When you think of deadly pollution hazards, what image comes to mind? Probably smoke stacks belching black smoke, maybe men in hazardous materials suits, perhaps rusting barrels of toxic waste. You don't think about your own home.

However, scientists say that air inside the home is the ordinary person's most likely exposure route to toxic substances. Environmental toxicology experts say houses and apartments often carry higher levels of chemical exposure than would be legally allowed at most worksites. A typical American home contains sixty-three hazardous products-including such everyday products as air fresheners, drain cleaners, bug spray, rubber cement, spot removers, antifreeze, fertilizers, paint, toilet bowl cleaners, and cleansers for windows, floors and ovens.

D. Lindsey Berkson, an Austin-based lecturer and researcher for Tulane University who specializes in chemical effects on the human endocrine system, and author of Hormone Deception, says, "The bad news is pollution is where your home is. But the good news is pollution is where your home is-because you can do a lot of things in your own home to reduce pollution."

Recent studies show that Americans spend a lot of time inside-about ninety percent of the time, on average. Richard Corsi, PhD, and associate professor of civil engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, says, "On average, Americans spend approximately two-thirds of their indoor time in the home. Those that spend the most time in the home include the most susceptible to indoor air pollution: young children, pregnant women, the chronically ill, and the elderly."

The personal risks involved turn out to be far from trivial. The health maladies traceable to indoor air pollution include asthma, allergic reactions, cancer, birth defects, and reproductive disorders.

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that biological air contaminants inside houses, like dust mites, animal and human skin dander, bacteria, and molds, are responsible for more than two hundred thousand emergency room visits for asthma attacks. Many of these asthma sufferers are children. So far from being a minor irritation or a figment of hypochondriac imaginations, indoor air can be deadly.

The EPA systematically monitored the toxic exposures of three thousand people in fourteen states between 1980 and 1990. Corsi, who is director of the Texas Institute for the Indoor Environment, says the "study indicated that indoor levels of many potentially toxic organic compounds are typically two to five times-and as much as hundreds of times-greater indoors than outdoors. Similar results have been observed in various building environments around the world."

The "C" word

Cancer, a modern scourge, is the out-of-control reproduction of cells in the body. A staggering variety of common household products have been linked to cancer. In her book Living Downstream: A Scientist's Personal Investigation of Cancer and the Environment, biologist and cancer survivor Sandra Steingraber says, "All types combined, the incidence of cancer rose forty-nine-point-three percent between 1950 and 1961…(Excluding lung cancer the) overall incidence still rose by thirty-five percent. Cancer is now the second leading cause of death overall, and the leading cause of death among Americans aged thirty-five to sixty-four."

EPA estimates that three thousand lung cancer deaths among nonsmokers happen every year caused by indoor second-hand tobacco smoke.

Steingraber points out that many of the cancers now surging in incidence-affecting the brain, bone marrow, lymph nodes, skin and testicles-"are not related to smoking." Breast cancer, she says, "remains at the highest level ever recorded."

Richard Corsi says, "It has been estimated that indoor pesticides and VOCs (volatile organic compounds) contribute as many as three thousand cancers per year in the United States.

"Radon a radioactive gas, and its decay products are now believed to be the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States, behind only mainstream cigarette smoke. The National Research Council estimates that exposure to the radioactive decay products of radon is responsible for fifteen thousand to twenty-one thousand lung cancer deaths per year in the United States."

The UN World Health Organization attributes at least eighty percent of all cancer cases to environmental causes. "Environmental" in this case includes lifestyle choices-what you eat, whether you smoke, exposure to bad indoor air, and other factors. These might not be informed choices, however, if one does not know what is carcinogenic. If someone must take extraordinary action to avoid food, water or air that is contaminated, then it stretches matters to call that a "choice." Nevertheless, empowered with information, consumers can begin take effective actions to protect themselves.

Poisonous plastics

Plastics manufactured with chlorine-particularly polyvinyl chloride-have come under fire by the environmental advocacy group Greenpeace for their carcinogenic properties. These include products like garden hoses, credit cards, lawn furniture, home siding, flooring, children's toys, even food packaging.

According to Greenpeace, "Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is unique in its high chlorine and additives content, which makes it an environmental poison throughout its life cycle. Vinyl chloride is a known human carcinogen. PVC releases dioxin and other persistent organic pollutants during its manufacture and disposal and cannot be readily recycled due to its chlorine and additive content. Furthermore, additives are not bound to the plastic and leach out."

Chlorinated hydrocarbons like PVC and pesticides can also mimic human hormones, damaging the reproductive system. This may result in infertility, suppressed ovulation, testicular damage, reduced sperm count, and abnormal development of the male reproductive tract. These "endocrine disruptors" also raise the specter of inheritable genetic damage from exposure.

Most direct dangers in the home from PVC are usually thought to be due to the additives. These phthalates, as they are called, give strength and flexibility to substances that would otherwise be stiff and brittle. Phthalates can readily leach out of the products. Lindsey Berkson says, "If you microwave foods in plastic, you are asking for trouble." These plasticizers are known carcinogens in laboratory animals, causing liver cancer and kidney damage. Phthalates are endocrine disruptors as well. PVC accounts for about ninety percent of total phthalate consumption.

The Swedish National Testing and Research Institute published a study last October that found a "striking" correlation between phthalates used in vinyl flooring and a large increase in child allergy and asthma cases over the last thirty years.

More than half the PVC manufactured gets used in construction. Greenpeace wants to purge PVC altogether from the consumer marketplace. Bill Walsh of the Healthy Building Network, a national group that advocates less toxic building practices, says, "For every PVC product there are adequate alternatives." Safer alternatives include paper, wood, ceramics, and less environmentally damaging plastics.

Our most vulnerable family members

The Austin-based Children's Environmental Health Institute (CEHI) states, "Young children breathe more rapidly and take in more air in proportion to their body weight than do adults. They also have higher metabolic rates and a higher proportionate intake of food and liquid than do adults. The average infant's daily consumption of six ounces of liquid per kilogram of body weight is equivalent to an adult male drinking fifty, eight-ounce glasses of liquid a day."

Author Lindsey Berkson says the developing fetus and the infant are especially at risk. "Everything that a mother has accumulated in her body-fifty (percent) to eighty percent of it, downloads into the baby breastfeeding, and a lot of it in the womb, too, is in the amniotic fluid. If (synthetic chemicals) act like hormones, in some susceptible folks they may affect genetic expression, which means they're permanent changes and they're passed on to the next generations."

Youthful exposures to solvents, pesticides, heavy metals and indoor air pollution can also produce asthma, leukemia, and some learning disabilities. Asthma incidence has increased one hundred sixty percent in the last fifteen years, a veritable epidemic.

At the other end of the age spectrum, elderly people are thought to be more at risk as well. Often their livers are already overtaxed with medications. Their immune systems are impaired due to advancing age. Additional toxic exposures can only worsen their health.

Certain adult individuals demonstrate unusual sensitivity to a broad spectrum of chemical agents at very low doses. These people have what is termed Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS), an affliction that is growing, with fifteen percent to thirty percent of surveyed populations now thought to be affected.

According to Karen Balthrop of The Environmental Health League of Texas, writing in the newsletter, Less Toxic Living, "Studies now implicate toxicants in Parkinson's MS, lupus, Alzheimer's, chronic fatigue, depression, anxiety and cancer. Research shows that anyone with a chronic illness may be more susceptible to chemicals, as are the very young and elderly."

Putting it all in perspective

In the absence of certainty about the medical effects of these ordinary substances found in most homes, the common sense prescription is to reduce health risks by minimizing exposure. So cutting air pollution in the home becomes vital to maintaining health and reducing exposure to these common contaminants. According to Lindsey Berkson, these are the best ways to cut air pollution in the home:

Improve ventilation-"Ventilate, ventilate, ventilate." Even during winter, open the windows for one or two hours every few days. Use window fans to help move the air out. Consider a free-standing air-filtration system. Open nearby windows for an hour when using your washing machine.

Avoid carpet glue-With new carpet, tack it down instead of using glue. If you must use glue, get one with low-emitting chemical fumes.

Install houseplants-Houseplants will help neutralize chemically-contaminated indoor air by taking up carbon dioxide and giving off oxygen.

Remove particleboard-Remove the particleboard from your house or seal it with a nitrocellulose lacquer.

Clean carpets-Carpet is a particularly large pathway for exposure to toxic dust. Lead, pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and poly aromatic hydrocarbons build up in the soils and on paved surfaces around large cities and industrial areas. Also the soil naturally contains dust mites, bacteria and molds. These contaminants are tracked inside homes on our shoes and can quickly build up in a deep-pile carpets or rugs. Berkson says, "A combination of high-quality door mats, removing shoes at the door, and efficient vacuum cleaners can decrease dust levels by ninety-nine percent."

Berkson advises that people with crawling children vacuum thoroughly once or twice a week. There are high-efficiency (HEPA) vacuum cleaners that can remove nearly all particulate material (the Kirby "Micron Magic" filter claims as much as 99.9 percent removal). Of course, the less often shoes are worn, the less cleaning is required. If carpets are not used at all, this is also an improvement. Berkson says, "Rugs and carpets may contain four hundred times as much house dust as bare wood or tile floors." Vacuuming upholstered furniture, wet-washing surfaces that are touched often-like woodwork, window wells, counter tops, and furniture-is also advised to reduce this body burden.

Don't dry-clean-Dry-cleaned garments provide a common hazardous exposure. Perchloroethylene, or "perc" is a solvent used by dry cleaners to dissolve oily stains caused by sweat and other sources. This chemical causes cancer in rodent studies, is known to be a thyroid hormone disruptor, and is also a suspected cause of reproductive disorders. A 1996 Consumers Union study estimates that one out of every sixty-seven hundred people wearing dry-cleaned clothes at least once a week could get cancer from breathing fumes from the perc left in the fabric. Berkson advises removing dry-cleaned clothes from the plastic wrapper and airing them out in the garage or back porch. It takes a week to reduce the residues by a substantial amount. Even one day's airing-out will reduce exposure by twenty percent. "Multi-process wet cleaning" is a nontoxic alternative that avoids dry-cleaning altogether. Many garments labeled "dry clean only" can actually be washed on delicate cycle in cold water.

Avoid solvents-Many carburetor cleaners and engine solvents also use perc. The best advice here is to either avoid using them if possible or vent well. Maybe work on the car in the driveway rather than inside a closed garage.

Paint it "green"

Paint is also one of the top toxic offenders. Petrochemicals, mercury, formaldehyde, benzene, and solvents are among the ingredients found in most paint mixtures. Conventional latex products heavily outgas VOCs-the cause of that "new paint smell." According to the EPA, as much as nine percent of smog-forming pollutants come from VOCs in paint. The US Green Building Council (USGBC) states, "Air quality testing shows that indoor VOC levels are consistently ten times higher than outdoor levels, and can be as much as a thousand times higher after a new coat of paint." The American Lung Association says VOCs can produce breathing problems, headaches, nausea, liver and kidney damage, skin and eye irritation.

The Green Resource Center lists a number of suppliers for "greener" paint on its web site (see "Green Materials Database" entry in the accompanying article on Resources). These are products with low or zero VOC emissions. Some products are recycled and/or natural paints based on natural raw materials, such as plant oils, extracts and simple minerals. But their first advice for new construction is to consider installing surfaces that don't need paint-like colored plasters, wood, or ceramic tile. Also, on existing walls, simply washing or touching up may be all that is needed.

The Green Resource Center advises, "Always use high-quality paint. With paint, you generally get what you pay for; look for paint that has a higher solids content...Remember that the more durable a paint is, the less expensive in the long run," because there is less need to repaint.

Danger under the sink?

"All purpose" cleansers can contain butyl cellosolve, a compound with ethylene glycol, the major ingredient of antifreeze. This chemical causes blood and bone-marrow damage at high doses and can be absorbed through the skin or by breathing. Common glass cleaners can contain both butyl cellosolve and methanol. Drain openers are certainly "bad mojo," as they usually contain chlorine bleach. Dish cleaners can also have chlorine bleach along with phosphates. Bathroom cleaners are composed of many of the same ugly chemicals. For information on benign substitutes for these hazardous household cleansers, see the accompanying article, "Resources."

"Air fresheners" cover up bad smells while emitting VOCs. Karen Balthrop says, "Air fresheners-what a misnomer. I have studies here, and we've printed in our newsletter how toxic they are."

According to the EPA, seventy-five percent of Americans used at least one pesticide indoors in 1997, with eighty percent of all human exposure to pesticides occurring inside the home. The American Association of Poison Control Centers reported in 1990 that seventy-nine thousand children were poisoned by pesticides.

In addition to what's stored under your sink, you might also look at what's coming out of the faucet. Municipal water supplies are chlorinated, but many experts-even strongly anti-chlorine ones like Bill Walsh-think that is a good trade-off to avoid infectious diseases.

One irony is that not even drinking bottled water can appreciably reduce this form of chlorine exposure. Lindsey Berkson says, "Two-thirds of the water you take in your body you inhale-you run your dishwasher, you run your shower, and when that water mixes with detergents and organic materials in the water it causes trihalomethanes, chloroform, which are known carcinogens." She advises installing filters. Reverse osmosis systems, available for the home, use a semipermeable membrane with a carbon prefilter to remove chlorination byproducts.

Building it better

Awareness of the indoor air-quality problem spiked following the energy crises of the seventies and early eighties. New buildings became much tighter, conserving energy with improved weatherization. The result in some cases was a "sick building syndrome," where inadequate ventilation caused the building occupants to have headaches, dizziness and other deleterious symptoms.

In some ways, tighter is better when it comes to keeping out dust, noise, and insects as well as saving energy. Vince Torres, associate director at UT's Texas Institute for the Indoor Environment, recommends that new homes be built with a tight building envelope for all these reasons. However, effectively keeping the outside pollution sources out can also lock indoor pollution in. So for new construction, he recommends a good forced-ventilation system to exhaust the bad air, along with a heat exchanger and a humidity control system. He says new construction done right will not cost any more, and will pay dividends in both lower utility bills and better health.

Of course, pollution source control becomes even more important if one lives in a well sealed home. Paul Breaux, a physicist, lives in an all-solar, energy efficient home he built near Lake Travis. When he began construction of the home he calls Chez Soleil (The Sun House) in 1998, he took care first to eliminate toxic floor and wall coverings. His walls are massive limestone. The ground floor is a scored, finished concrete. The ceilings and a portion of the concrete floor are covered with a low-VOC paint. The second-story floor has carpeting made of recycled soda-pop bottles, which does not outgas. The kitchen and bathroom cabinets are formaldehyde-free. Paul also has an attached greenhouse and sunroom open to the rest of his house that is stocked with plants. These plants help freshen the air and absorb airborne contaminants, were any to be present.

Don't overdo it

A heightened concern over home hazards shouldn't ignite a panic.

"Having a serene spirit is as important as a clean environment," says cancer survivor Lindsey Berkson. "The liver detoxifies these chemicals (and)…can work less efficiently by overloading toxins and eating poorly, (and is hampered by) very charged thoughts like anger and stress."

Perhaps overzealous merchandising of chemical "cleanliness" is responsible for encouraging us to think there must always be a chemical solution to every household cleaning problem. Corrective action seems to be a common sense return to old-fashioned cleaning agents like baking soda, vinegar, water, and elbow grease. Alternatively, there are now companies devoted to manufacturing and marketing environmentally benign cleaning products. Some of these can be found in your neighborhood grocery store. At least one brand, Seventh Generation, is available in Austin-area HoEoB stores. Equally sensible avoidance strategies are available to deal with other indoor air problems. For the most part, calm and common sense approaches will suffice to secure bodily health.

Stephen Beers is a freelance writer, editor and researcher. In his spare time, he raises hell on local environmental issues. You may e-mail Stephen at sbeers@goodlifemag.com.

Resources for a Healthier Home

Organizations

American Lung Association-This national nonprofit fights lung disease in all its forms, with special emphasis on asthma, tobacco control and environmental health. Visit www.lungusa.org.

Children's Environmental Health Institute-This Austin-based organization sponsors research and education to reduce children's exposures to environmental toxicants. Visit www.cehi.org.

Children's Health Environmental Coalition-This nonprofit organization serves as an information resource for environmental toxins that affect children's health. Browse through this interactive resource for information on how to reduce environmental health risks to children in and around the house at www.checnet.org.

Eco-Wise-This Austin retailer established in 1990 sells nontoxic paints and other environmentally friendly products. Visit the store at 110 W. Elizabeth or go on-line to www.ecowise.com. Telephone 512-326-4474.

Environmental Depot Inc.-This new store located near Oak Hill at 9914 Highway 290 West supplies nontoxic building materials and home products. Telephone 512-288-6161 or visit www.environproducts.com.

Environmental Health League of Texas -This is the latest name for an organization that is for people with chemical sensitivities and for those who want a healthier lifestyle. Contact Karen Balthrop at 512-443-1365 or e-mail info@ehltx.org. Or visit www.ehltx.org.

Healthy Building Network-This is a national network of green building professionals, environmental and health activists, socially responsible investment advocates and others interested in promoting healthier building materials as a means of improving public health and preserving the global environment. Visit www.healthybuilding.net, e-mail info@healthybuilding.net or call 202-898-1610.

Inform Inc.-An independent research organization that examines the effects of business practices on the environment and on human health. Its goal is to identify ways of doing business that ensure environmentally sustainable economic growth. See its fact sheet, "Environmental Health Threats to Children," at www.informinc.org/fact_children.php.

Sierra Club-Founded in 1892, the Sierra Club claims 700,000 members who work together to protect our communities and the planet. Sierra magazine's May-June 2002 edition included an article by Dashka Slater titled "The Hidden Life of What's Under Your Sink." See the article and links to nontoxic cleaners at www.sierraclub.org/sierra/200205/hidden.asp.

US Environmental Protection Agency-The EPA provides extensive resources. Visit www.epa.gov and use the site's search engine for "household products" to find extensive links for information about chemicals around the house.

US Green Building Council-This is a coalition of leaders from across the building industry working to promote buildings that are environmentally responsible, profitable, and healthy places to live and work. Visit www.usgbc.org.

US Product Safety Commission-This is the federal agency charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of serious injury or death from more than fifteen thousand types of consumer products. Visit www.cpsc.gov.

Books

Creating a Healthy Household-By Lynn Marie Bower, Healthy House Institute, 2000. Features more than six hundred pages of "how-to" tips, product lists, and other resources.

The Healthy Home Handbook-By John Warde, 1997. Provides details for remediation of contaminated houses.

The Healthy House (Fourth Edition)-By John Bower, Healthy House Institute, 2001. A reference work covering "how to buy one, how to build one, how to cure a sick one."

Hormone Deception-By D. Lindsey Berkson, 2000. A well-researched and documented book on the dangers of hormone-mimicking chemicals, "and how to protect yourself and your family." See www.hormonedeception.com.

How to Grow Fresh Air: Fifty Houseplants That Purify Your Home or Office-By Dr. B.C. Wolverton, 1996. With data developed from NASA experiments, a scientist rates the toxicant removal capabilities of several species. Beautifully illustrated with many photographs of the plants.

My House is Killing Me!-By Jeffrey C. May, 2001. An in-depth view of strategies to forever banish dust-borne contaminants, covering everything from allergies to asthma and asbestos.

DVD

Toxic Brew: How Exposure to Common Household Cleaners May Be Making Your Children Sick-A twenty-minute DVD produced in 2003 by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in which experts explain the hazards present in common household cleaners. Copies are available for $14.95 from RM Barry Publications at 1-888-209-0510 or on-line at www.rmbarry.com/audio_video/toxic_brew.html.

Web sites

Could Cleaning House Give You Asthma?-See the NBC report at www.wnbc.com/money/1971285/detail.html.

Green Materials Database-The nonprofit Green Resource Center operates a building-materials database available at www.build-green.org/guide. (However, the retailer guides cover only the Bay Area of California.)

Guide for Handling Household Chemicals-Visit http://environmentalchemistry.com/yogi/environmental/household.html.

Guide to a Toxic Free Home-This free fifty-one-page guide was published by Seventh Generation, manufacturers of nontoxic and environmentally safe household products. Visit www.seventhgeneration.com/page.asp?id=1458.

Health & Environmental Resource Center-The Center was created in 1997 by Earth Angels Association Inc. as a source of information for people seeking to learn more about the relationship between the environment and human health. Visit www.herc.org.

Household Products Database-The National Institutes of Health and the National Library of Medicine offer an extensive database of harmful chemicals in cleaning and health products, http://hpd.nlm.nih.gov.

Material Safety Data Sheets-Most consumer products are not required by law to list their ingredients on the product label. Even products required to list ingredients don't always make clear the symptoms and health effects related to their hazardous ingredients. The alarming truth is that these omissions lull consumers into believing that products they use around the home are completely safe and do not pose a threat to their health. As required by the Occupational Health and Safety Administration, the target audience for information in MSDS is the employee who may be exposed to chemicals at work. However, much of the information is also relevant to consumers. Requests for MSDS should be sent to the brand's manufacturer. For detailed guidance, see http://hpd.nlm.nih.gov/faq.htm#2. For MSDS for common household products, see www.herc.org/library/msds.htm.

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity-See the Ohio State University Extension Fact Sheet at http://ohioline.osu.edu/cd-fact/0192.html.

PVC and alternatives-Visit Greenpeace USA at www.greenpeaceusa.org (search for PVC to find extensive resources) or the Healthy Building Network at www.healthybuilding.net/pvc.

Trade Secrets-A report by Bill Moyers reveals how the public's right to know the truth about the thousands of chemicals that surround us has been compromised. Includes documents from a secret archive uncovered during a lawsuit against chemical companies and steps to take to protect yourself and your family. See the report at www.pbs.org/tradesecrets/index.html.

-Stephen Beers and Ken Martin