By Jesse Herman from Asbestos.com
What fills your lungs inside your home may be worse that what you’re breathing outside!
For decades, the word “pollution” has been on the docket of every politician campaigning for one office or another. Cleaning up our air, our water, and our overall outdoor environment has been a huge priority since the 1960s, when the word “air pollution” first came into vogue. We’ve fought for emission laws, battled against companies that empty hazardous chemicals into our streams, and have made numerous other attempts to reduce the carbon footprint stamped on our outside world.
But what about the world inside our homes and offices? Surely, aside from a few germs and bacteria spread by family members and co-workers, our interior domains – for the most part – keep us safe and healthy, don’t they?
Not really. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), known health effects of indoor pollutants include asthma; cancer; developmental defects and delays, including effects on vision, hearing, growth, intelligence, and learning; and effects on the cardiovascular system.” (Source: Healthy Buildings, Healthy People: A Vision for the 21st Century) And when you consider that the average American spends 90 percent of his/her time indoors, it’s easy to understand why cancer rates and the number of people affected by other environmental diseases are through the roof!
Hazards of Old Homes and Workplaces
Indoor environmental contaminants weren’t much of an issue when America was involved in the post-World War II building frenzy. The biggest concern was providing homes for all those growing baby boomer families, so houses went up quickly. Builders like William Levitt – famous for his many “Levittown” developments – constructed thousands upon thousands of homes in just a few years time, enticing homebuyers to the suburbs of America’s great cities where they could buy mass-produced homes cheaply.
Of course, not ever quickly-built, inexpensively-priced home of yesteryear was toxic, but many probably contained one of the biggest hazards of the 20th century – asbestos. Little or no thought was given to the use of this naturally-mined mineral; everyone was impressed by its heat- and fire-resistant qualities, and because it was readily available, it was cheap and easy to obtain.
However, during the last 30 years, asbestos has emerged as the poster child for indoor environmental toxins, sickening not only those who worked in the construction industry of that era but also homeowners and do-it-yourselfers who came in contact with toxic forms of the mineral.
While bundled, intact asbestos generally causes no release of toxins and may merely require containment, damaged or old asbestos in both homes and commercial buildings can be a real stinker. “Friable” asbestos – the old stuff that crumbles and flakes off – is easily inhaled and absorbed into the lungs, where it wreaks havoc with pulmonary function. While not everyone who inhales asbestos develops asbestos-related diseases, the risk is very real, especially when asbestos is disturbed during renovation or demolition projects. Asbestos was used in various sorts of insulation and could also be found in floor tiles, “popcorn” ceilings, drywall glue, and myriad other building products. It’s often encountered during remodeling, much to the surprise of many homeowners.
And because most asbestos diseases, such as the cancer mesothelioma, remain latent for 30-40 years, many individuals who were unaware of the dangers of working with asbestos – including both homeowners and construction workers – are just learning that they’re battling this dreaded disease. Currently, there are no mesothelioma treatments that result in a cure.
New Homes?
Of course, the building boom continues in America, despite economic woes, and we no longer have to worry about asbestos and other similar toxins, do we?
Ever walk through a poshly-decorated sample home and take a deep whiff of that “new home” smell? Aah…doesn’t it smell marvelous? Fresh paint, new carpets…all those things you’d want in your brand new abode. Nothing to worry about here. No asbestos, no lead paint. Just a safe and clean place to live, free from all the contaminants found in old homes that were built before toxins were a concern, right?
Wrong! Various scientific studies have shown that our tightly sealed homes of the 21st century are full of toxins. Remember that “new home” smell? That’s just a plethora of cancer-causing vapors drifting through your home, cleverly disguised as those “fresh and clean” smells that are expected in new construction. These petro-chemical concoctions from products such as synthetic carpets, toxic paints, particle board, and OSB (a.k.a. wafer board) are slowly sickening the inhabitants of newer homes and offices and most Americans simply don’t realize this is the case.
So, what’s the answer? Green building experts will tell you it all has to do with reducing what they like to call VOCs – volatile organic compounds like formaldehyde – at the source. These compounds cause cancer, skin ailments, and any number of other diseases, like asthma, which is at an all-time high among the nation’s children.
Asbestos may be a thing of the past, but today’s widely-used inexpensive building materials are destined to be the new asbestos. Formaldehyde, for example, is everywhere. You’ll find it in pressed wood cabinets and furniture, paints, glues, draperies, and in fuel-burning appliances. Eliminating formaldehyde at the source by choosing eco-friendly building products significantly reduces exposure to toxins and increases the internal environmental quality of a home or office.
Building green has never made so much sense and more and more green builders are emerging. Buyers of new homes and renovators of old ones, however, must be willing to go the extra mile and spend the extra dollar on building products that make sense. The quality of our indoor spaces – in a time when Americans spend way too much time indoors – is an issue which must be addressed with ongoing fervor – a fervor necessary in order to avoid another asbestos-like environmental catastrophe.
