Avoid Chemicals In Your Home

Avoiding chemical contaminants in your home

Smoking
Cigarette smoke contains numerous chemical contaminants.

• Do not smoke indoors
• Do not allow visitors to smoke in your home
• Burning candles - By-products of combustion include carbon monoxide, VOCs, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and soot.
• Do not burn candles, liquid fuel
• or incense in the home

Pesticide use
Pesticides may affect more than just the target pests:

• Use non-chemical pest control methods, such as baits, traps or fly swatters
• Get rid of spiders and clusters of insects by vacuuming
• Seal likely entry points
• Control moisture to discourage moisture-loving insects (such as sowbugs and silverfish)
• Find other ways than pesticides to deal with fleas on your pets and insects in your houseplants
• Avoid pesticides on your lawn or garden
• Do not allow any fungicide or biocide (including natural oils touted to have antimicrobial properties) to be applied in the ducting system of your house

Cleaning and household chemicals

• Select unscented and less toxic cleaning products (for example, unscented detergent instead of bleach to clean mold, and baking soda instead of ammonia-based cleaners to clean countertops)
• Use detergent and water instead of disinfectants
• Eliminate the need for deodorizers by taking the garbage out daily, managing kitchen waste and perishables
• Take out compostable materials regularly (composting also helps the environment by reducing the volume of garbage)
• Rinse packaging (wrappers for meat or fish) before throwing them into the garbage
• Freeze perishable wastes (meat, fish scraps) until garbage collection day
• Avoid plug-in or aerosol deodorizers, or air fresheners; instead, deal with the causes of odours, including that of mold
• Use unscented biodegradable detergents
• Avoid perfumed fabric softeners which leave residual chemical odours on your clothes and bedding and pollute the air outside your home when the clothes dryer is in use
• Minimize the use of bleach—it gives off noxious fumes and is not environmentally friendly
• Do not use mothballs; these release poisonous gases into the air in your home and leave persistent odours on your clothes and furnishings
• Avoid the use of aerosol sprays of any kind inside the house
• Learn about the hazardous ingredients in products before using them
• Do not allow soil-repellent treatments to be applied on carpet or furnishings

Personal products

• Use unscented soaps, shampoos, deodorants and lotions
• Discontinue wearing perfume
• Air dry-cleaned clothing in a sheltered place outside the house until you can no longer detect the odour of dry-cleaning solvents
• Screen products that you bring into your house for odours

Activities in the home

• Avoid tracking in dust and contaminants by not wearing outdoor footwear inside the house
• Use a dedicated exhaust fan for hobbies that generate fumes or particles
• Avoid using solvent-based markers and craft materials indoors
• Choose lead-free solders—these are available but may be hard to locate; ask your hardware, electronics or craft store to carry lead-free solder, if they don’t have it
• Purchase only what you need to avoid having to store excess amounts of paints, solvents and hazardous chemicals inside the house
• Turn on the range hood while cooking and use the bathroom exhaust fan to remove moisture and residual odours (fans are effective only if they are vented outside)
• Ventilate the kitchen very well when you use the self-cleaning mode of the oven by using your range hood and opening windows
• Deal with a chemical spill immediately by using a sponge, rag or absorbent material (e.g. kitty litter) and taking these outside right away. The MSDS of the material, if available, provides information on what to do when a spill occurs

Building-related contaminants
Fuel-related sources of contaminants

• Have your heating system maintained by a qualified heating contractor.
• Keep your woodstove or fireplace from spilling gases and smoke into the house
• Check that your chimney and vents are not blocked
• Do not use unvented fuel-based appliances, such as kerosene space heaters
• Monitor carbon monoxide (CO) levels in your home with a direct reading detector with memory capability
• Use the range hood every time a gas stove is used, or switch to an electric stove
• Do not store gas- or dieselpowered equipment (chain saws, lawn mowers) inside the house
• Guard against spillage of fuel inside the house, for example a leaking oil tank or oil accidentally pumped into a disconnected pipe
• Ensure that the wall between the house and the garage is airtight
• Monitor CO infiltration from the attached garage
• Air seal the door to the garage
• Install an exhaust fan and run it for half an hour after driving your car into or out of the garage

Building materials and furnishings
When possible, select low emission or low-odour building materials:

• Select water-based, low-odour adhesives, finishes and paints, and apply them only when you can ventilate the house
• Test caulking for odours before using it—odours can be strong and persistent
• Before purchasing new materials to bring into or install in the house, test them for odours

To test carpets and other floor coverings, underpads, wood and plastic materials:

• Get a small sample of the material
• Place it in a clean glass jar
• Cover the jar and allow to sit in a warm place, such as a sunny window
• Open the jar and test for the presence or intensity of odours

Bear in mind that you are testing a small piece of sample. Expect a proportionate increase of the odour from much more material.

To test sealants, varnishes or paints:

• Apply the finish onto a small piece of the substrate (drywall or wood)
• Allow a reasonable length of time (a week) for the finish to cure
• Continue testing in a glass jar as above

If the odour is still strong or noticeable, allow for a longer curing time or choose another finish.

When renovating, isolate the area to minimize exposure to dust and chemicals

• Carefully select materials used to cover areas surrounding heat sources, such as window coverings (sun), radiant floor or mantelpiece (fireplace)
• Minimize the use of furniture made of particleboard, medium density fibreboard or hardwood plywood, which are potential sources of formaldehyde, especially in the bedroom
• Control moisture in your home to reduce chemical emissions from composite wood products —keeping the house dry also prevents mold and dust mites
• If you buy furniture made of composite wood, choose furniture that is sealed on all sides and edges
• Seal the underside of particleboard counters in the kitchen with 0.15 mm (6 mil) polyethylene, securing edges with aluminum foil tape
• Seal exposed edges and surfaces of furniture made with particleboard, medium-density fibreboard or hardwood plywood with polyethylene and aluminum foil tape as above
• Seal exposed cut edges of subfloor at the forced air-vent openings with aluminum foil tape
• Ensure that all air ducts are cleanable, metal ducts
• Limit the amount of pine and cedar in the house, especially if members of the household have allergies—both contain natural aromatic resins that can be released into the air
• Seal all exposed insulation with polyethylene
• Do not cut pressure-treated wood indoors and do not burn it, even outdoors, to avoid releasing poisons into the air

There may be many more sources of chemical contaminants in the home. These are typically from activities or items you bring into the house. Some can be minor, but others can be serious. For instance, it might be several hours before the odour of nail polish disappears from inside a house, but days or weeks might be required to clean the disastrous effects of soot from even a small fire. Occasionally, poor air quality can arise from things you don’t expect. Strong, unpleasant odours have sometimes been traced to overheated plastic sockets in receptacles for light bulbs. Never use a higher wattage than recommended. Some light fixtures may require a ceramic socket. If you notice that the quality of the air in your house has deteriorated, examine what you have brought into the house recently. You can verify your suspicions by removing the substance, isolating it in another room or encapsulating it temporarily with polyethylene, then noting whether the quality of the air improves.

Ventilation
After you have reduced as many known sources of contaminants as possible, you can enhance the quality of the air with ventilation. This may mean airing out the house by briefly opening the windows or by installing a heat recovery ventilation system. A properly installed and balanced Heat Recovery Ventilator (HRV) improves the indoor air quality of your house by providing outside air (typically less polluted than indoor air) and exhausting an equivalent amount of stale air from the house. This helps to control moisture and mold growth during the cold months of the year. Ventilation also reduces the concentration of airborne contaminants by dilution. Bear in mind, however, that ventilation is only a secondary strategy to removing the sources.

Contact your REALTOR at Coldwell Banker Vantage Realty for more tips and advice on safety in your home.

Reference