• Decrease Your Energy Bill While Cooling Your Home
• Wet Weather Breeds Mold
• How Air Conditioners Work
• Improving Indoor Air Quality
• Make Your Home Safe with Better Ventilation
• Energy & Cost Efficient Changes to Your HVAC
• Purchasing An Energy Efficient HVAC System
• Air Conditioning – Definition and History
• Avoid Problems with HVAC
• HVAC – Heating, Ventilation, and AC
• Alen Corporation - History and Products
• Air Fresheners Don't Freshen
• FEMA Trailer Residents Fighting Mold
• Humid Areas at High Risk for Mold
• Relieve Stress By Removing Clutter
• Toxicity in Office Affects Indoor Air Quality
• Using Candles Safely

Decrease Indoor Air Pollution by Choosing Better Products

The processes involved in building and decorating a home can result in the off-gassing of dangerous chemicals into a home’s air. Although time helps dilute these pollutants, homeowners can take measures to prevent against future contamination and reduce the pollutants already present.

Manufacturers commonly use formaldehyde and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the production of products such as plywood, particleboard, carpeting, and many types of furniture. These chemicals become airborne and contaminate indoor air for years after installation. Over time exposure to these chemicals can cause hypersensitivity or allergies in occupants and exacerbate certain preexisting medical conditions.

Homeowners do have choices, however, when building, renovating, or decorating their homes. With the help of professionals, individuals can choose different types of flooring or window placement to decrease existing VOCs and prevent against future exposure to indoor air pollutants. Window placement can help dilute indoor air pollutants while replacing flooring or furniture can help prevent against VOCs that are already present.

For example, homeowners can choose to install bamboo flooring instead of carpet. Not only is bamboo a renewable, sustainable resource, this type of flooring comes sealed in beeswax instead of a formaldehyde-based product. Bamboo flooring also helps keep homes clean by decreasing the build up of indoor air pollutants such as allergens and dust. Carpet, on the other hand, continues to outgas chemicals for years after installation and its fibrous surface keeps airborne particles circulating through the room.

Homeowners can make even smaller choices to help decrease indoor air pollution. Everything from cabinetry to paint can emit VOCs and individuals can make decorating and building decisions that decrease their exposure to these airborne toxins. For example: 

• Initial Framing of a Home – Ask the builder to use formaldehyde-free materials or use formaldehyde-free adhesives. Although these alternatives tend to be more expensive, they eliminate prolonged exposure to airborne toxins.
• Sealers and Adhesives – Chemical-free materials need to be combined with safe sealers and adhesives to maximize the benefit of both. Although all-natural flooring and siding are great alternatives to their conventional cousins, they need to be applied with appropriate products that are also chemical-free.
• Paint – Safe, all-natural, zero-VOC paint is available, but homeowners need to check the levels of ammonia, benzene, formaldehyde, and toluene to ensure the best product. Plaster and American Clay come in a variety of colors and neither emits toxins.
• Cabinets and Shelving – Particleboard is widely as a base component in cabinets and shelves. Although it is cheap, particleboard outgases formaldehyde for years, creating a toxic environment in kitchens and bathrooms. Conventional cabinetry can be substituted with a safer alternative such as solid wood or PureBond plywood, a formaldehyde-free alternative created and manufactured by Columbia Forest Products.
• Flooring – As stated above, bamboo flooring is a safe, beautiful alternative to carpet and comes in a safe, all-natural beeswax finish. Other alternatives include pre-sealed wood flooring, ceramic tile, concrete, and even cork. Although most carpet outgases chemicals for years, there are a few select manufacturers of carpet products that have created safer alternatives.
• Upholstery – Furniture and upholstery outgas the most chemicals the first month after manufacturing and need to be stored in a ventilated area for at least four weeks before placing them in a home. Some companies are beginning to make all-natural furniture and homeowners should check local stores for alternatives. Individuals should also read labels for manufacturing information.
• Area Rugs – The Carpet and Rug Institute awards a Green Label Plus certification to alert consumers to safer rug alternatives. Homeowners should also be aware that even old rugs have history and consumers should always ask to see if hand-woven rugs have been treated with any bactericide or fumigant prior to purchase.
• HVAC – Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning – Recent studies suggest that fewer homes receive fresh air via windows than researchers thought. This means that HVAC units in the home require even more attention. Homeowners should clean and perform regular maintenance on their HVAC unit or install a good, working system to ensure proper ventilation and air circulation throughout the home. HVACs are important to remove indoor air pollutants and dilute existing toxins since they take outdoor air and pump it through the home.
• Forced Air Units – Unlike HVACS, forced air units use less outdoor air and force air through the existing ventilation system. Although these are typically less expensive than HVAC units, forced air systems don’t provide all the filtration and ventilation that comes with a good HVAC system.
• Exhaust fans – Fans are essential to provide proper ventilation to humid areas such as kitchens and bathrooms. Although fans are required to cut down on mold and mildew in the home, homeowners need to ensure that the fans exhaust to the exterior of the home rather than the attic or wall space. Without proper exhaust, heat and moisture will build up inside these areas and cause dangerous mold growth within the home.

Resource Article:  http://www.latimes.com/features/printedition/home/la-hm-
airside15nov15,1,1630703.story?coll=la-home-printedition&ctrack=1&cset=true