Health
Concerns of Conventional Building
No one wants to think their home can make them sick. Unfortunately, many of the materials used to build and decorate your home could be making you and your family suffer from allergies, shortness of breath, ear infections, migraines, skin reactions, birth defects, cancers, and more. Homes built before 1978 are especially likely to contain some (if not all) of the chemicals listed below in their building materials. Please look around your home for any hazardous materials used and have them removed as soon as possible for better home health.
- Homes built before 1978 might have been painted with lead-based paint. Which, when breathed in or ingested could lead to nervous system and kidney damage, learning disabilities, muscular problems, hearing loss, and speech and other language disorders, especially in children.
- Homes built before 1978 might have been built with products that contain asbestos, such as pipe and furnace insulation materials, roofing shingles, millboard, textured paints, and floor tiles. Asbestos can cause serious lung disease that can lead to disability and death.
- Pressed wood (particle board) can include formaldehyde, a colorless, pungent-smelling gas that can cause watery eyes, burning sensations in the eyes and throat, asthma attacks, nausea, and difficulty breathing. The World Health Organization (WHO) labeled formaldehyde as a human carcinogen (cancer-causing) in 2004.
- Vinyl flooring and certain carpeting have also been linked with volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that worsen respiratory problems like asthma.
- Polyvinyl chloride, otherwise known as PVC and found in piping and even in shower curtains, has been linked to cancer, kidney and liver damage, growth problems, and other serious health problems.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ranks indoor air pollution among the top-five environmental risks. Unhealthy air is found in up to 30 percent of new and renovated buildings that haven’t been greened. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that indoor air pollution causes 14 times more deaths than outdoor air pollution (2.8 million lives). Twenty percent of all housing in the United States has lead dust or chip pings, which cause kidney and red blood cell damage, impair mental and physical development, and may increase high blood pressure. The volatile organic compounds (including pesticides), commonly referred to as VOCs, found indoors are believed to cause 3,000 cases of cancer a year in the United States. This is scary stuff but little by little we can change the way we build and that in turn can change our lives.