his Q&A blog is open for all to participate. Feel free to ask your own questions and answer questions posted by others. I know all of you have a wealth of information and experience on healthy living and you are welcome to share it here. 
Air (Indoor)
aluminum oxide finish
Hi Debra,
I have been considering prefinished hardwood nail down floors and have found that the finish contains aluminum oxide. My concern is the dust that will be created while we are installing the floors, is the aluminum oxide dust dangerous? Is it safe for pets?
Thanks
Here is the MSDS for aluminum oxide: https://louisville.edu/research/cleanroom/msds-library/Aluminum%20Oxide.pdf
Wood floor offgassing
Dear Debra,
We had engineered hardwood floors installed in 2 bedrooms over 8 weeks ago. 7 days later I was diagnosed with bilateral pneumonia (both lungs) and am still recovering. The fumes are still there, and I can't enter those rooms without getting an asthma attack and chest pain. We're not sure if it's the adhesive or the finish, but I'm very sensitive. We've tried open windows, a dehumidifier, window fans, floor fans, and, recently, a ceramic space heater. We moved our 2 small children into our bedroom and the furniture into the halls; it is getting a little cramped. Should we wait a few more months for the VOCs to off-gass? Should we remove the wood and install ceramic tiles? We are even considering moving...any ideas? Thanks!
I think you will be fine to simply remove the engineered flooring and replace it with ceramic tile. No need to move.
This is why I do NOT recommend engineered floors.
LIVING CLOSE TO GAS STATION
Hi, we are in the process of looking for a rental apartment and the one we like is in the apartment complex located about 400 feet from the gas station, I was wondering if that could be a concern with any kind of VOC fumes from the gas station, it is located way below and apartment complex is up on the hill, and we would be on the second floor. Our terrace would be overlooking the other side of the building with trees and park. I want a safe place and not sure how far any VOCs that present in any gas station can go... Thank you!
Here's an article that lists toxic pollutants from gas stations: Gas Station Pollution Prevention. They recommend you live at least one block away from a gas station. How far is one block? 250 to 350 feet. A football field is 300 feet long.
Here is another article that says fumes from placing gasoline into cars from the pumps can extend out 300 feet from the gas station: The Gas Station – An Inconvenient Neighbor. So 400 feet seems outside the zone.
However, fumes travel upwards, so being up a hill and on the second floor doesn't help. Being on the opposite side of the building might help some.
But air is moving all the time and VOCs can easily be carried on a breeze.
This apartment is too close to the gas station for MY comfort personally.
Formaldehye off-gassing
Last year I wrote in for information on my printer. There was a smell in my house and I couldn't get rid of it, I thought it was coming from my printer. I finally had the air tested in my house and it showed relatively high levels of formaldehyde.
After much investigation it was determined that a piece of furniture in my home had been emitting formaldehyde fumes for about 7 months. It was a 3 piece desk / wall unit. I had owned it for more than 6 years and never had a problem. I thought it was all wood. While rearranging furniture in my home a piece of the top of the desk was ripped off. It was discovered that there was pressboard that had been exposed when the desk was damaged and it was emitting formaldehyde (the furniture was manufactured in China so I don't know what kind of regulations there are).
The fumes basically permeated almost everything in the house. I have MCS and it was effecting me more than other family members. We aired out the house, ran our Austin Air Cleaner on high 24/7, set out more charcoal fitlers, etc. We live in Florida and when the A/C is running continuously the odor is almost gone, but if we open the windows the odor returns shortly afterwards. I think it is because the humidity rises in the house and starts the outgassing process. I have washed every piece of fabric in house - clothes, linens, rugs, towels, etc. That did seem to help. Any other ideas how to completely remove the formaldehyde from my house?
Thanks for any help you can offer. I have been battling this for over a year now. We slept outside in a tent for several months when the problem was at its worse.
Formaldehyde is volatile and so it will dissipate.
I had experience with formaldehyde when I was in grade school that made a big impression on me. Someone had left a full bottle of formaldehyde open sitting on a counter. When I returned later it had completely evaporated. So free formaldehyde will evaporated from anything. When it is combined in a resin, as in particleboard or permanent-press finish, then it becomes "time-release" and therein lies the problem. That's why it continues to outgas and outgas and outgas.
You don't say that you removed the desk from your house. I'm assuming you did, but I'm just bringing up the obvious in case you didn't. You also say humidity speeds up the outgassing process. Well, that is good. If opening the windows speeds up outgassing, do more of that. Maybe use fans to help remove the indoor air.
Heat speeds outgassing, so you could close up the house and turn up the heat to release the formaldehyde from anything that has absorbed it, then open the windows and ventilate it out.
car repair fumes
About 2 weeks ago I got my car back from the body shop following repairs from a tree falling on it. The repairs involved some repainting and gluing the back windshield onto the car. I have been placing it in the hot Florida sun every day and opening all windows every time I drive, and wiping the seats off. The smell dissipated significantly after a few days, but it is still there. Any thoughts on how long it will take for the fumes to off-gas?
I don't know how long, but you are doing all the right things.
I don't have any personal experience with this to draw upon. Readers?
Can I cover my vinyl floor to make it safe?
I have a vinyl tile floor in my basement. If I cover it with ceramic tile (glued, not wet-bed), will that eliminate any harmful emissions, or do I have to have it completely removed? Are there any cheaper alternatives to ceramic?
If you cover a vinyl floor with ceramic tile and grout, it will block any outgassing from the vinyl. However, I'm concerned about glue adhering to the vinyl. I have always removed flooring down to the subfloor before installing new flooring
You can get ceramic tile flooring most of the time at Home Depot and Lowe's for $1.50 a square foot, often even less. Not a lot of choices of color, but for a basement...
Also check out architectural salvage yards and second hand building materials stores run by Habitat for Humanity. You can get ceramic tile very cheap at these places.
Safer synthetic carpet?
We need to replace the carpet on our stairs. The rest of the house has wood floors, but I prefer padding on the stairs for safety. Wool isn't in the budget. Are there safer synthetics? Where does one buy them and what questions do I need to ask? Thanks so much!
PVC Exposure
Hi Debra - I am a nursing mom who was exposed to pvc vinyl and was wondering what the impacts are to my breast milk. My exposure was to a new vinyl product that I had unwrapped but placed in a storage container. When I opened up the container a few days later, I was overcome by the smell. I quickly removed the product outside and have aired out the room. However, I did have some respitory issues a few hours afterwards. I am wondering if the VOCs I inhaled will find their way to my breast milk, and if so, for how long.
First, just in general, if you ever inhale something toxic, immediately exhale because much of it will come right back out in the exhale, before your body can absorb it.
I found a great reference for PVC called Polyvinyl Chloride "PVC" - The Hidden Home Hazard - A Guide for Health Care Professionals. On page 8 it says "distribution of inhaled Polyvinyl Chloride after inhalation exposure is rapid and widespread, but the storage in the body is limited by rapid metabolism and excretion." So it is unlikely it stayed in your body for very long.
Wait a few days before breastfeeding to give your body a chance to metabolize and excrete the PVC. Drink lots of water, exercise, and sweat to help things along.
Also, the activated liquid zeolite detox drops I've been recommending will help situations like this.
Need Info on Apollo Gas Hydro Heat
Does anyone have experience with heat that comes from hot water running through coils to heat their house? The system is fueled by natural gas but I don't know if the gas will actually be distributed through the house where I'll breath it. I know I can't tolerate gas heat, but I'm not sure about this "Hydro-Heat" that is in a house we are considering.It is water running through the coils heating the house. That sounds pretty safe to me....BUT just the mention of Gas makes me shiver! Any info would be greatly appreciated!
I think it depends on where the gas is located that is heating the water. A solar heater would be great for this.
Fiberglass Mesh (Window Screens)
In an effort to prevent my little ones from sticking their fingers in our box fans, I thought it would be a great idea to unscrew the plastic panels on each side of the fan, wrap them in window screening--which according to the package is fiberglass mesh--and then put the plastic panels back on.
After doing this, I realized that there might be some danger in blowing air through a fiberglass mesh screen especially since we regularly use a fan to blow directly on us at night while sleeping.
Obviously it's similar to having open windows and the wind blowing through the same type of screen, but should we be concerned about using this screen with our fans?
Thanks for your help!
I'm not concerned. :-)
