The Naked Truth Project : A Healthy House

Sick Buildings come in two forms…old and new, with both types presenting their own unique set of problems.

The largest culprits from old buildings tend to be mold, lack of ventilation, and unhealthy building materials. Mold grows in moist conditions (where there had been flooding, plumbing or building leaks, humid weather, etc.) and grows on materials with cellulose fibers, such as carpeting, insulation, and wood. Not only does it release toxic spores when it reproduces, but it also produces mycotoxins that kill any organisms that may be competing for nutrients. These mycotoxins can make people sick when touched or inhaled.

New or remodeled buildings often contain Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) that pose a serious threat to the inhabitants’ health. VOCs are generated from the structure itself, the fittings and furnishings, new carpeting and paint, cleaning materials, or from a heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) system within a sealed structure. VOCs are synthetic chemicals that evaporate quickly at room temperature and are often used as solvents. They are found in the house’s building materials, paints, dyes, varnishes, adhesives, fittings & furnishings, certain cleaning products, and paint and polish removers. The EPA calculated that a typical homeowner’s exposure to just six of the most common VOCs could result in an increase of an additional five thousand cancer cases a year. Tobacco smoke, natural gas, fragranced products and perfumes can also contribute to the levels of indoor air pollution within a building. Therefore, the air inside houses and buildings that are newly built or remodeled can contain many pollutants, depending on the paint, carpeting, appliances, and occupants.

The common factor between the two types of buildings is that both situations can create poor indoor air quality (AIQ) – which actually poses more of a threat than outdoor pollution, because The EPA has stated that generally speaking, indoor air pollution is 2-5 times greater than outdoor air pollution, and most people spend 90% of their time indoors. Poor IAQ has been found to trigger allergic reactions, asthma attacks, headaches, coughing, eye and throat irritation, nausea, dizziness, and rashes. They can even cause more serious issues, such as severe fatigue, loss of balance and memory, irritability, and difficulty speaking. Other symptoms of SBS can include depression, anxiety, numbness and tingling, mood swings, insomnia, and difficulty concentrating.

And then there’s your water…

Drinking water can become contaminated in the ground or in the pipes on the way to your house. Many naturally-occurring contaminants are important to consider, including arsenic, radon, fluoride, uranium, and manganese. Additional contamination occurs as pipes and solder enter the water (lead, copper) and as chlorine, added to water as a disinfectant, interacts with organic material in the water to form disinfection byproducts including trihalomethanes. How these contaminants are regulated depends on what kind of water you drink.

Municipal water systems are regulated by the federal government according to a set of Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs). These MCLs are mainly health-based, but also take into account the technical feasibility of attaining a standard. The MCL for arsenic, for example, is 10 micrograms per liter. The estimated cancer risk associated with drinking water at this concentration for most of a lifetime is roughly 1 in 1,000; although this is a higher cancer risk than is usually allowed, other considerations resulted in the MCL being what it is. Not all contaminants are adequately covered by the system of MCLs. Lead and copper, for example, can enter drinking water in your plumbing, and would not be detected at the water facility where the MCLs are applied. The same is true of disinfection byproducts.

Homes with private wells are not regulated. In Maine for example, homeowners are encouraged to test their wells and compare the test results to Maine’s Maximum Exposure Guidelines (MEGs). MEGs are similar to MCLs but are generally more health-based.