Formaldehyde is most commonly found in adhesives used in home construction materials (particle board, fiberboard, plywood, laminant flooring), although it’s also used as a preservative in cosmetics like hair straighteners and even in clothing (that nice wrinkle-free collared shirt your husband wears may very well contain it).  While you may not be that concerned about the formaldehyde in your kitchen cabinets or furniture, you should know that it off-gases and is one of the contributors to poor indoor air quality.  An amendment to the Toxic Substances Control Act by President Obama last year would set limits on formaldehyde emissions from composite wood products that will go into effect in 2013.  Until then, you can improve your home’s indoor air quality by ventilating it as much as possible or by cleaning the air with certain indoor plants.

I recently checked out the book How to Grow Fresh Air from the library.  This book is a great resource for anyone interested in learning more about which plants can purify the air of toxins like formaldehyde.  Although I was disappointed to read that the author, Dr. B.C. Wolverton, doesn’t believe that opening your windows more often is a viable solution to poor indoor air quality, I did enjoy his thorough description of the various plants known to purify air of toxins as well as their pictures.  The first third of the book discusses why indoor air quality is poor and why plants can clean it, while the remainder details 50 plants you’ll want to get into your home.  Each plant is covered in two pages, one full-page picture and one page of text describing the plant.  They are organized by those that clean the air the best and are easiest to maintain, making this book super easy to take to your local nursery to assist you in plant shopping.

The best air-cleaning plants are Areca Palm, Lady Palm, Bamboo Palm, Rubber Plant, Dracaena “Janet Craig,”  English Ivy, Dwarf Date Palm, Ficus Alii, Boston Fern, Peace Lily, Corn Plant, and Golden Pothos.  With the help of this book, I just bought a few more plants for my house (including a lady palm and several dracaena) and love the way they look in my home.  Plus I get the peace of mind knowing that they are cleaning the air now that it’s too cool to open the windows regularly.

For cleaner indoor air, NASA research has found that an 1800 square-foot house should have 15-18 of the following plants in six to either inch diameter containers:

• English Ivy
• Spider Plant
• Golden pothos or Devil’s Ivy
• Peace lily
• Chinese evergreen
• Bamboo palm or Reed palm
• Snake plant or Mother-in-law’s tongue
• Heartleaf philodendron
• Selloum philodendron
• Elephant ear philodendron
• Red-edged dracaena
• Cornstalk dracaena
• Janet Craig dracaena
• Warneck dracaena
• Weeping fig
• Gerbera daisy or Barberton daisy
• Pot mom or Florist’s chrysanthemum
• Rubber plant

My 2500 sqaure foot home has one peace lily, four spider plants, and six pothos plants for a total of 11 air cleaning plants.  Looks like I need to double that.

For more, see my post on Cleaner Indoor Air.

Half of the hydrocarbons that contribute to ozone come from the actions of individuals.  Here are some tips about how to reduce ozone pollution:

1. Drive less.  Drive more slowly.
2. Refuel your car early in the morning or after 6pm.  Make sure the gas cap is tightened properly.
3. Conserve energy in your home by setting your thermostat to 76-78 degrees, drying clothes outside, using appliances less, turning off lights, running dishwasher/washing machine when full, etc.
4. Replace your gas powered mower with an electric one.  Make sure to mow early in the morning or in the evening.
5. Apply paint with rollers and brushes instead of sprayers to save paint and cut down on fumes.  Try to buy a low-VOC paint.
6. Consider staining your deck in the spring or fall instead of summer.

Check out this map of the U.S. to see current air quality.  You may also be able to find information in your local area about air quality.  I was able to sign up for daily emails to alert me when air quality is poor.  From now on, I will try to reduce my family’s outdoor activities on those days.

I can’t believe that there are still people out there who have never heard of volatile organic compounds (VOCs).  I don’t really expect the average person to have a strong enough chemistry background to understand that a volatile organic compound is anything containing carbon that is under high enough vapor pressure that it vaporizes into the air we breath.  But I am surprised that the average consumer is not very educated and that many people are making poor decisions for their health and the environment not because it’s cost effective or easier but rather out of sheer ignorance.  So I guess that’s where my blog comes in…

Painting your home seems like such a good idea–for less than $50, you can completely transform a room.  But conventional paints can contain thousands of chemicals and in addition to that nice color you like, they can also have benzene, toluene, vinyl chloride, formaldehyde, ethyl, mercury, cadmium, chromium, etc.  All of these chemicals vaporize into the air of the room you paint and are therefore VOCs.  The EPA lists the following health effects that VOCs cause: eye, nose, and throat irritation, headaches, loss of coordination, nausea, fatigue, dizziness, damage to liver, kidney, and central nervous system, and cancer in animals (some are suspected or known to cause cancer in humans).  VOCs also produce ozone, which causes air pollution and is linked to a whole host of human health issues like breathing problems and headaches, not to mention the effects on plants and our environment.  Some VOCs, such as formaldehyde and benzene, are highly toxic and known carcinogens. Some VOCs in paints are neurotoxins, such as toluene.  That’s a lot of risks to take for a little bit of color!

Fortunately, paint manufacturers are now making low VOC paints.  While the federal government has limited the VOC content of latex paints to 250 g/L, a green seal certified paint must have less than 50 g/L.  Here is a list of paints that are certified by Green Seal.  (In general, but not always, most manufacturers claiming their paints are low-VOC will have less than 50 g/L, even if not certified by Green Seal.)  There are also many other low-VOC paints not on that list, such as Duration from Sherwin Williams, and even the paint I saw in Restoration Hardware, while not advertised as low-VOC, had less than 50 g/L.  There are even no-VOC paints, such as FreshAire sold at Home Depot and Harmony from Sherwin Williams.  It is important to read the label for yourself to find out the VOC content though, as store clerks may be misinformed or paint manufacturers may be misleading (we all know that “natural” has a whole hosts of meanings when it comes to food and personal care products.  In the same way low-VOC can be more of a marketing term than an actual statement of fact.)  It is important for me to note that the VOC-content of paint is the paint itself and not the pigment that is later added.  Pigment also contains VOCs, with darker colors containing more.  According to Green Seal, some initial data indicate that paint pigment can add anywhere from 8 to 70 grams of VOCs.  Clearly this is significant, as a no VOC paint can potentially have 70 g/L after colorant is added.

The most important thing to do when painting, in addition to choosing a low-VOC paint, is to ventilate, ventilate, ventilate.  Open all your windows!  And keep them open as long as possible, even after the paint has dried.  According to Green Seal, paint emissions can continue for quite some time after paint is applied.  In fact, one 1999 study found that less than 50% of VOCs in applied latex paint are emitted in the first year.  So paint when the weather is warm, keep your windows open as much as possible, and keep doing that for as long as possible.  Since paint is not the only source of VOCs in your home, it’s a good idea to open your windows as much as you can year round, now just after you paint.

Sites worth visiting:

• http://www.greenhomeguide.com/index.php/knowhow/entry/750/C224
• http://home.howstuffworks.com/low-voc-paint.htm

I called up the company that is providing our granite and asked them about radon testing.  I was given a number for someone who will test my particular slab of granite for $200.  Online kits can be purchased for much cheaper, so I decided to call around and get another estimate and some more information.  The next three people I called all seemed to think that countertops emitting enough radon to pose a health threat was hype.  Perhaps hype created by competitors.  I was told by all three that the soil below your house is much more likely to release radon gas into your home than your granite countertops.  In fact, the EPA’s Citizen’s Guide to Radon makes no mention of granite countertops.  Several of the radon testers I spoke with suggested testing the actual air quality in my new home once it was complete for radon, rather than worrying about my countertops.  One quote for a radon test was $120, considerably lower than the quote to test the granite.  I also stumbled upon other “expert” opnions like this one from a New York State Department of Health researcher, Michael Kitto, who has tested more than 50 countertops.  He has been quoted as saying “Results indicate that many of the decorative stones are very low emitters of radon.  A few stones emit slightly more radon, and only one stone in the study emitted a substantial amount of radon. While nearly all granites emit radon, the amount produced in a kitchen from the granite is less than in outdoor air.”

So while we plan to still have granite countertops in our new home, I will also be looking into regular testing for radon.  And I will be opening my windows as much as possible–something that is always a good idea but especially in a new home that’s bound to be off-gassing lots of VOCs.  (More to come on this issue as I am currently researching low- and no-VOC paints…)

The good news is that cleaning your home’s air doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive. No need to worry about a fancy air filter, which usually won’t remove VOCs anyways. Since outdoor air is cleaner than indoor air, simply open your windows. This is an especially good idea on cool summer nights–open the windows and turn off the AC. You’ll wake up to a cooler home with fresher air. But what can be done when the temperature outside doesn’t really allow for open windows? You can fill your home with air cleaning plants.

Several varieties of indoor houseplants can clean your air, removing dangerous pollutants such as formaldehyde and benzene (a known human carcinogen). According to B.C. Wolverton, Ph.D., a scientist involved in the NASA sponsored Clean Air Study³ to find ways to make the space station inhabitable, plants can remove up to 99% of toxins from polluted indoor air under controlled conditions. “We’ve taken plants, put them in sealed chambers and exposed them to literally hundreds of chemicals. We’ve found that the plants literally suck these chemicals out of the air.” Plants absorb pollutants into their leaves and convert the toxins into food for the plant⁴. Microbes in the plant’s roots also help clean the air, as do microorganisms in the soil³. Certain plants are better at absorbing specific chemicals. For example, rubber plants and spider plants remove formaldehyde, while chrysanthemums work well against the toxins in new paint and the benzene from new plastics. Pothos plants are good all-around air cleaners. A German study in 1994 found that one spider plant could detoxify a 100 cubic foot room of formaldehyde in six hours⁵. Wolverton believes that palm and fern families are among the best filters, and his personal favorite plants for ease of care and filtering capabilities include lady palm, peace lily and “Janet Craig” dracaena⁴. Even pretty flowering plants like mums and gerbera daises can clean your home’s air.

The following plants have all been shown to clean indoor air–aloe vera, areca palm, australian sword fern, bamboo palm, boston fern, chinese evergreen, chrysanthemum, cornstalk dracaena, devils ivy, dragon tree, dwarf date palm, english ivy, ficus alii, gerbera daisy, “janet craig” dracaena, lady palm, mums (flowering), peace lily, philodendron (including heartleaf, selloum, and elephant ear varieties), pothos, reed palm, rubber plant, striped dracaena, snake plant, spider plant, warneck dracaena, and weeping fig. NASA recommends using 15-18 good-sized plants in an 1800 square-foot home. It’s important to concentrate the plants in rooms where you spend the most time, particularly your bedroom. Also consider bringing a few potted plants to your office, as many office-buildings lack good ventilation and contain just as many, if not more, sources of air pollution as your home. Remember that even though house plants can clean the air, the EPA still recommends “source control” as the best method to improve indoor air quality. This means trying to reduce the products in your home that are producing the pollution in the first place. Research products before purchasing them, research materials before remodeling, use safer household cleaners (check here soon for an article on this topic), never use pesticides in your home, don’t use air fresheners, always provide proper ventilation when painting or cleaning, “air out” new home furnishings or products before bringing them into your home, etc. So open your windows, add potted houseplants to your home, be aware of the indoor sources of VOCs and dangerous pollutants, and hopefully we can all enjoy cleaner indoor air!

sites worth visiting:

• http://www.answers.com/topic/list-of-air-filtering-plants
• http://healthychild.org/5steps/5_steps_3/#what_to_do
• http://www.houseofplants.co.uk/healthbenefits.html

1. http://www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/insidest.html, Accessed 9/3/07.

2. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Air and Radiation. Report to Congress on Indoor Air Quality, Volume II: Assessment and Control of Indoor Air Pollution, pp. I, 4-14. EPA 400-1-89-001C, 1989.

3. http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/ssctrs.ssc.nasa.gov/foliage_air/foliage_air.pdf, Accessed 9/3/07.

4. Wolverton, B. C. How To Grow Fresh Air: 50 Houseplants that Purify Your Home or Office. Penguin Books, 1996.

5. Giese, M. et al. Detoxification of Formaldehyde by the Spider Plant (Chlorophytum comosum L.) and by Soybean (Glycine max L.) Cell-Suspension Cultures. Plant Physiol. 1994 April; 104(4): 1301–1309.