Formaldehyde is a cheap glue used widely in chipboard, plywood and pressed panels.  Conventional kitchen cupboards and worktops contain formaldehyde, with the following health risks: skin / respiration / eye irritant and  proven to cause cancer in animals. Health risks are generally after exposure over a long period of time, depending on the concentration level.  If you suffer with chemical sensitivities, breathing difficulties or asthma, formaldehyde can make the symptoms worse.  Adhesives are also petrochemical & solvent based, making them non renewable resources. 

Prevention of exposure is the best idea for your health, by reducing the amount of formaldehyde in the home.  Non mechanical, natural, fresh and constant ventilation is important to help keep the concentration levels lower.  Plants that absorb some interior toxins are; rubber plant, spider plant, ivy, Christmas cactus and mother-in-law’s tongue/snake plant.  Plants that help with formaldehyde are; areca rubber plant, spider plant, palm, lady palm, bamboo palm, date palm, and the peace lily. 

With few ‘off the shelf’ kitchen manufacturers producing formaldehyde free cupboards (carcass material, fillers and mouldings), a new kitchen can be a toxic nightmare.  Conventional worktops such as laminated or melamine also contain formaldehyde based adhesives.  Sometimes there isn’t any alternative to buying a conventional kitchen, however this puts you, your family, the manufacturing operative and the kitchen fitter’s health at risk from exposure to the various chemical components in the chipboard.  If you renovate your kitchen, cut the worktop or kitchen cupboards, this releases higher concentration level of toxins / particles, much larger in size than VOC vapours. 

Currently in Ireland unless you buy a solid timber kitchen (be careful with the finishes), or specify formaldehyde free board, you’ll be bringing freshly manufactured toxins into the home.  Formaldehyde is one of the commonly known volatile organic compounds (VOCs) adding to poor indoor air quality as it offgasses into the interior air over the whole life span.   A known danger to health, that isn’t advertised enough!

With the new IKEA store opening up in Dublin on July 27th this year. GreenMe decided to have a nosey into the flatpack kings green practices and principles. If you’ve ever been to IKEA you know how easy it is to leave with a lorry load of items. So Is IKEA green? Do their corporate policies support a sustainable environment? Well!! IKEA has been actively cutting back its carbon footprint through manufacturing, suppliers, transportation, and materials among some of their actions are:

(more…)

Tiles are traditionally made with a mixture of natural materials such as clay, glass, marble and hard minerals. Clay and stone are not renewable, even though they are currently in abundant supply. Tiles are easy to install, durable and provide a waterproof and hygienic finish for high moisture areas.

Their environmental footprint can be quite intensive. Raw material extraction and mining carves the natural landscape, destroying eco systems.  Energy used in both extraction, processing and manufacture creates high levels of carbon emissions.  Tiles are fired in kilns where the temperature rises to around 1000 degrees Celsius. Natural materials may be used for the base materials, in some cases up to 100% natural.  However the setting agents, glazes, glues and grouts usually contain petrochemicals and synthetic components, which offgas toxic vapours. 

Using recycled tiles helps reduce the need to use virgin materials, and diverts waste away from landfill. However the manufacturing process for recycling tiles uses much higher temperatures and so more energy and carbon emissions.

If grasscloth wall coverings don′t suit the style you want for the walls, there are other natural and more environmentally stable wallpaper types on the market.  Slim pickings of manufacturers in Ireland, most eco wallpaper ranges can be found in the UK.  Other wallpaper choices are: sustainable wood pulp, recycled paper, vinyl or PVC free, chlorine free, silk screened cotton, glass fibre, barkskin, organic, handmade and wallpaper printed with vegetable, soy or natural dyes. 

These can be expensive, especially ranges that are hand-made or hand-printed.  Some conventional wallpaper manufacturers have environmental initiatives during the manufacturing process which focus on resources used, energy use, waste, recycling, packaging and distribution.  The trick is to investigate before you buy, avoid impulse buying and really know what you are getting before you go to the DIY store.  Go for local manufacturers if possible, and watch out for hidden carbon emissions from overseas suppliers of ′eco products′.

Moving on from last week′s post and realising that most conventional wall coverings contain chemicals, it′s good to know what the alternatives are. Going completely natural is one way to avoid conventional wall coverings.Most natural materials e.g. arrowroot, bamboo, seagrass, jute, sisal and hemp are woven into wallpaper with either a fine or thick weave.  The backing is usually recycled paper.  They are not suited to damp areas, as because they do not contain any additives, they are susceptible to mould and mildew.  This makes them difficult to clean, and they can also harbour dust easier than a smooth surface.

Different blends of grass cloths are available on the market with design choices expanding all the time.  They are becoming a popular choice in the home as they bring in a certain warmth to the walls, that paint or vinyl wallpaper cannot achieve.  The downside to most grass cloths is that they are sourced from overseas, from agricultural farms where the plants are grown.  Emissions created during shipping pull down the eco credentials. Some are handmade with little energy or resources used during this process and other manufacturers use weaving machines for mass production.  Overall, they are sustainable, renewable and a much healthier alternative to conventional wallpaper.

Wallpaper has been used in interiors for thousands of years and is steeped in tradition.  Originally natural materials like rice paper were used to decorate walls, often to give the illusion of tapestries and expensive mouldings.  Wall coverings are a great way to disguise lumpy walls and are an easy way to bring texture into the home without using a plaster finish.  During the plastics era around the mid 1900s, PVC vinyl became a popular wall covering – wipe clean bliss.  Little then was commonly known about chemical processing, environmental damage, carbon emissions and volatile organic compounds (VOCS), landfill and recycling. 

Filling your home with plastic wall coverings is like sealing cling film onto every wall.  The walls literally cannot breath.  This in the long term can lessen the lifespan of the building materials in the walls with moisture becoming trapped – mould, mildew, rot etc.  On the inside, you are breathing in the toxic vapours that the plastic coverings are releasing – day after day.  Natural alternatives are much better for your health and for the health of the building.  Almost unbelievably today, PVC vinyl can be found in most wall coverings as the main component.  Watch out for labels that state acrylic, PVC, vinyl, solvent, heavy metals, chemical additives for stains, fire resistance, waterproofing, pesticides etc.

Manufacture – Conventional paint is made of individual chemicals and the manufacturing process uses large amounts of non renewable energy – mainly petroleum.  The process creates high levels of carbon, methane and VOC emissions which pollute the air and contribute to climate change.  Paint manufacturing is not sustainable as around 10% of the damage to the environment comes from processing each individual chemical – not even the actual combination of these chemicals to make the paint.

Manufacture Waste – Production waste from both water & solvent based paints are ′toxic chemical waste′, which cannot be recycled and will not biodegrade.  Manufacturing waste must be stored securely to prevent air, land and water pollution.  Together these would destroy eco systems and cause damage to human health. So much waste is created with conventional paint, in some cases up to 5 paint pots of waste to 1 paint pot manufactured.  So where does it go? It′s stored underground, in toxic waste facilities or taken overseas. 

Generally any paint pot, list of ingredients or label that has a red warning symbol on it, or advises it is a skin irritant, or not to ingest, or not to get into contact with eyes etc…… ask yourself if it is really safe in the air? Your skin is delicate and will react to chemicals, think how delicate your lungs are as you breathe. With respiration health conditions on the increase, it′s important to be aware of what surrounds you as you live and work.

As a simple rule of thumb if any package or container has a warning symbol on it or recommends against contact with skin – don′t use it.  This generically means it contains chemicals that are hazardous to health in some form.  Conventional paint can be a mixture of carcinogens and neurotoxins; formaldehyde, kerosene, benzene, toluene, ammonia and xylene.  To help with the drying process, chemical solvents are also added which have alkyl phenols in them, associated with altering hormones.  Some paint additives such as mildew restrictors contain Mildecide, known to provoke allergic reactions in some people.  These additives are all hazardous to health, either through long exposure over time or in concentrated amounts.

Even water based paints aren′t angelic as matt emulsion, vinyl matt (the name gives that one away) and soft sheen all contain chemicals and release volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the air when applied to the surfaces. Any paint that is not water based such as oil, alcohol, alkyd, petrochemical etc, contains much higher levels of VOCs than latex and water based.  You may think it′s safer to use water based paints instead, and yes they are a better alternative.  However water and latex paints tend to have more chemicals in them to compensate for the lack of oil, solvent or petrochemicals.  So the lesser of two evils really.  Low or ZERO VOC paints are still made with chemicals, however the manufacturer has lessened the amount of toxic vapours they release.  Again not the perfect choice as they are not 100% natural, but a good step in the right direction.

Avoid:  Acrylic resin, Ammonia, Ashphalt chlorobenzene, Ethylene, Kerosene, Formaldehyde, Methylene chloride, Petrochemicals, Polyurethane, Trichloroethylene, Toluene, Vinyl chloride, Xylene.

This series of posts will look at surface finishes; on the walls, ceiling and woodwork.  Most conventional indoor paints, stains and finishes contain synthetic substances, chemicals and toxins – together these are classed as household hazardous waste (HHW). These types of paint coat the surface in a thin layer of plastic which doesn′t allow the walls to breath.  Imagine putting cling film over the walls to give you a visual idea.  This isn′t good news for the building materials underneath as it can increase the chances of moisture being trapped. 

They also release chemical vapours known as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the air, which are associated with ill health especially respiration conditions.  VOCs are released in 2 stages; when the paint is drying (or rather the chemical solvent evaporating) and in lower levels all of the time the paint is on the walls.  That fresh paint smell is a high concentration level of chemicals being released – yep it′s not good for your health in these levels. Because you can smell it, means you are inhaling it even if you cannot see or taste it.

So what′s added to traditional paint to make it toxic?  The pigment (colour), adhesive (to stick it to the wall), solvents (to keep the paint in a liquid form until it′s used and to control the drying time once painted onto the wall), additives (for durability, to make them easy to apply, to lower mildew risk, create moisture proof paint, stop paint fading or yellowing etc).  Unless stated these are all chemical based substances and contribute to poor indoor air quality and are hazardous to health.

This is just a brief introduction to synthetic paints, next week a more specific look at the risk to human health.

The green building community has been responsible for a resurgence in the use of eco-friendly plasters. Essentially, a plaster is a combination of three elemental parts; a structural component (usually sand), a binding agent (e.g. lime) and a filler (some use fibres to provide strength). The majority of buildings in this country are plastered using a sand/cement/water mix, but this is unsuitable for walls that need to breathe.

A typical modern lime plaster consists of a mix of hydrated lime putty, sand and hemp fibre and is an excellent plaster for most types of breathable wall construction. It can be either home made or bought from a specialist supplier.

However, lime has to be manufactured from quarried material and hemp has to be harvested. A plaster with even better ′green′ credentials than lime & hemp can be made from the soil on your building site.

EARTH PLASTERS: Earth plasters are ideally suited to straw bale, stone, rammed earth or timber walls. In our climate, care is needed at the design stage if it is to be used externally. Internally, it will provide a silky, glassy finish with smooth curves and a wonderful warm feeling. It is also easily repaired. Given that the materials for earth plasters are obtained on site and mixed by hand (or feet!), the embodied energy is very low, it uses no chemicals and the finished product is recyclable

The area used to extract the soil could be from your foundation excavations, or a part of the garden which could later become a pond. Soil selection must ensure that no organic material is included (so a peaty soil is to be avoided) and you will need to screen out any pebbles, roots or other foreign objects. Ideally, you should look for a combination of clay, sand & silt; and mix this with water and straw. Clay is commonly found under peat in many of our countryside areas.

Experimentation is required to achieve a workable mix with good adhesive quality and durable finish. Mixing is often done using the time-honoured method of treading with feet – kids (and adults) love it. It can be applied by hand or trowel depending on the required finish and after drying, should be painted using an alis (a powdered clay mixed with earth-based pigments), thus avoiding synthetic chemical paints. Why not try it out first on the rear wall of a shed for example?

If this seems all too daunting, there are some specialist plastering firms who will carry out this type of work for you. Just remember that if they are importing their materials, it defeats the object to a certain extent, but is still a healthy option for both the building and its occupants.

Note: Before you use earth plasters on a new build, check with your designer to see if the local building regulations impose any restrictions on its use.