Question from Laura
Can laundry fumes permeate the ceiling and go into the room above? I have extreme MCS, do not work, and am living in my parents beautiful, but toxic, house. I sleep on synthetic carpet (I can’t even sit on the two regular beds in the room) above the laundry room where “regular” products are used. Recently it seems that I smell the fumes in that space where my bedding is and the last few months my eyes are irritated whenever I am here. I keep the window that is near the exhaust vent always closed and my bedding and clothes I wash by hand in borax and baking soda. I can’t even sit on chairs where people who are wearing laundered clothes have been sitting. Can the fumes permeate the ceiling?
Debra’s Answer
My sense is that they can. I think that a ceiling with a floor above is not particularly constructed to act as a vapor barrier, but it really depends on how the particular floor/ceiling is constructed. All the materials that would be generally used would be porous (i.e. wood, insulation, etc). Fumes would not get through if there was an aluminum foil layer (like might be on insulation) or some kind of vapor barrier. So it really depends on the materials used and how the floor/ceiling was constructed.
