HEALTHY HOUSE
Michael Holigan: Foree Hunsicker is known worldwide for the sterling silver and beaded jewelry she designs, but what many don't know is that she gave up her first profession because it was making her sick.
Foree Hunsicker: I was trained to be an oil painter and the more I oil painted the more my son and I both had these weird symptoms of either equilibrium problem or fatigue or some such as that.
MH: The problem with Foree's oil painting turned out to be the same problem some allergy-proned people face with traditional building materials. In particular, synthetic carpeting, manmade wood products like fiberboard, oil based wall and floor treatments and gas appliances. These four general categories of household products can cause problems because they release volatile organic compound, or VOC's.
Gary Olp: Volatile Organic Compounds are compounds that are primarily based on the petroleum, on petroleum chemistry. They come from petroleum byproducts. They're very toxic.
MH: Gary Olp is an architect. He designs or modifies homes for people who are chemically sensitive, have allergies or just want to limit their exposures to the glues and solvents used in building materials.
GO: We tend to be exposed to those in low quantities from a phenomenon called offgasing. Over time those solvents that are used to make the product evaporate or offgas out into the environment into a different pressure environment. So, when they put down a new carpet and you notice that smell, those are the solvents that are airing out or evaporating from that product. When they put new paint on the wall and you notice that new paint smell, same thing.
MH: Later on we'll show you the beautiful home Foree Hunsicker created using less toxic products. They are some of the same alternatives Mary Anne Greene began using after being exposed to chemicals in a previous job.
Mary Anne Greene: Clinical tests showed that that stuff was stored in my body 11 years after I did the work. For me, what I would get with paint, specifically, would be spasms in my muscles, especially my back and my neck.
MH: For their new addition Mary Anne and husband, Stan, are using a wall primer and paint that contains low VOC's and no formaldehyde. Formaldehyde is common in home products and can irritate chemically sensitive people. Many manufacturers are now producing sealers, caulks, adhesives that have low VOC's. It should be clearly marked on the label itself. You might even find some with no formaldehyde or low odor. A very strong odor is a big warning sign for chemically sensitive people. There is even a foil-backed wallpaper that doesn't have formaldehyde and it can be installed without petroleum-based glues. In homes where manmade board is used in floors or cabinets some homeowners sensitive to the glues will apply a sealer to prevent the vapors from offgasing into the house. The Greenes are applying a sealer over their plywood subfloor. Architect, Gary Olp, recommends they take another protective step.
GO: So, what you want to do is put a good vapor barrier down on this before you go forward with a floor material.
MH: In this case the so-called vapor barrier is a building paper that's moisture-proof. The Greene's place it on top of their subfloor. Then they nail the hardwood on top. The paper keeps out mold and insects that can cause allergies and it prevents any remaining chemical vapors from seeping through. Some of these healthy home products make cost a little more than the traditional ones, but the Greenes say they save in the long run.
Stan Greene: And it's a whole lot cheaper than doctor bills, too.
MH: Both the Greene's home and Foree Hunsicker's showplace are proof using less toxic materials doesn't mean sacrificing style.
FH: The most important thing was to use a waterbase paint on the wall.
MH: Foree found a blue low VOC paint for her living room wall. She used a wool carpet, not a synthetic one, over natural hardwood floors. She has electric, not gas, appliances, tile counters and hardwood cabinets instead of those manmade woods and laminates. Not everyone has the sensitivities that Foree and Mary Anne have, but even if you do, your home can still have the appeal of an artist's palette.
FH: But, I think some take the line of least resistance and settle for the white everything and the this everything. I just wasn't going to do it.
Contacts:
American Environmental 800-428-2343
American Lung Association 612-885-0338
www.healthhouse.org
Episode 61 1997 - 98 Season
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