Question from JAD

I saw in the coupon section that Purex has new “Green” laundry products with Natural essential oils.

This would be a great thing to suggest to those that insist on having a smell if it isn’t the same old “Fragrance”.

Please let me know what you think.

Thanks

www.purexsavesgreen.com/products

Debra’s Answer

I had to hunt a bit to find the actual ingredients lists for these products.

Laundry detergent: http://www.purex.com/detergents/ultra-purex-natural-elements

Fabric softener:

Laundry sheets:

They call these “natural” products, but then correctly say they are not 100% natural. Most of the ingredients are manmade substances manufactured from plant sources. The remaining ingredients are nontoxic substances sourced from petrochemicals.

All ingredients are approved by the EPA Design for Environment program. It’s worth checking out their website to understand what their label means, as you will be seeing it on more and more products. On the homepage there is a Product Quick Finder with links to lists of products that have earned their seal.

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We’ve been discussing leaching of metals that occurs from different types of cookware.

I received from the makers of Xtrema Cookware a lab report showing heavy metal leaching from various types of cookware.

The following are the highest numbers on the tests:

seasoned cast iron skillet – 2817 mg/L iron
speckled metal bakeware – 35 mg/L aluminum
enamel cast iron skillet – 25 mg/L aluminum

Take a look. Amounts of heavy metals leached are compared to acceptable levels of the various metals in drinking water standards.

This test did not include stainless steel.

Lab results of leaching from cookware

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Question from HEG

About 2 weeks ago I got my car back from the body shop following repairs from a tree falling on it. The repairs involved some repainting and gluing the back windshield onto the car. I have been placing it in the hot Florida sun every day and opening all windows every time I drive, and wiping the seats off. The smell dissipated significantly after a few days, but it is still there. Any thoughts on how long it will take for the fumes to off-gas?

Debra’s Answer

I don’t know how long, but you are doing all the right things.

I don’t have any personal experience with this to draw upon. Readers?

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Question from Hello Life

My doctor is promoting a whole house water filter system from ‘Filtercon Technologies’ (www.filtercon.com) and I’m wondering if anyone knows if their technology works?

They do not use reverse osmosis or add any chemicals, salt or potassium to the water.

Instead they are using hydromagnetic technology that “conditions the water non-chemically by restructuring and realigning the polarity of the mineral molecules without removing the beneficial minerals from the water”

There is also a layer of quartz and one of copper-zinc granules to further purify the water.

They claim that you can drink the water.

I’m wondering if anyone has looked into this system and if it really gets clean enough to drink? Does it remove chloramines and flouride?

Debra’s Answer

Here’s the page that explains what’s in the filter: www.filtercon.com/howitworks.htm.

First there is granular activated carbon. This is fine. It will remove chlorine but not chloramines unless it is a specific type of activated carbon modified specifically for that purpose.

Then the hydromagnetic module. This softens the water by rearranging the molecules instead of adding salt. This technology works. I have a similar unit in my own water system that works great to soften my very hard water. I’ve been using it for about eight years with no maintenance. Wonderful technology!

Then quartz. I’ve never seen this in a water filter before and don’t know what it does (note that filtercon doesn’t say what it does either).

Then KDF 55 (that’s the copper-zinc granules). These are used either alone or with carbon to remove chlorine only. They do not remove chloramine. Using KDF 55 makes the carbon last longer.

This filter would do a fine job of removing chlorine, if you have chlorine in your water. It will also do a great job at softening your water, if you have hard water.

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Question from Tanya

Last year I wrote in for information on my printer. There was a smell in my house and I couldn’t get rid of it, I thought it was coming from my printer. I finally had the air tested in my house and it showed relatively high levels of formaldehyde.

After much investigation it was determined that a piece of furniture in my home had been emitting formaldehyde fumes for about 7 months. It was a 3 piece desk / wall unit. I had owned it for more than 6 years and never had a problem. I thought it was all wood. While rearranging furniture in my home a piece of the top of the desk was ripped off. It was discovered that there was pressboard that had been exposed when the desk was damaged and it was emitting formaldehyde (the furniture was manufactured in China so I don’t know what kind of regulations there are).

The fumes basically permeated almost everything in the house. I have MCS and it was effecting me more than other family members. We aired out the house, ran our Austin Air Cleaner on high 24/7, set out more charcoal fitlers, etc. We live in Florida and when the A/C is running continuously the odor is almost gone, but if we open the windows the odor returns shortly afterwards. I think it is because the humidity rises in the house and starts the outgassing process. I have washed every piece of fabric in house – clothes, linens, rugs, towels, etc. That did seem to help. Any other ideas how to completely remove the formaldehyde from my house?

Thanks for any help you can offer. I have been battling this for over a year now. We slept outside in a tent for several months when the problem was at its worse.

Debra’s Answer

Formaldehyde is volatile and so it will dissipate.

I had experience with formaldehyde when I was in grade school that made a big impression on me. Someone had left a full bottle of formaldehyde open sitting on a counter. When I returned later it had completely evaporated. So free formaldehyde will evaporated from anything. When it is combined in a resin, as in particleboard or permanent-press finish, then it becomes “time-release” and therein lies the problem. That’s why it continues to outgas and outgas and outgas.

You don’t say that you removed the desk from your house. I’m assuming you did, but I’m just bringing up the obvious in case you didn’t. You also say humidity speeds up the outgassing process. Well, that is good. If opening the windows speeds up outgassing, do more of that. Maybe use fans to help remove the indoor air.

Heat speeds outgassing, so you could close up the house and turn up the heat to release the formaldehyde from anything that has absorbed it, then open the windows and ventilate it out.

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Question from april hendrik

We recently found bed bugs in our home. They are a serious problem! It is very difficult to eradicate them and then it is easy to be re-infested. We live in a city that is the worst for bed bugs, west of the Mississippi. Two libraries have had infestations recently. My daughter told me that a friend of hers, who lives in an apartment, has bed bug problems. Bed bugs can also hitchhike on clothing, shoes and purses when a person is out and about. Our daughter brought them into the house after travelling this summer.

So we’re treating the present problem and trying to make our home bed bug unfriendly for the future.

I would like to buy mattress encasements that are bed bug proof and non-toxic. They can bite through a “normal” encasement and can wriggle through the zippers. The ones that I have found that are bed bug proof, have polyester or vinyl in them and have “water-proof” on the label. I don’t think that cotton barrier cloth would do the trick. I do not want bed bugs hiding in my mattress and boxsprings and biting me at night!

Another thing that is recommended is large Ziploc bags for storage of bedding and clothing, also plastic storage containers, sealed with duct tape for longterm storage. There are other “bags” made of plastic or vinyl for putting in drawers. I haven’t heard of any nylon containers or bags that are bed bug proof.

I need to make my home bed bug “safer” but as non-toxic as possible. It has been very expensive to treat for them. We used thermal treatment for the house and yet even that is not foolproof, so we have an eye out for them. We threw away two couches because they were older and infested.

Do you have any suggestions for mattress encasements and bug proof storage of clothes, etc.? This is a very horrible situation we’re trying to deal with, without “plasticiizing” the whole house.

Debra’s Answer

If you need to encase things in plastic, polyethylene is the safest plastic. I don’t have any information on whether or not it would be bedbug proof.

Something that would probably be bedbug proof is Reflectix. It’s sold at Home Depot and Lowe’s. It’s made for insultation, but you can use it for anything. It is a sheet of foil sandwiched between two pieces of polyethylene. If you were to wrap your mattress in Relectix and hold it together with foil tape…I don’t see that a bed bug could get in or out.

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Question from Barb in PA

I have a vinyl tile floor in my basement. If I cover it with ceramic tile (glued, not wet-bed), will that eliminate any harmful emissions, or do I have to have it completely removed? Are there any cheaper alternatives to ceramic?

Debra’s Answer

If you cover a vinyl floor with ceramic tile and grout, it will block any outgassing from the vinyl. However, I’m concerned about glue adhering to the vinyl. I have always removed flooring down to the subfloor before installing new flooring

You can get ceramic tile flooring most of the time at Home Depot and Lowe’s for $1.50 a square foot, often even less. Not a lot of choices of color, but for a basement…

Also check out architectural salvage yards and second hand building materials stores run by Habitat for Humanity. You can get ceramic tile very cheap at these places.

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Question from housingsearch18

I have been looking for an apartment or house and found a place, and my major question has to do with the flooring.

I finally found hard flooring instead of carpet. However, it is pergo but it is 5-6 years old. Do you think that the pergo being 5-6 years old is probably okay for someone with MCS or how long does it generally take pergo to offgas? I know everyone is different but anyone have a guest on whether this is likely safe? I am told it was never sanded or refinished with toxic chemicals since it was installled.

I have been trying to get a month to month lease or some opportunity to sleep in the apartment prior to taking it but have not been successful. Does anyone know if this request could be a reasonable accomodation (assuming I pay any costs to stay there and extra costs incurred…) or not under the FHA?

Thanks,

Debra’s Answer

I can’t tell you definitively if 5-6 years is long enough for Pergo flooring to outgas. It would depend on the conditions. I would judge by how you felt being in the room or by having formaldehyde levels measured. It certainly would be less than new Pergo flooring.

I think it’s reasonable to be allowed to spend one night in the unit, especially if you pay for it, but I don’t know what your legal rights are.

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Question from KCribley

I recently read in a magazine a tip to help with odors and moisture: put some charcoal in a coffee can, attach the lid and punch holes in the coffee can, and place in a damp area.

My questions are: Is there a difference in the typical charcoal you can purchase? Is there a specific type one should use for this function? Is it effective? Is it safe (for children–no touching of course, but ok for breathing?)?

I’m wondering if anyone has any experience with using this as a desiccant in bathrooms.

Thanks for your help!

Debra’s Answer

Readers, any experience with this?

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In our continuing search for nontoxic homes, I couldn’t resist posting when I saw this: homes made of steel panels coated with porcelain enamel (like refrigerators), manufactured like cars and transported across the USA. Magnets or glued-on hooks used to hang pictures on metal walls.

Read more and see a photo at About.com: Lustron Homes

More photos: Google: Lustron Homes