Ey up Blogworms !
This weeks subject is tricky to navigate so all I intend to do is make you aware of the problem and some of the answers for you to improve your atmosphere quality at home, you can follow it up in your own way if you feel the need .
Let's set the scene : Right, you've trailed round estate agents, got the details of a house you think is perfect, gone to view it and whilst on the surface it ticks all your boxes, for some reason you maybe just don't feel quite as comfortable in it as you should, the feel of the house just isn't right and you can't put your finger on why.
This might be a classic case of..... quick drum roll .......
"Sick Building Syndrome".
Of what ?? I hear you ask, yep that's right, the house might be ill !... honest.
This is a well studied and documented problem. It can be down to the way it was built, in which case, you've had it, there's not much that can be done but it could simply be the choices of furniture and fittings which have been introduced to the house.
Four of the biggest contributors are: Lack of fresh air, furniture made from artificial materials, paints containing VOC's and RF energy.
Lack of fresh air Quite easy to solve this one .....
open your windows at least once a day and get some air changes into the atmosphere in the house, this helps to sweep away any off gassing from any of your furniture ( see next point for 'off gassing' ). Using plug in chemical fragrances to "freshen" your room really does not help the situation, as once the fragrance has gone the chemical carriers then sink into your carpets and get stirred up again when you hoover.
Also this trend for using "wipes" to clean surfaces, stop it, use natural cleaners instead as most "wipes" on the market are based on some form of petrochemical such as benzine, check the packet if you don't believe me. They leave residues behind in the air which can irritate people who are sensitive to this sort of thing. Many cheap household cleaning products have the same effect, so please buy carefully and you will help your air stay fresher.
Worst case scenario is you're living in a chemical pea souper in your own house.
Furniture Beyond any shadow of doubt,
using natural materials really is the way forward but I appreciate that many of these products can be outside many peoples budgets. So choosing recycled materials and materials that off gas little or nothing are a sensible alternative.
Off gassing is usually ( and I stress, usually ) where a product has been made using a material or compound that contains high levels of Formaldehyde in some form, these then give off chemical gas into your atmosphere for many years to come which some people are susceptible to.
It should be said here that Formaldehye is a naturally occuring chemical actually present in the world around us but at very low levels which we as a species have evolved to have a tolerance to, it's when those levels are concentrated that problems can arise.
Physical symptons recognised to be but are not limited to, headaches, dizziness, colds, sore throats, fatigue, insomnia, memory fogging, inability to concentrate and allergies.
All our recycled content materials either have little or no off gassing at all. For example, the Coffee cup and Yoghurt pot materials are zero as no extra resins or binders are used in their production and the content in our chipboard products is half the recommended minimum set down by the furniture industry governing bodies. We use low or zero formaldehyde adhesives and all our paints are VOC compliant ( see next bit for VOC's )
Looking for or asking whether the products you are going to buy are low or zero formaldehyde content is a big step towards cleaning your environment.
Paints A lot of work has been happening in the paint market in recent years with the drift away from oil based paints. Oil based paints generally contain solvents such as: benzine, styrene, tolulene, xylene and formaldehyde which are collectively known as VOC's ie; volatile organic compounds.
VOC's are what make paint smell and they
are toxic. VOC's have been known to cause headaches, nausea and fatigue.
So while your decorator might moan that this new water based paint is rubbish and he can't get a finish on it, it's actually a lot better for your home environment than the old oil based paints ever could be.
The new water based paints now are available in low VOC, VOC free, Natural or Organic and really these are the ones you should be looking at using to improve your atmosphere in your home and for the benefit of a good nights sleep, particularly in your bedrooms.
RF Energy This one applies to your whole house but again important in your bedroom if a good nights sleep is what you're after !!
RF is radio frequency and refers to the oscillation of radio waves bouncing around your home all the time. In other words this stuff is emanating from anything you've got that's wireless ie: wireless router, computer, wireless phones, your TV and dozens of other household appliances. This energy is whizzing around your house all day, passing through you and anyone else in the vicinity.
As for it's dangers, there are people who are known to suffer from electromagnetic hypersensetivity. There are published studies of folk who claim that this kind of exposure massively disrupts sleep patterns, causes allergy like symptoms and headaches sometimes so debilitating that they have to get rid of all the wireless items they have in the house.
So top tip,
turn everything off to minimise the effects and apart from the obvious benefit of saving you money, you'll be improving your environment aswell .... bonus !!
IF you really need to guarantee yourselves a good nights kip, make your bedroom a "wireless free zone" and get rid of as many electrical items in your room as you can, it does work, we've tried it !!
This may seems like your house is some sort of toxic battlefield, it's not really and a lot of the things I've touched on are common sense but once you're aware that these problems exist then you're better placed to think whether they affect you or not. Also it does show that going green is not just an environmental choice but many things contained within the green ethos can actually improve your quality of life.
Food for thought or what ?? I've planted the seed, maybe now it's time to 'green up' your life.
Jules.
We have created a Crossword that you can enter to win one of these little beauties based on all things V Dub and we're going to be 
