It’s Too Tight To Breathe In Here

By Deborah Alden

Imagine you’re going to spend six months in a lovely bubble, far from the cold of a New England winter. You’ll need to bring along a few key items — heat to keep you warm, cozy furnishings, food and storage, some cleaning supplies to keep it all spic and span, and comfy clothes. Recreational materials are optional, but this is your basic list. Once inside, zip up tight to keep the outdoor air and elements from raining on your affair. Now you’re ready to float comfortably for the next half year, zipped up tight like a Zip-Loc Baggie with your comfort space inside.

We Are Where We Live

A zip-loc baggie is an apt description of a tight, energy- efficient house during a long Vermont cold season. September through April, that’s how many of us live. The question is whether any thought is given to the indoor environment that’s created when we seal ourselves inside. The EPA estimates that Americans spend 90 percent of their time indoors and has identified polluted household air as a top health concern for Americans nationwide. Since American homes are becoming energy efficient and shut up tight in an attempt to reduce the amount of heat lost or cold gained during heating and cooling seasons, higher concentrations of pollutants now occur indoors than outdoors.

In 2004 the risk of hazardous exposure to known carcinogens such as formaldehyde, VOCs, asbestos, and airborne particulates is much higher in our own homes than in our cities. The EPA estimates that indoor concentrations of known pollutants are 200 to 500 times higher inside our homes than in the polluted outdoor air we are lobbying to clean up. The good news is that we can control our own homes and make our own decisions about indoor air quality. Homeowner education can turn the whole situation around. So before you begin your renovations or lay plans for another winter indoors, take a look at your indoor and outdoor spaces for easier, healthier breathing and living year round.

Change Your Air

Ideally, our houses would have gentle breezes flowing through them to provide fresh air and remove particulates and indoor pollutants. The reality, in an energy-conscious society, is the opposite. In an effort to build "tight" homes, those with superior energy ratings, we have closed our homes to outside air and healthy air exchanges. With no homeowner safety organizations in place to mandate clean air, like we have for commercial spaces, schools, and workplaces, we are left with invisible pollutants and carcinogens in our homes and no readily accessible guide for how to remove them. Indoor air quality (IAQ) may be a big topic for public buildings, but it’s rarely talked about among homeowners.

It is generally recommended that household air be exchanged .3 to .35 times per hour. Opening a window is not practical in the winter, nor is it an efficient means of moving air in the summer. In order to provide a reliable air exchange at the appropriate rate, what is known as the air changes per hour rate or ACH, it is advisable to install mechanical ventilation. This can be as simple and low cost as installing bathroom fans throughout, kitchen exhaust fans, and attic and basement fans.

Avoid Negative Pressure

The key to effective ventilation, however, is that air removed from the home be vented to the outside and fresh air be drawn from outdoors. The rule of thumb is: Send it out and draw it in. If you have fans operating without providing a source of fresh air — a vent, window, or permanent exchange duct — the fans will pull against the household air, creating negative pressure. Negative pressure will draw noxious fumes like carbon monoxide back into the home from appliances like water heaters, furnaces, and gas stoves. Timers can be installed to run the fans an appropriate number of times per hour. According to the experts at Cornell, "Ventilation should occur only during occupancy and the rate should increase depending on the number of people present." High exchange rates should be used in bathrooms and kitchens during bathing and cooking; low continuous rates are appropriate for living areas and bedrooms. The key is to remove CO2, formaldehyde, radon, and smoke.

Still, it is highly inefficient to bring outdoor winter air into an energy-efficient, heated home. Whole-house ventilation units and heat exchangers can provide fresh air throughout the home on a continual basis, without compromising the efficiency of heating or cooling units. For effective ventilation, compute the square footage and the number of cubic feet per minute (CFM) of air exchange provided by the fan, and the number of occupants. It is recommended that the exchange rate not be less than 15 cfm per person.

Furniture You Can Live With

Few consumers know that furniture, coverings, carpets, and cabinetry are among the items most likely to emit known carcinogenic compounds. Medium density fiberboard, used in tables, chairs, cabinetry, and shelving, is responsible for much of the formaldehyde emissions in homes. Urea-formaldehyde, a known carcinogen, is used in the adhesives that bind wood chips, strands, or fibers together to create the counters, cabinets, and even sheathing that we use in our homes. These components "off gas" or emit invisible noxious chemicals into the air we breathe.

The same can be said for upholstered furniture that has flame retardant coverings, foam fillers, and treatments. These treated fabrics will emit noxious chemicals into household air for years before those treatments become inert.

"I’m very fussy," says one homeowner from South Hero. "I watch every detail. We recently gutted our whole interior and added an entire wing. Had I known some of this when we did the renovations, I would have made some different decisions."

The key is to select furnishings, coverings, flooring, and cabinetry with a minimum of treatments and synthetics. The more treatments applied to upholstery, for example, the more chemicals you will breathe as it off gases. The same goes for carpets and floor coverings. Look at what it’s made from and what treatments are used on its surface. If it’s really stain-free, you might wonder how they make that happen.

Essentially the choice is ours. The Built Environment and Technology panel puts emphasis on change, stating, "Most developed countries have accepted that the selection of low pollutant emitting products is the most effective
control strategy and are now implementing this process." We can hasten the progress by making healthier selections. First, whenever possible, buy natural fibers. Not only will they emit fewer chemicals into the air, but cleaning them will not require additional surface treatments. Remember that dry cleaning and chemical upholstery cleaning techniques use some of the most noxious chemicals available. Think twice before inviting them into your home.

As for cabinets and wood furniture, buy wood. Wood will not emit vapors into your home like particleboard and medium density fiberboard. The question is how much glue was needed to create the piece. If more than half of it comes from manufactured wood products, it’s likely to send vapors into your airspace for many years to come.

Cautions on Cleaners

Household cleaners boast a list of ingredients that would make most scientists blanch. The toilet, drain, floor, window, and air freshening products used in homes release all kinds of particulate and vaporous content into the air. There are currently about 70,000 chemicals in production for commercial use, many for use in household products. Aerosol propellants are carcinogenic and should be avoided at all cost. Fortunately eliminating these chemicals from our indoor environment just takes commitment and common sense. Baking soda is a harmless, naturally occurring scrubber. Mix it with a bit of soap for your own brand of gentle scrubbing bubbles. For fragrance, add a touch of lavender or lavender water to your sponge when wiping down surfaces. Other fragrances may be added to your cleaning water or spritzed on fabrics such as curtains or cushions to provide fragrance control without harmful chemicals. White vinegar cuts through grease and dirt leaving hard surfaces squeaky clean. It is great for windows, counters, even floors. Vinegar and baking soda work wonders on clogged drains. For tougher cleaning jobs, consult a green cleaning guide or visit a local health food store.

Watch Where You Walk

Carpets are fibrous reminders of everywhere we’ve ever been. Unfortunately, they hold particulate traces of everything that’s passed over them. The chemical treatment from the manufacturer is still there, as is residue from every cleaner you’ve ever used on it. Add to that what you track in from outside, and carpets are a respiratory nightmare. When remodeling, many experts advise removing carpets and adding hardwood where possible. Carpet is comfy, though, so if you are installing it, try to do it when you can open the windows and ventilate the noxious chemicals it gives off. Once installed, try to keep it vacuumed and, if possible, keep dirty shoes off. Carpets have memory. If your shoes picked up chemical or pesticide residues from outside, they will leave particulates in the carpet for you to breathe and stir up later on.

Treat Your Garden Well

There is no doubt that pesticides, herbicides, and insecticides pose immediate health risks to adults, children, wildlife, and the environment. The Cancer Prevention Coalition states that the "risk for leukemia increases by four to seven times for children whose parents use home and garden pesticides." Incidence of childhood brain cancer is linked to use of pesticide "bombs" for fleas, flea collars, insecticides, termite control products, herbicides, and widely used pesticides like carbaryl and diazinon. These chemicals blow in through windows, are tracked in on pets and on shoes, and coat the surfaces of toys and furniture. The best prevention is natural landscaping, where homeowners work with nature to control pests and create low-impact gardenscapes. There are many resources available on the Web and in bookstores for gardeners looking to convert their yards from a high-maintenance, chemically dependent lawn to a hardy, indigenous landscape. For chemical control indoors, consider natural alternatives to pest control such as boric acid for ants, garlic for flea and mosquito resistance, oils for pest and aphid control.

Like any lifestyle change, learning to breathe healthier is a process. Be wary of the chemical visitors you invite to share your space. Remodel with an eye to low toxin options. Fill your home with plants that can help cleanse the air you breathe — they’re beautiful and help bring a bit of the outdoors in when we hunker down and zip up snug and tight for another season at home.