SICK of your new home? You could have good reason. Studies in Australia and
Britain have found high levels of toxic chemicals leaking from furniture, floors
and paints in newly built houses.
A study by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
(CSIRO) found that homes in Melbourne less than a year old had up to 20 times
the safety limit of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) recommended by the
National Health and Medical Research Council. In England 1 in 20 homes under a
year old have levels at least twice that of the Australian limit of 500
micrograms per cubic metre.
Chemicals used in construction materials leach into the air inside buildings.
Formaldehyde, which causes skin irritation and possibly cancer, is used in the
making of wooden boards for flooring and furniture. Another suspected
carcinogen, styrene, seeps out of new carpets, while paints and solvents give
off a variety of toxic compounds.
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鈥淯p to 500,000 Australians moving into around 120,000 new homes every year
could be subjected to high levels of airborne toxic chemicals for months,鈥� says
CSIRO鈥檚 Steve Brown.
The British study, due to be published in the next few months, covers 800
houses and was carried out by the Building Research Establishment (BRE) in
Watford. Concentrations of VOCs in homes less than a year old were twice as high
as in homes built 10 years ago. Five per cent of houses had levels in excess of
1000 micrograms per cubic metre.
The chemicals aren鈥檛 likely to pose a serious threat to most people鈥檚 health.
But they could lead to headaches and badly affect a small group of especially
sensitive individuals, says Jeff Llewellyn, the BRE鈥檚 indoor air pollution
expert.