Health risks may lurk in your home, environmental group says
By Erin Blakemore/Nov 4, 2017
Tackling a home improvement project? Your next remodel may pretty up your home, but it could befoul the air you breathe. Now, the Healthy Living Home Guide makes it easier to choose products that won’t contribute to indoor air pollution.
The online guide was prepared by the Environmental Working Group, an advocacy organization that focuses on chemicals in consumer products.
The guide looks at health risks in every room of the house and gives suggestions on what to do about them. In the bathroom, for example, caulks and adhesives can emit high concentrations of VOCs, or volatile organic compounds. Drywall in your new bedroom can damage unprotected lungs or trap moisture and mold. And houses without the proper ventilation systems can circulate such gases as radon, a naturally occurring radioactive gas that can damage DNA and cause cancer.