Fly into Los Angeles International Airport and many days one observes a bustling city enveloped in a blanket of smog.
Consider this: a recent Environmental Protection Agency publication says, "A growing body of scientific evidence has indicated that the air within homes and other buildings can be more seriously polluted than the outdoor air in even the largest and most industrialized cities."How can this be? The newly formed Institute for Healthy Home Environments contends homes have become less healthy since the end of World War II.
Institute founders Randall Tulpinrud, a principal in Group West Development, and architect William Connelly point to the more than 4 million synthetic chemical compounds that have been developed in the post-war era. Many are used in the manufacture of carpet fibers, solvents, paints, adhesives, plastics and products used in home building and the housewares industry.
"We are literally surrounding ourselves in a synthetic environment," Tulpinrud said. "What's important to note is, children are most vulnerable to all these pollutants."
The problem, Tulpinrud said, comes when materials "off-gas," filling indoor air with toxic fumes.
The phenomenon becomes particularly harmful in homes with poor ventilation. Following the 1973 oil embargo and rise in energy efficient technology, homes were built more airtight. Although energy efficient, the homes tend to trap stale indoor air.
"It ought to tip us off that what we breathe is a chemical soup," Tulpinrud said. "For instance, we know one particular style of carpet emits upwards of 100 volatile organic compounds."
So what's a health-conscious person to do?
Tulpinrud and Connelly say that since pollution is part of our environment, it is nearly impossible to create a completely healthy home. But architects, homebuilders and owners can take steps to minimize risks as they design, build, decorate and furnish their living space.
The charge of the Institute for Healthy Home Environments is to educate homeowners and homebuilders on issues related to health in the building and remodeling of homes.
The men have developed a consumer guide for building and remodeling homes, which will soon be available to the public. The guide helps identify hazards and offers some alternatives.
The book covers fairly known hazards such as radon exposure. Radon is a natural radioactive gas formed by the decay of uranium in the earth's soil. It is tasteless and odorless, but long-term exposure is estimated to be the second leading cause of lung cancer, according to American Lung Association literature.
Once detected, radon build-up can be corrected fairly easily by sealing cracks and other openings in basement floors, ventilating crawl spaces, installing sub-slab or basement ventilation or installing air-to-air heat exchangers.
The institute's consumer guide suggests the problem can be greatly minimized through wise building techniques such as laying down a layer of pea gravel or even broken glass under a slab, which can help dissipate the gas outdoors.
"We aim to put these choices in front of the consumer and the builder. We should make decisions intelligently, not just because `that's the way it's always been done,' " Connelly said.
The guide provides a "healthy home prescription," and offers tips on creating a home that conserves energy and utilizes non-toxic building materials.
The institute also accepts telephone inquiries at 487-0515.
Tulpinrud said he became dedicated to the healthy house concept after attending a homebuilders conference in Seattle. About two-thirds of the people attending the conference reported they suffer from multiple chemical sensitivity syndrome, apparently the result of repeated exposure to synthetic chemical compounds.
"What appears to be happening is as we continue to be exposed to these toxic substances, our immune systems get weaker. We tend to get sick easier.
"We call it the `canary syndrome.' It's like the old miners taking canaries down in the mines to check gas levels. Maybe it (the prevalence of multiple chemical sensitivity syndrome) is a warning to the rest of us our homes aren't as healthy as they should be."
The institute's goal is to build a home in an upcoming Parade of Homes that is a model of the organization's principles, which are:
- Holistic homes that combine aesthetic and practical design with human and environmental concerns.
- Integration of home design with natural resources and conservation.
- Utilization of nontoxic building materials and systems based upon renewable and sustainable criteria.
- Realization of harmony and balance between materials, systems, environment and people.