Photos by Angela Shoemaker
Summertime in
In its online brochure “The Inside Story: A Guide to Indoor Air Quality” (www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/insidest.html), the Environmental Protection Agency warns that “air within homes . . . can be more seriously polluted than the outdoor air in even the largest and most industrialized cities.” In fact, with Americans spending 90 percent of their time inside, the EPA ranks indoor air quality among the nation’s top five environmental health risks.
“Indoor air quality started to get on people’s radar in the late 1970s and early ’80s,” says Joseph McMahon, an interior designer with Gensler Architecture, Design & Planning Worldwide in
In 1984, a World Health Organization committee published a landmark report on “sick building syndrome,” caused by inadequate ventilation and the buildup of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted by cleaning products, pesticides, fabrics, carpet, construction and other materials. A classic example of VOCs, McMahon says, is “that new car smell, which is really all the compounds off-gassing from the synthetic materials.”
Along with several local firms, Gensler has been involved with the recently completed, environmentally green renovation of
Consumer interest in residential indoor air quality has not yet reached that level, says Glenn Fellman, executive director of the Indoor Air Quality Association. “Greater awareness is needed, especially when you consider the increase in the incidence of asthma,” he says. “Asthma is often triggered by factors related to the environment and quality of the air inside.”
Local allergist Dr. James L. Sublett, clinical professor and section chief of pediatric allergy at the University of Louisville School of Medicine, agrees. “Looking back 25 or 30 years ago, only about 15 to 20 percent of the population had allergies,” he says. “Today, it’s more in the 20 to 35 percent range. Asthma has doubled. It’s gone from one out of 20 people to one out of 10, and the incidence may actually be higher.”
Eighty percent of asthma’s cause has an allergic component. Among common indoor allergens are dust mites, cockroaches, mold, rodents, latex and pollen. The remaining 20 percent can be triggered by tobacco smoke and other VOCs, diesel particulates, and “small particles in the two-and-a-half- to five-micron range commonly found outdoors,” Sublett says. “Houses breathe, and some houses breathe in more than they breathe out, so particles get trapped.”
While the detrimental effects of tobacco smoke and formaldehyde on healthy people have been documented, Sublett says the jury is still out on many other VOCs. “It’s a big controversy. So far, it appears that they’re not so much hazardous as temporarily irritating,” he says. The advice he usually gives: “Like Kenny Rogers says, you’ve got to know when to fold ’em. Stop using something if it’s bothering you.”
General Tips to Improve Indoor Air Quality
Sublett and the Air Resources Board of the California EPA offer the following tips to help everyone breathe easier:
1. Don’t allow in-home smoking.
2. Keep humidity below 50 percent to discourage mold. Use vent fans in baths and kitchens. Repair leaks immediately.
3. Use a high-efficiency media filter (MERV rating of 12) on your furnace and air conditioner. Leave the fan on so air is constantly being filtered for particulates. Change filters every three months and service units regularly.
4. Vent all gas appliances and fireplaces to the outside. There is no such thing as a safe, ventless fireplace.
5. If you have an attached garage, don’t warm the car up inside even with the doors open and don’t use the garage to store insecticides, gas, paint, mineral spirits or other chemicals. “Up to 30 percent of your indoor air comes from the garage,” Sublett says.
6. Avoid aerosol sprays. Use pumps instead.
7. Fragrance-free products t/files/storyimages/to be less irritating.
8. Ventilate — open your doors and windows — if you’re painting or using strong chemicals (chlorine bleach, etc.).
9. Avoid ozone-generating room air cleaners. Ozone is the main component of smog.
10. Look for formaldehyde-free building products and wood furniture.
11. Limit use of candles and incense.
Dry Cleaning and Moth Balls
For those with suit-and-tie (or suit-and-heels) jobs, it’s difficult to avoid dry cleaning, but you can choose a cleaner that doesn’t use perchlorethylene (also called perc, tetrachloroethylene or PCE) as a cleaning agent. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry warns that perc in high concentrations can cause dizziness, headaches, sleepiness, confusion, nausea, difficulty in speaking and walking, unconsciousness and even death. It’s also a suspected carcinogen. Freshly dry-cleaned clothes can release minute amounts of perc into the air.
Several local cleaners no longer use or have never used perc. Highland Cleaners, for example, relies on “a much safer petroleum-based solvent,” says president Anne Nash. In addition, many offer wet cleaning — similar to a home washer, but with “gentler detergents and mechanical action,” says Nash, adding that the process can be used for items ranging from sheets, tablecloths and napkins to khakis, down comforters and wedding gowns, depending on the care label.
Naphthalene-containing mothballs are another environmental hazard. The two most important moth deterrents, according to Nash: Store only freshly cleaned items — “moths are attracted to stains, even invisible ones,” she notes — and place them in a cool, climate-controlled area.
Paint
The latest environmental concern for paint manufacturers has been removing VOCs from latex paint, says Noel Booker, president of Louisville-based Progress Paint Manufacturing Co. “It’s a popular misconception that solvents are used only in oil-based paints,” he says. “It’s true that just by virtue of going from an oil-based to a latex, you reduce VOCs significantly, but latex paint can contain as much as 7 percent solvent.”
Progress Paint’s Kurfees brand was among the first to market solvent-free interior latex paint. “It’s a hypoallergenic paint — that’s our biggest contribution to reducing indoor air pollution,” says Booker, who adds that a similar 99.6 percent VOC-free formula is available in the company’s Gray Seal line. Now every major paint manufacturer offers similar products.
Radon
Responsible for an estimated 21,000 lung cancer deaths annually, radon is a radioactive gas produced by the natural breakdown of uranium. The karst geology responsible for
The only way to determine if you have a radon problem is to test. “While you can buy a 48-hour, short-term radon test kit at most hardware stores, we recomm/files/storyimages/testing for a full year, since radon levels in a karst region don’t stay consistent,” Hardwick explains.
Full-year test kits are available free though health departments in Oldham, Bullitt,