Question from SRT

Purchased furniture 2+ years ago, out of the box since- daughter has not been sleeping in the room all this time, but is now ready to. Supposedly safe (Stanley Young America)but I continue to get a harsh, musty odor off it, sometimes noticing it even whem I just walk into room. Co. has said it may be ‘wood smell’- any thoughts? Could it be sealed, as daughter loves the set? It is mostly solid wood with a distressed white paint finish.

Debra’s Answer

The first thing I would try would be to heat it. Just close the door and windows and put a space heater in the room. This will bake off any residual fumes from the wood or finish. You might need to do this several days or up to a week.

If that doesn’t work, you could apply a finish designed to block fumes.

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Question from Alyce

In the past I used to buy a house built after 1990 because chlordane was used for termite treatment before that time frame. I was under the impression that all houses treated with chlordane are contaminated with chlordane for a very long time…..even 40 years or longer after the treatment. Do you think this is a good guildeline to go by? It makes finding a house a lot more difficult when houses built before 1990 aren’t even considered. What’s your thinking regarding this? Appreciate any help!

Debra’s Answer

I actually have the opposite guideline for myself. I won’t buy a house built after 1970 because of the toxic building materials.

The house I live in right now was built in 1940. Of course, it could have had chlordane treatments up to 1990.

I don’t think you should assume that ALL houses built before 1990 had chlordane treatments or that they are still contaminated. When considering a house, I try to find out from the owner what treatments they did and when. Fortunately, the house I’m living in now was owned by the previous owner for about twenty years, so I could get that information.

Keep in mind that the longer it has been since the pesticide was applied, the less of the original application remains.

A house treated in 1988, the last year chordane was used, would now be 22 years after treatment. That would have very little, if any, chlordane left. A house treated in 1970–forty years ago–would likely have no chlordane left.

I’m more concerned about recent applications of pesticides that ones that happened ten or more years ago.

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Question from HEG

My parents who live in Massachusetts have respiratory infections (common colds) very frequently, probably every couple of months. When I lived with them during my childhood I also had very frequent colds, although now I rarely have them, and I get colds about 50% of the time when I come to visit them.

I am starting to wonder if there may be a contaminant/exposure in their home that may be responsible for these frequent, yet mild, symptoms. They live in a very old home built in the 1800’s with a significant amount of air exchange, and as far as I believe the outside air in their suburb is very clean.

They have had mold problems in the past, but these problems were treated. Other than mold, what other chemicals/exposures might they want to test their home for? Any advice would be appreciated! Thank you.

Debra’s Answer

I just happen to have an article about how toxic chemical exposures relate to colds and flu at Toxics & Health: Toxic Chemicals Contribute to Catching Colds and Flu.

Also came across an article of 15 Best Foods for Cold & Flu Season that tells how to use foods to support your immune system.

If this house seems to cause the common cold, it’s either mold, chemicals, or some other airborne irritant like dust.

If they had problems with mold in the past, they may be having them again if the conditions were not changed.

Before spending thousands of dollars on air tests, go through their house with a copy of my book Home Safe Home to identify chemical exposures. Cleaning these up may do the trick.

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Question from windhawk

I have MCS and have extreme home challenges in finding a non-toxic, affordable home rental that will take my HUD sec voucher.

I know someone willing to rent to me their mother’s home who just passed away. It could work in all aspects but old moth ball boxes were discovered sitting in a bedroom and den closets.

I thought I could smell faintly mothballs when first walking in downstairs and did discover the ancient moth ball boxes in these two closets. One closet seemed stronger smelling than the other and did have adverse neurolgical reactivity that made me sick, still recovering 12 hours later.

If I was not going to lose my voucher in finding a single family home to rent that is affordable in the middle of winter, I would walk away. I know mothballs are highly neurotoxic and not good.

From a logical view I wonder if once the mothball boxes are removed, windows opened, shelves cleaned, air purifiers run, baking soda used,etc would thse neurotoxins truly dissipate for me being hyper reactive with MCS.

THere is a product called Smelleze to remove/neutralize mothball odors/toxins do you know if it works. I requested the MSDS info. I suspect it is zeolite and something else in there. ALso, zeolite helps removes VOCS would it be effective enough to pull out mothball toxins?

Debra’s Answer

I don’t know the solution for this one. We’ve had this question before and there were no answers except “air it out”.

One thing I have done in the past is call manufacturers and ask how to “clean up” various chemicals. You want to ask for “paradichlorobenzene removal.” Call any mothball manufacturer and let us know the answer.

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Question from Miemiemuis

I have been trying to grow a small organic garden in out city backyard. I used MiracleGro organic soil and rabbit manure for compost. The rabbits are fed a mixture of stuff including soy (?GMO) I’m watering with a regular hose and the outside water is unfiltered of course. My question is, what can I do to keep my produce as uncontaminated as possible? How much of the ‘bad’ water, chemicals from the hose etc. will end up on my produce. I’m hoping it will still be healthier than what I can buy in the store!

Debra’s Answer

Well, it certainly will be better than non-organic produce you buy at the store. It won’t have pesticides and it will be fresher.

That said, produce will absorb the chemicals from the water used for irrigation and will absorb air pollution as well.

But every step you take in the right direction is worth doing.

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Question from RoseM

Does anyone know if Zoya brand nail polish is in fact natural and/or nontoxic? I’ve read on a few sites that it is, but I wanted to see if anyone knew for sure. Or, is there such a thing as natural or safe nail polish? I’m two months pregnant with unpolished nails, and while that’s not a HUGE problem 😉 if there is a safe/natural nail polish available, it would be nice to paint my piggies once in a while…

Thanks!

Debra’s Answer

Some years ago when Zoya first came out I contacted them, and did not consider their formula at the time to be nontoxic. I just went to their website and all I could find was “formaldehyde, toluene, dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and camphor free.” It says it’s “safest” but that doesn’t mean safe. I don’t know their current formula and no ingredients or MSDS is given.

I gave up nail polish years ago, and as it is not an item necessary to life, I don’t have a lot of interest in researching it.

However, if any of you want to supply me with brand names, website URLs, MSDS sheets, and in particular, ingredients lists, I would be happy to give my opinion. I know a lot of women would like to know which nail polish is the least toxic and most natural.

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Question from Teoroy

Hello Debra, I am an art conservator and during my career I have been exposed to many toxic chemicals such as toluene. I have become quite sensitive to all smells like turpentine, white spirit etc. along with perfumes. I am thinking of changing career as an art teacher but I will not be able to practise with my sensitivity.Can I get healed and be better when slightly exposed to vapours from different paints? thank you, Teo UK

Debra’s Answer

Your best chance for recovery is to reduce your exposures to toxic chemicals as much as possible. That said, you will never be able to avoid them 100% because of the toxics in the larger environment.

This is one of the reasons I take detox drops. I recommend them to everyone to help offset the effects of those toxic chemicals we cannot avoid.

In all the years I have been doing this work, and in my own healing, I have found that people try to “hold on” to toxic exposures. In my case it was a particular brand of red lipstick. It was the perfect shade for me and took me a long time to find. But when I stopped wearing it, my body began to heal to a degree that it did not prior. I’ve known people who did everything but remove their carpet and then started healing better when they removed it.

I would encourage you to find or develop a nontoxic art form that you can enjoy and be healthy with, and teach to others so they can be healthy and artful as well. I use colored pencils, soy crayons, my computer, and other nontoxic materials to be creative.

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From Debra Lynn Dadd

I just happened to receive two questions this week about the toxicity of polyurethane, so I thought I would write a separate post on this chemical.

In the past, we mostly heard about polyurethane foam, which is used to make mattresses, seat cushions, and other such products. That likely contains toxic chemicals.

Now, there are new products that have a thin polyurethane film fused to fabric to make it waterproof. As best as I can tell, this is made from a different type of polyurethane, probably the type that is used to produce FDA dry and wet food grade urethanes.

Here’s the chemistry lesson.

Polyurethane (or “urethane” for short) is the name given to a class of petrochemical resins that contain isocyanates.

There are three different polyurethanes:
1. Toluene Diisocyante (TDI)
2. Diphenylmethane Diisocyanate (MDI)
3. Paraphenylene Diisocyanate (PPDI)

And they are made into chemicals that fall into eight major groups:

1. MDI-Esters: produce FDA dry and wet food grade urethanes.
2. TDI-Esters
3. MDI-Ethers: Some are adaptable to FDA and USDA application for wet and dry food contact.
4. TDI-Ethers
5. PPDI-Esters
6. MDI
7. TDI: used to make polyurethane foam for mattresses, cushions etc
8. PPDI

So when you read that something is made from “polyurethane” you need to also find out what type of polyurethane it is.

It’s likely that the MDI food grade polyurethane is a lot less toxic than the TDI polyurethane foam. To research the health effects of every polyurethane is beyond the scope of this blog at the moment. But I’ve done enough research to see that the toxicity of one “polyurethane” is different than another. It’s unfortunate that the same word is used to refer to a whole class of chemicals of varying toxicity.

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