the world is this type I’m referring to? Well, it’s the release of VOC’s (volatile organic compounds) and other chemicals by newly manufactured products and materials. Think new-car-smell, or new-anything-smell, really. Even when that new smell fades though, many materials continue to release these chemicals into the air. Sometimes for years. Certain materials never emit an odor, but are still releasing toxins. Just some of the health side effects can include headaches, dizziness, fatigue, skin problems, respiratory illness, memory issues, reproductive problems, hormone disruption and cancer. Yikes, right?
Why do I care to share this information with you? Because I want you to live your best quality life, and most people don’t realize that some of the most popular materials and products in our homes and places of work, are some of the most offensive and potentially dangerous. Your health is greatly affected by the quality of the air you’re exposed to, but because poor indoor air quality is more of an invisible danger, it’s not really given much thought. Even beyond building materials, things like cleaning supplies, candles, personal care products, tobacco use, radon, mold, leaky gas-fueled appliances etc., all contribute to poor indoor air quality and can trigger health issues. It’s kind of like an “out of sight, out of mind” mentality for a lot of people. But I want you to start asking questions about the items you buy and surround yourself with! Why expose yourself to harmful products when you don’t have to?
Pretty much everything you use to construct a building has the potential for off-gassing. Same goes for common things you fill your home with, like furniture and décor. If you aren’t doing your research beforehand, specifically looking for healthier options, the results could really take a toll on you, even if it isn’t blatantly obvious. Unfortunately, many well-known and popular options in flooring, paint, fabrics, furniture, mattresses, sealers, adhesives, etc. are guilty of major off-gassing. Plastic and vinyl products, composite furniture (think MDF), fabrics treated with stain-guards and flame-retardants, among other things, should be avoided. You have to look for low or zero VOC, non-toxic, healthy options, and the best place to start is by choosing the most natural products.
What You Want to Choose for a Healthier Home:
Flooring: Look for solid wood flooring, pure linoleum, natural-fiber carpets and rugs made of wool, jute and seagrass for example. Keep an eye on the dyes used, though, and the backing or adhesive options they come with. Natural tiles, made of terracotta and stone, can be great flooring options too.
Paint: Again, look for the zero-VOC products here. There are many options out there now, even from well-known brands and companies.
Fabrics/Upholstery/Soft Furniture: You want to choose materials like organic cotton or wool, hemp, or pure linen. When it comes to foam padding, look for natural latex instead of polyurethane.
Hard Furniture/Cabinets: Go for solid wood or raw materials when it comes to hard furniture and cabinets. It might be more expensive upfront, but will likely last much longer than composite options ever will. Another idea is to buy second-hand furniture (that has already done its off-gassing) and make it work for you. Reduce, reuse, recycle :)
Mattresses: Skip the offensive memory foam and opt for mattresses made from pure, organic materials instead.
Sealers/Adhesives: If it needs to be sealed or adhered or caulked, look for safe, non-toxic options. For wood floors for example, you can use natural oils like hemp, tung or linseed to protect them. Walnut oil seems to be a popular natural oil for sealing real stone countertops. Take care to do some research beforehand with whatever you’re sealing, though. The sealant needs to work with the properties of the item being sealed. Same goes for adhesives. The options are there, you just need to figure out which one is gonna do the job right!
Ventilate: Just opening the windows every once in a while can do wonders for replacing polluted, stale air with fresh, clean air. Something else to consider would be investing in heat or energy recovery ventilators (HRV’s and ERV’s). These systems enhance indoor air quality by constantly bringing fresh air in and letting stale air out. Check it out.
Miscellaneous:
- Replace commercially scented candles with stove-top potpourri, or sachets filled with dried fruits, herbs and spices. There are ‘recipes’ online for about any vibe or scent you’re wanting to create.
- Look at the natural cleaning and disinfecting properties of vinegar and lemons, and other natural ingredients and products you probably already have on hand, to replace commercially toxic ‘cleaning’ concoctions.
- Don’t use tobacco products in the house.
- Have your house tested for radon and mold.
- Opt for an electric or induction cooktop instead of gas. Gas stoves leak methane even when they’re off, and they also emit pollutants into the air which are harmful to us and our pets.
Of course, this is not even close to an exhaustive list, and self-research is warranted by anyone in a position to choose materials and products for any building. Knowledge is power!
At the end of the day, if you’re building or renovating, you have a choice in the materials and products that make up that space. You have an opportunity to better your health and quality of life! You also have the opportunity to think about not only how your choices will affect you, but also how others who may inhabit your homes or buildings in the future may be affected. The best builders take pride in putting forth the effort to construct healthy homes and buildings by using quality, pure materials. Money isn’t the bottom line for them. Seek out those types of builders! If you’re a landlord, think about how you could use these alternative materials and products listed above to create better places for others to call home. Remember that not everyone has control over their surroundings or the materials used in the places they spend most of their time. Think about the elderly, who might spend their later years in care facilities, or low-income families that rent out less-than-quality houses or apartments because that’s what they can afford. Think about the children that crawl and play on the floors of wherever their caregivers have chosen to live, or that spend full days inside school buildings. Our environments affect us. If you have the means to construct, or purchase and lease, you have the means to make a difference.
Let’s change our mindset from building as-big-as-possible for as-cheap-as-possible, to building no larger than is really needed so that the money that might have gone to building larger, instead goes to building healthy and safe spaces for everyone to enjoy.
Side note: If you have any fuel-burning combustion appliances, (furnace, water heater, gas cook-top, wood-burning stove, etc.) please make sure to have carbon-monoxide detectors in your home, carefully following instructions about where to install them. Don’t forget to test and change the batteries in your smoke detectors regularly. The upcoming time-change is a great time to do that!
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