The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services added 12 substances to their list of known human carcinogens, including formaldehyde and styrene, this month. Styrene is a precurser to the plastic polystyrene, or PS (#6), which is one of the most commonly produced plastics in the world. Several billion kilograms of the stuff is produced [...]
Archive for the ‘Air quality’ Category
10 Oct
Growing Fresh Air
I have previously posted how poor indoor air quality can be but how the right plants can help clean and purify your home’s air. As the weather cools, I’ve been again motivated to examine this great way to keep indoor air clean. I recently checked out the book How to Grow Fresh Air from the [...]
13 Jan
Plants that clean the air
Indoor air quality is often 2-5 times worse than outdoor air. One of the best ways to keep your indoor air clean is to open your windows when possible. But in the cool winter, you can also use plants to freshen indoor air. Some plants have been found to purify the air of contaminants like [...]
28 Jul
Summer air quality
I went to a presentation last night on summer air quality in my city. Apparently, we have failed federal air standards for the past three years due to our high amounts of ozone (carbon monoxide, lead, particulate matter, nitrogen oxide and other pollutants were in compliance). Ozone is produced when volatile organic compounds (VOCs) mix [...]
3 Jun
Zero VOC paint
We just tried our first zero VOC paint. The paint base has no VOCs and the colorant is also free of VOCs. There aren’t many paints on the market that use a no-VOC colorant so I was really excited to try it. I thought the paint was great. It covered well and I was happy [...]
24 Mar
Low VOC paint
I ran into a neighbor at the local pub over the weekend and mentioned that we had been painting over the weekend. She said she was going to paint soon too and we started talking about it. I mentioned that the low-VOC paints we had used were on sale until the end of the month, [...]
9 Mar
Open your windows!
As the weather warms up, I’d like to remind you to open your windows! Indoor air quality can be very poor and almost always, the air outside is cleaner. So if it’s a nice day, take the opportunity to open your windows and air out your house. I have been really diligent about this for [...]
11 Sep
Countertops might be a health threat?
Recently, there have been a few articles in the press about granite countertops emitting radon. Radon is a radioactive gas that is released from the natural stone when the uranium in it decays. But would this be enough radon to harm the health of the people living in a home with granite countertops? Radon is [...]
5 Sep
Cleaner Indoor Air
Did you know that according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), indoor air quality has been shown to be 2-5 times (even up to 100 times) more polluted than outdoor air? Thanks to airtight homes, harsh cleaning chemicals, and houses filled with substances that emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and other pollutants, our indoor air [...]
30 Aug
Welcome!
Welcome to my new blog. I am a mother to a two year old boy with another on the way. I take my health, and that of my family, very seriously. This blog is my attempt to share some of the information I’ve researched over the years with others. Hope you find the articles and [...]
