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It's official: Staying home is hazardous to your health. Toxins
found in the home injured 789,000 Americans between 1992 and 1995,
and new research suggests that this figure is underestimated.
"Toxins in U.S. homes now account for 90 percent of all reported
poisonings each year," says Rose Ann Soloway, administrator of
the American Association of Poison Control Centers. That's an
epidemic of hazardous living by any standard. And while these
figures include everything from non-fatal aspirin overdoses to
the deadly consumption of drain cleaners, they fail to include
long-term exposure to toxins like lead and asbestos.
To address the climbing domestic injury rates associated with
household toxins, Congress and the Centers for Disease Control
(CDC) in 1992 created the Unintentional Injury Center to focus
on the health dangers of consumer goods and modern home living.
Other federal agencies are following suit. The Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) now has branches which deal with home indoor air
quality, lead exposure and ubiquitous low-level toxicity, and
the Department of Housing and Urban Development publishes a pollution
look-out list for first-time homebuyers.
The short list of toxins under your roof may surprise you:
* Formaldehyde offgasses (evaporates)
from cushions, particleboard and adhesives used to manufacture
most inexpensive wood-based products. Carpets and carpet cushions
may also offgas formaldehyde, causing eye and upper respiratory
irritation. According to the EPA, formaldehyde may even cause
cancer;
* Radon is the second-leading
cause of lung cancer in the U.S., warns the Surgeon General. Radon
is a natural radioactive gas which can seep into homes through
cracks in the basement, the surrounding foundation, and in well
water. It enters the body quietly through the airway;
* Lead keeps epidemiologists
returning to the drawing board, says Soloway, "mostly because
we know more now about the adverse effects of low-level exposure."
Levels once thought to be acceptable are now known contributors
to learning disabilities and behavioral problems. Lead is found
in paint in older houses, old plumbing, and soil near highways
and busy roads. It causes neurological and kidney damage, high
blood pressure, disrupted blood cell production, and reproductive
problems;
| * Carbon monoxide
will kill an estimated 660 Americans this year. Don't
look for exhaust fumes in the attached garage; the biggest
culprit is the unserviced furnace burning propane, natural
gas, butane or oil; |
* Carbon monoxide will kill
an estimated 660 Americans this year. Don't look for exhaust fumes
in the attached garage; the biggest culprit is the unserviced
furnace burning propane, butane or oil;
* Arsenic is still laced
in many household pesticides and is increasingly used as a wood
preservative. Low levels of inorganic arsenic "may increase
lung cancer risk," according to the CDC. The Department of
Health and Human Services agrees, adding arsenic compounds to
the list of known carcinogens;
* Vinyl chloride is the source
of "new car smell": The plastic interior of a new car
offgasses this known carcinogen. Water sitting in PVC pipes overnight
may be steeping into a toxic tea. Very large exposures can lead
to "vinyl chloride disease," which causes severe liver
damage and ballooning of the fingertips;
* Hydrofluoric acid "can
cause intense pain and damage to tissues and bone if the recommended
gloves happen to have holes in them," says Soloway. This
highly corrosive substance is the active ingredient in many household
rust removers;
But even the most liberal list of
known toxins pales next to the order of volatile organic compounds
(VOCs). VOCs comprise hundreds of natural and man-made, carbon-based
agents. They react quickly with other carbon-based compounds,
and evaporate easily, making them ideal solvents. VOCs can be
found in disinfectants and pesticides too.
* Solvents: Benzene and methyl
ethyl ketone traverse cell walls unchecked by normal cell defenses.
Both are known carcinogens. Cousins toluene, xylene, 1,1,1-trichloroethane
(TCA) and trichloroethylene (TCE) make up the lion's share of
the solvent market;
* Disinfectants: Phenols,
which include biphenyl, phenolics and the preservative pentachloraphenol,
are found in disinfectants, antiseptics, perfumes, mouthwashes,
glues and air fresheners;
* Pesticides: Chlordane,
aldrin, dieldrin, though all banned for nearly two decades, continue
to show up airborne in older houses.
Don't be a statistical figure on
the CDC's tracking list: Be aware of what substances, from pesticides
to cleaners, pose real threats in your household. Maintain ingredient
awareness. Many poisonings still occur because of product combinations,
like the ammonia-chlorine bleach reaction, which produces the
deadly respiratory irritant chloramine (a problem labeling practices
have not addressed). Replace toxic agents with non-toxic alternatives.
Above all, educate your household to reduce risk and exposure.
For practical ideas on reducing risk,
consult the following books: Living Healthy in a Toxic World
by David Steinman and R. Michael Wisner (Berkley, 1996);
Toxins A-Z: A Guide to Everyday Pollution Hazards by
John Harte, Cheryl Holdren, Richard Schneider, and Christine Shirley
(University of California, 1991); Home Safe Home: Protecting
Yourself and Your Family from Everyday Toxics and Harmful Household
Products by Debra L. Dadd (Putnam, 1997).
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