Our Toxic World

The argument for bucket & squeegee.

Our toxic world (Part 10): Indoor Air Pollutants Up Close: The degree of air pollution indoors is worse than outdoors. Inside the buildings and in our homes, the toxins are trapped in enclosed spaces. This is the reason they tend to be more concentrated. Our kitchens, bathrooms, laundry rooms, bedrooms and living areas are prime targets of indoor toxins. Most of them are petrochemicals, which are the intermediate derivatives from petroleum, hydrocarbon liquids or natural gas. Most of them are from the wide variety of products we use for cleaning. The following list was culled from the book Green This, authored by Deirdre Imus, who runs an environmental center for kids with cancer in New Jersey.  Be conscious of reading the labels and avoid the products that contain them.

Aerosol Propellants (iso butane, butane, propane). Effects:  Irritation of the eyes, airways, asthma and lung disease. Sources:  Oven, carpet and upholstery cleaners, furniture polishes and waxes, air fresheners and insecticides.

Alkylphenolic  Compounds. Effects: Disruption of hormone signals that regulate reproduction and development. Sources: All-purpose cleaners, laundry detergents.

Ammonia. Effects: Irritation of the skin, eyes and airways, and pulmonary edema. Sources: Automatic dishwasher detergents, window cleaners, furniture polishes and waxes, metal cleaners.

Chlorine Bleach. Effects: Local irritation affecting the skin eyes and airways. Sources: Bleaching or whitening products and laundry detergents.

Chloroform. Effects: Nausea, dizziness, drowsiness, respiratory problems; in extreme cases—cancer, liver and kidney damage, heart problems, even death. Sources: Fabric softeners.

Colors and Dyes. Effects: Skin and eye irritation, contact allergy, even cancer. Sources: All-purpose cleaners, hand dishwashing liquids, fabric softeners.

Crystalline Silica. Effects: Irritation of the skin, eyes and airways. Sources: All-purpose cleaners.

Diethanolamin. Effects: Possible cancer. Sources: All-purpose cleaners, hand dishwashing liquids, personal-care products.

Dioxane (also known as diethylene oxide, dioxide, or ether). Effects: Suppressed immune system, cancer. Sources: Window cleaners.

Dioxin (the most dangerous man-made chemical). Effects: Birth defects, development delays, damage to the immune, reproductive and respiratory systems. Sources: Any cleaning product labeled “antibacterial” or “antimicrobial.”

D-limoneme. Effects: Skin and eye irritation.Sources: All-purpose cleaners, fabric softeners.

Ethylacetate. Effects: Headache, stupor, irritation of the eyes and airways. Sources: Fabric softeners.

Formaldehyde. Effects: Severe irritation of the skin, eyes and airways, skin allergies, asthma,  pulmonary edema. Sources: Air fresheners, disinfectants, spray starches; off-gassing furniture, dry-cleaned clothes and upholstery.

Hydrochloric acid. Effects: Highly irritant to the skin (on contact) and to the eyes and airways via fumes. Sources: Toilet bowl, aluminum and oven cleaners, and rust removers.

Hydrofluoric acid. Effects: Extremely irritant to the skin and eyes. Sources: Metal cleaners and polishes.

Kerosene. Effects: Damage to lungs and nerves. Sources: Kerosene itself or component of furniture polishes and waxes.

Linalool. Effects: Nervous system disorders. Sources: Fabric softeners

Methanol (methyl alcohol, wood alcohol). Effects: Neurotoxin and skin irritant. Sources: Window cleaners.

Methylene chloride. Effects: Possible cancer. Sources: Air fresheners and any artificial fragrances.

Morpholine. Effects: Irritation of the skin, mucous membranes and eyes; liver and kidney damage. Sources: All-purpose cleaners, furniture polishes and waxes.

Naphthalene. Effects: Skin and eye irritation including corneal damage and cataracts; liver and kidney damage; damage to the fetus via maternal blood; nervous system disorders; hemolytic anemia. Sources: Moth balls, air fresheners, deodorizers, carpet and toilet bowl cleaners.

Optical brighteners (synthetic chemicals used to brighten clothes). Effects: Allergies. Sources: Laundry detergents.

Organic Solvents. Effects: Nerve toxicity, depression. Sources: All-purpose cleaners, metal polishes, dry-cleaning fluids.

Oxalic acid. Effects: Gastrointestinal problems. Sources: Metal polishes and cleaners.

Paradichlorobenzene or PDCB. Effects: Liver and kidney damage, hormone disruption, cancer; vapors irritate skin, eyes and airways. Sources: Moth repellants, insecticides, air fresheners, toilet deodorizers.

Pentachlorophenol. Effects: Irritation of skin and airways, headache, sweating, weakness and gasping; liver and kidney damage. Sources: Spray starch.

Perchloroethylene, or PERC. Effects: Irritation of the skin, eyes and airways; damage to the liver, kidneys and the nervous system; hormone disruption, and cancer. Sources: Spot removers, de-greasers, dry-cleaning fluids, carpet cleaners.

Phenol. Effects: Highly toxic irritant to the skin, eyes and airways, bronchitis, pulmonary edema, convulsions, shock, coma, even death. Sources: All sorts of cleaners, polishes, disinfectants and fabric softeners.

Phosphoric acid. Effects: Eye, skin and airway irritation. Sources: Toilet bowl cleaners, metal polishes, fabric softeners.

Sodium bisulfate. Effects: Respiratory problems including asthma attacks; damage to the skin, eyes and internal organs if swallowed. Sources: Toilet bowl cleaners and deodorizers, drain cleaners.

Sodium hydroxide (caustic soda or lye). Effects: Skin, eye and airway irritation; lung damage, blindness, even death if swallowed. Sources: Dishwashing liquids and detergents, laundry soaps; oven, tile and tub cleaners, toilet bowl deodorizers.

Sulfuric acid. Effects: Burns, eye damage even blindness. Sources: Metal polishes and drain cleaners.

Synthetic Pine Oil. Effects: Eye irritation. Sources: Air fresheners.

Thioureas. Effects: Thyroid enlargement, bone marrow depression. Sources: Metal polishes and cleaners.

Toluene aka Xylene. Effects: Neurotoxin, carcinogen. Sources: Stain removers.

Trichloroethane (TCA). Effects: Skin irritation, dryness, cracking, inflammation; eye and airway irritation; liver and kidney damage and birth defects on heavy exposure.  Sources: Furniture polishes and waxes, stain removers.

Triethanolamine. Effects: Skin, eye and airway irritation. Sources: All-purpose and carpet cleaners.

Trisodium  phosphate. Effects: Local irritations, breathing problems including asthma, and damage to the mouth, throat and stomach. Sources: All-purpose cleaners.

Dr. Ginsberg presented his book, What's Toxic What's Not, co-authored with Brian Toal, and discussed a number of frequently asked questions and myths the book addresses, ranging from asbestos, power lines and cancer clusters to radon, pesticides and mold. The increasing concern for sustainable environmental practices has been steadily gaining public attention over the last few decades in what Dr. Ginsberg described as the "green wave." But pseudo-environmental practices used by companies trying to appear environmentally concerned are sabotaging progress through a practice he calls "green-washing." He used as a window-cleaning product touting its use of vinegar as an eco-friendly product as an example of green-washing. "When I researched it and contacted them [the producer], vinegar was the last and smallest ingredient and the thing that did most of the cleaning was this industrial solvent that was always in the product," he said.

Thinking environmentally: Catching the "green wave" is really about new ways of thinking, he said. Homeowners associations and neighborhoods that prohibit clothes lines are key examples of an old way of thinking that needs to be replaced by new values, he said. "A new way of thinking is we see wind turbines on a ridge line and rather than people objecting to that as something that mars their view of their yacht when they're off of Nantucket, they see that as the way things ought to be, as a beautiful thing that people are using the wind and the sun," he said. He referenced the Kennedy family's opposition to wind power development off Cape Cod. "Sometimes the way things were, are the way things ought to be," he said.

Sick Building Syndrome - Window Cleaners Beware

Sick Building Syndrome - What is it? Symptoms:

Building occupants complain of symptoms such as sensory irritation of the eyes, nose, throat; neurotoxic or general health problems; skin irritation; nonspecific hypersensitivity reactions; and odor and taste sensations. Several sick occupants may report individual symptoms which do not appear to be connected. The key to discovery is the increased incidence of illnesses in general with onset or exacerbation within a fairly close time frame - usually within a period of weeks. In most cases, SBS symptoms will be relieved soon after the occupants leave the particular room or zone. However, there can be lingering effects of various neurotoxins, which may not clear up when the occupant leaves the building. In particularly sensitive individuals, the potential for long-term health effects should not be overlooked.

Sick building causes are frequently pinned down to flaws in the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. Other causes have been attributed to contaminants produced by outgassing of some types of building materials, volatile organic compounds (VOC), molds, improper exhaust ventilation of ozone (byproduct of some office machinery), light industrial chemicals used within, or fresh-air intake location / lack of adequate air filtration. Symptoms are often dealt with after-the-fact by boosting the overall turn-over rate of fresh air exchange with the outside air.



Working night and day for a healthier office: Pollutants found inside office buildings can be converted into less harmful substances by a photochemical device that works continuously from night to day, claim scientists in Japan. This could prevent cases of sick building syndrome. Sick building syndrome is a combination of acute health and comfort issues that appear to be linked to time spent in a building, often in an office. This can be caused by inadequate ventilation or volatile organic compounds (VOCs), such as formaldehyde that are emitted by chemical contaminants from carpeting, upholstery, manufactured wood products, or photocopying machines and cleaning agents.

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) photocatalysts have been applied to environmental remediation and self-cleaning coatings. However, most only work under UV light, which means they don't operate during the night. Now, Tetsu Tatsuma and colleagues at Tokyo University have overcome this problem by designing a photocatalyst with the ability to store photochemical energy. Tatsuma's photocatalyst has two layers; an TiO2 underlayer and an Ni(OH)2 overlayer. As the light is shone onto the device, its energy can be captured by the TiO2 underlayer and stored in the Ni(OH)2 overlayer. This stored energy is used to oxidise harmful VOCs, in particular formaldehyde, into less innocuous carbon dioxide and water, at any time.

In practice, Tatsuma expects the device to trap the harmful VOCs on the TiO2-Ni(OH)2 film during the night, then in the morning light, the pollutants are oxidised into less harmful by-products. Tatsuma has high hopes for his device and says 'we hope to apply it to private houses, offices and factories as coatings in curtains, window blinds and ceilings'. This device has the potential to improve indoor air quality and reduce the risk of illness by removing formaldehyde from the work environment. Mark Clayton, a Public Health Service Officer from the US EPA Indoor Environments Division, believes that this system 'could represent a significant advance in potentially reducing airborne concentrations of chemical compounds commonly found in an environment where most people spend 90 percent of their time. Employment of such a photocatalyst may have the potential to make a substantial contribution to ongoing efforts to improve air cleaning devices.'



Oxidation of methanol and formaldehyde to CO2 by a photocatalyst with an energy storage ability: A TiO2–Ni(OH)2 bilayer photocatalyst is known as a photocatalyst with energy storage abilities. Oxidative energy from the UV-irradiated TiO2 underlayer can be stored in the Ni(OH)2 overlayer. We investigated oxidation and mineralization of methanol and formaldehyde by the stored oxidative energy by mean of gas chromatography. When the methanol concentration in air is as low as 10 ppm, the mass conversion efficiency from methanol to CO2 is 86%. Formaldehyde can also be oxidized to CO2 by the stored energy.