Question from nukuspot

We have just done an energy audit on our house using the local Green Building company. We have a lot of air coming in from our crawlspace through our floors, and that is the main place we need to seal up to healthier indoor air as well as energy savings. Currently we just have Eco Batt fiberglass batts as insulation under there.

Our choices to seal the area (as per our builder) are to take down the current fiberglass and tape and caulk the gaps in the floor from the crawlspace side, then either 1.) Just put the Eco Batt back up (which would not totally seal the area but would help) 2.) Tape and caulk then apply rigid polystyrene foam boards (EPS) then put the Eco Batt back up. 3.) Take down the fiberglass and use a PU (polyurethane spray foam) product called Spraytite by BASF. The builder would like to do this option since it would totally seal the area and make it air tight. He firmly believes that after a 24 hour period of ‘curing” in which we would have to vacate the home, it is totally non-toxic and safe for chemically sensitive individuals. The BASF folks also tout this product as being safe for chemically sensitive people.

http://www.spf.basf.com/DOCS/ResidentialBrochures/363-3136BSPRAYTITEFAQsforHomeowners.pdf

Even with all this reassurance it will be safe for me (I don’t have MCS but am extremely sensitive to chemicals) I have severe reservations about using the PU spray foam. I hope someone might have some information that might help me in my decision making process. Thank you!

Debra’s Answer

Well, it looks to be nontoxic from the description at the given URL.

Anyone have any experience with this product?

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Question from Cheryl3

I love certain muffins and just realized they are sold in plastic #7 containers. Would the muffins absorb the toxins at a harmful level or is it just liquids that would be vulnerable? Thanks.

Debra’s Answer

It’s hard to say what toxic chemicals might be leaching from a #7 plastic container. The number is to identify the plastic for recycling purposes, not toxicity.

The type of plastic for number #7 is “other.” Plastic #7 is the code assigned to any plastic that does not fit into the other six well-defined categories of recyclable material.

Plastic #7 includes two main types: acrylonitrile styrene or styrene acrylonitrile (AS/SAN), and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS). But plastic #7 might also be polycarbonate that leaches Bisphenol-A (BPA).

Or plastic #7 could be one the new bio-based plastics that use corn, potato or sugar derivatives.

Personally, I prepare food from fresh raw ingredients as much as possible, to avoid exposures from unknown packaging.

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Question from Cheryl3

Hi Debra and all,

Besides the price, the Miele vacuums all seem heavier than I can manage. I need to vacuum the carpeting on a regular basis and can’t handle heavy awkward appliances. So, does anyone know of a lightweight, upright, bagged, HEPA sealed vacuum with good suction and no triclosan? After reading several reviews I can’t find one that seems healthy and light. Or, if it has to be bag less, I might be able to work with it, but I’m concerned about dust spewing when I open it since it wouldn’t be contained in a bag. Thanks for your help.

Debra’s Answer

Readers, any suggestions?

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Question from jiwaskow

Does anyone with chemical sensitivity have experience using Vermont Natural Coatings for finishing/sealing doors, floors, wood trim and furniture?

Also wondering if anyone knows about the company OSMO for exterior staining and sealing?

Thanks!

Jill

Debra’s Answer

I love Vermont Natural Coatings, however, I would not consider myself to be as sensitive as I know many of my readers are.

So readers, have any of you used these products?

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Question from guspvt

Hi Debra!

I want to purchase a filter that eliminates (or at least reduce) Fluoride / Hydrofluorosilicic Acid in my tap water and I don’t want to use a Reverse Osmosis or Distillation filter.

So, I narrowed my search down to 5 filters, of different brands, and they all claim they eliminate Fluoride / Hydrofluorosilicic Acid using Aluminum (or Activated Alumina).

Concerned about Aluminum/Alumina leaching into the water, I asked the manufacturers if this leaching would occur, and they all said it wouldn’t. But Debra, my main concern (and the reason I’m asking for your help) is: How can I rest assured that the Aluminum/Alumina will NOT leach into the water I’ll be drinking? Do you know if this leaching will NOT occur? I’m afraid I might be exchanging Fluoride for Aluminum, and that’s not a good trade-off at all in my opinion.

Thanks!

Gustavo

Debra’s Answer

First of all, fluoride is NOT easily removed from water. There are only a handful of ways to remove it.

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Question from onlythegreen2

I am looking to purchase a denture adhesive, and I can’t seem to find any that are completely non-toxic. Even the BioForce SECURE brand has polyvinyl acetate in it, yet it’s listed on many non-toxic/health-related websites as a safe choice. Debra, do you or any of your readers know of any brands that don’t have harmful ingredients? Does anyone make their own denture adhesive (I’ve heard peanut butter–what a mess that would be!). Thanks!

Debra’s Answer

Readers, any suggestions?

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Question from HEG

For the past 5 months there is a faint strange smell all over my office building floor (not the flooring itself but just on our level). Many people don’t smell it at all and of those of us who do smell it we do so to varying degrees. We can’t pinpoint exactly what it is but some of us think it smells like over-heated plastic (which we all know is very toxic). It is intermittent and is often worst in the mornings. We work at a university and have alerted our building managment, operations, and the department of environmental health and safty but no one has been able to identify the source, and most of them can’t even smell it. They looked in the electrical room and in the AC room and did not notice anything obviously problematic. Does anyone have any recommendations regarding what they can check and what we can do? Thank you.

Debra’s Answer

It sounds like something is being used in a room on an intermittent basis, and the odor is getting into the central system and being distributed.

Since it is worse in the mornings, I would probably spend the night in the building. If the smell occurs, it would be easier to track it down when it starts than after the fact.

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Question from wigo

I am senstive to Flouride and Chlorine/Chloramine and am therefore looking for a water filter solution for my house. Ideally we would like a steam destillation system made of glass. We would then add small amounts of Himalayan mineral salts to the water in order to remineralize it and prevent it from leaching minerals. As a second step we would need a carbon block filter to remove Chloramine and a Bone Char filter to remove Flouride.

I’ve been looking at different solutions on the web, but haven’t found anything that comes close to the ideal solution.

Do you have any recommendation where we could look for such a filtration system? Do they exist?

If we can’t find one for the whole house we would consider alternatives, such as a smaller scale glass destillation filter just for our drinking water and the Chloramine and Flouride filter for the whole house. Do you have any manufacturer recommendations for us?

Thank you so much, your book Home Safe Home is a life saver.

Wigo

Debra’s Answer

You have a good idea, but I don’t see that there could be a whole house water distiller.

A water distiller works very slowly. It has to boil the water, then steam rises, and the steam condenses into water that does not contain any solids, which were left behind when the water turned to steam. You just couldn’t make enough water for all your household needs in the time period in which you would use it up.

There is, however, a great little glass water distiller that I used for many years, called the Rain Crystal. The reason I stopped using it is because we moved from California to Florida where there is much more dissolved solids in the water. It the first month of use, it completely clogged the distiller and we couldn’t clean it. In retrospect, had we known, we could have gotten a sediment prefilter and that probably would have handled it.

But I’m a little confused. You said you are sensitive to chloramine and fluoride. If you got a whole house chloramine and fluoride filter, why the distiller? What are you expecting it to remove?

Distillers primarily kill microorganisms and remove solids. Some volatile gases escape with the steam, but since distillers concentrate steam back into water, they would also concentrate the gasses back into the water.

It’s important to know what’s in your water and know what you want to remove before you buy a filter. You can get your water tested at watercheck.com.

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Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are being widely promoted as having better energy efficiency than other lighting sources, and as being more environmentally friendly because they do not contain mercury.

But this is a case where a product does not contain one toxic substance, but does contain others.

A new study done by UC Irvine showed that LED bulbs contain various levels of arsenic, lead, and nickels, and should be classified as household hazardous waste. If disposed as regular landfill trash, these bulbs could leach these metals into soil and water when they are crushed and broken.

Researchers determined there is little toxic exposure when using unbroken bulbs at home.

At least they are more difficult to break than compact fluorescents.

Eco-friendly bulbs loaded with lead, arsenic

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Question from svw

We need to replace the front windshield in the automobile we are using. Any advice for someone with mcs would be appreciated. Thanks s

Debra’s Answer

Readers, any suggestions? I have no experience with this.

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