Indoor Air Quality: Part 1
Some
suggestions that you could give your clients to follow in
their homes !
1.
Advise your clients to buy paints, cleaners and solvents
not by the drum loads but just enough for their immediate
use.
2.
Tell your clients to store paints and solvents in a separate
building, in a well ventilated area.
3. Inform your clients about recycling options for
old and unwanted paints and solvents.
4. Advise them to seal sources (such as particle
board) with impermeable barriers like polyurethane varnish
or latex paint.
5. Any time your client goes in for new upholstery,
carpets, curtains or has the interiors painted, advise him
/ her to let a few months pass before occupying the place.
This is because the time gap helps to reduce the likelihood
of VOCs being inhaled.
6. If there is painting being planned or a major
interior decoration venture being planned in the house,
it is best that both the pets and kids be left in a boarding
place or at a friend's or relative's place for a few months
until the entire work is completed. If the pets live outdoors
in kennels and if a new coat of paint is being added, a
similar precaution in waiting for a few months before letting
the pet live in the kennel may be a wise option.
7. Advise your clients to steam clean carpets and
to cover mattress and pillows with plastic zipper covers
and clean regularly. All pillow and mattress pads should
be regularly hot washed with wash temperature being at least
55º C.
8. Tell them not to allow smoking in the house. One
of the world's worst cancer-causing chemicals, benzo[a]pyrene
is present in cigarette smoke.
9. Tell your clients to avoid using fabrics for themselves
or their pets that need to be dry cleaned. Advise them to
be careful even about carrying dry cleaned clothes home.
If the dry cleaned clothes have a strong smell, advise them
to leave them out in the open, in the garden for at least
a few hours before it is kept in the cupboard.
10. You could also advise your clients to have Carbon
Monoxide (CO) detectors to be installed in their homes.
Advise
your clients to grow plants: nature's own vacuum cleaners
and detoxifiers!
A study carried out by Wolverton and other investigators,
at NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center, Bay St. Louis has
given very interesting results. Several commonly grown ornamental
plants have been found to be helpful in reducing indoor
air pollution. Philodendron, spider plant and the golden
pothos have been found to be more effective in removing
formaldehyde molecules. Flowering plants such as gerbera,
daisy and chrysanthemums have been found to be effective
in removing benzene from the air.
Some
common Indoor Carcinogens and their popular uses
Most of the compounds listed in this table are known carcinogens
both for humans and animals. In lower doses, they cause
strong respiratory irritation, gastrointestinal dysfunction
and other symptoms:
-
1-Aminonaphthalene : Uses: dyes,rubber, and weed control.
-
Formaldehyde:
Uses: fertilizer, dyes, disinfectants, germicides, preservatives
-
Acetaldehyde:
Uses: silvering of mirrors, leather tanning, fuel, glue,
dyes, plastics and synthetic rubbers.
-
Acrolein
: Uses: polyurethane manufacture, polyester resins, herbicides
and tear gas.
-
Methyl
ethyl ketone : Uses: Solvents, resins, artificial leather,
rubbers, lacquers, varnishes and glues.
-
Butyraldehyde
:Uses: resins, solvents and plasticizers.
-
Hydrogen
cyanide : Uses: fumigation, insecticide, electroplating,
metallurgy and photography.
-
Nickel
: Uses: stainless steel, alloys, electroplating, coinage,
and alkaline batteries.
-
Lead: Uses: alloys, paint pigments, storage batteries,
glass, plastics, and ceramics.
-
Cadmium:
Uses: metal coatings, bearings, reactor control rods,
storage batteries, television phosphors, semiconductors,
pigments, and dry film lubricants.
-
Pyridine:
Uses: solvents, pesticides and resins.
-
Quinoline:
Uses dyes, catalysts, insecticides, herbicides, corrosion
inhibitors
-
Hydroquinone
: Uses : rubber production, photography, paints, varnishes
and in motor fuel. " Resorcinol: Uses: tanning, photography,
resins, dyes, laminates and adhesives.
-
Catechol
: Uses: photography, rubber, dye, oil, insecticides, and
inks.
-
Phenol:
Uses: phenol include chemicals and drugs, disinfectants,
germicidal paints
-
Cresol:
Uses: ore flotation, disinfectants, synthetic resins,
dyes, fumigants, and explosives.
-
Nicotine:Uses:
(besides tobacco) include insecticides (now mostly banned)
and as tranquilizing darts for wildlife.
-
3-Butadiene:
Uses: synthetic rubber and tire manufacture.
-
Acrylonitrile:
Uses : bottles and as a fumigant for tobacco.
-
Benzene:
Uses: manufacture of inks,rubber, lacquers and paint removers.
-
Toluene:
Uses: rubbers, oils, resins, adhesives, inks, detergents,
dyes, and explosives.
-
Styrene:
Uses: plastics, coatings, polyesters, resins, and synthetic
rubbers.
-
Sodium
lauryl sulfate: Uses: shampoos and detergents. It is often
combined with TEA (triethanolamine), DEA (diethanolamine),
or MEA (monnoethanolamine), which can cause the formation
of the carcinogenic nitrosamines.
-
Trichloroethylene
(TCE): Uses in printing inks, paints, lacquers, varnishes,
and adhesives.
-
Benzene
: Uses: gasoline, inks, oils, paints, plastics, and rubber,
manufacture of detergents, explosives, pharmaceuticals,
and dyes.
Check
out your own PC Quotient
Do
a PC check on yourself!
1.
How old is the home that you are staying in?
a. 6 months - 2 years
b. 5 years - 10 years
c. 10 -15 years
d. 20 years and more
2.
What kind of paint have you used on the walls of your home
/ clinic / hospital / office?
a. There's a small bit of lead in the paint
b. The low VOC brand is what I always use
c. The no VOC brand is what I use
d. I use only casein based or orange peel oil based paints
3.
If you find that the hospital which you now run has asbestos
fibers, then the first step you take will be to:
a. Check if the asbestos fibers are fraying or crumbling
b. Forget about it! Asbestos is just one of the many environmental
carcinogens
c. Make a visual check of the hot water pipes and furnace
air ducts
d. Consult an environmental consultant who can handle all
this stuff
4.
Benzo[a]pyrene is
a. Some kind of harmless coal tar dye with a couple of benzene
rings
b. One of the most powerful environmental carcinogens known
till date
c. Is absent in cigarette smoke
d. Is present in cigarette smoke
5.
The term recycled paint refers to:
a. Old paint scraped and sponged out directly off the walls
treated and packaged as new paint
b. Old paint that is thrown in to waste-fills that is chemically
treated and then remixed with some percentage of fresh, new
paint, packaged and resold
c. Paint that is free of lead and mercury
d. Paint that may or may not be free of lead, mercury and
VOCs.
We leave
it to you the reader to decide on your PC Quotient. Read the
article carefully and correctly.
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