Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with toxins

What is making our eyes red?

ljesse — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 16:16:42 -0800

old house: What is making our eyes red? We recently moved into an old 1909 cottage rental, and ever since both my husband and I have glossy red eyes.

some things to note:

our eyes get slightly better the more time we spend away from home, so we are pretty sure its the house and not something else.

There was one incident in the bedroom when my eyes got scary red almost to the point of completely closing. We where folding clothes and moving stuff around in a closet. My hunch is something got fluffed into the air from the closet.

-we spent the first month repainting every room

-The house has hardwood and no carpets.

- I am allergic to cats but my husband isn't. We think the previous tenant had a cat, though the landlord hadn't known of one.

- We thought it might be mold and we've checked (short of cutting open the walls) There isn't a musty smell or any of the usual tell tale signs.

- Its cold, its a drafty house with single pane metal framed windows. The landlord has agreed to put in new windows but until then, we've caulked, insulated and filled every possible draft we could find. Its still cold.The only thing is, shouldn't the red eyes go away when we are warm at work?

- It has a vent in the living room floor for some sort of heater but we won't be using it and have since sealed off the vent with one of those magnet covers. We've been told that the past tenant never turned it on either.

- The linoleum in the kitchen was removed by the last tenant. She also refinished and stained the floors. I'm pretty sure she did it herself.

-we've got one of those hepa filter air machines running, although its questionable how much its helping. We both still have red glossy eyes.

- the weird thing about our eyes, If you look under the eye lid its bright white, its only red where its exposed to the air.

We have no clue, and we don't know how to figure this out. Is there someone we could call? what do you test for? We'd like to start a family here. Other wise its a wonderful house full of charm, walking distance to good schools, parks and grocery stores, its close to work etc. but if we can't figure it out I'm not sure how safe I feel about mysterious toxins.

A taste of poison paradise?

gensubuser — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 22:04:20 -0800

How can I test my family's garden vegetables for nutrition/toxins? My father just finished canning 70 quarts of green beans. I like them (really) and I am glad that my kids may end up liking vegetables too through their consumption. But, seeing as how I grew up eating them and I will probably be dining on them occasionally for the next 10 (!) years, it might be nice to reassure myself that they are harmless at worst.

Is there a program or company somewhere that offers to test food or vegetables for harmful content and nutrition?

Help cure sick house; it's very bad.

yazi — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 00:05:01 -0800

Is house permanently destroyed by paint toxins? Please Help! (Long explanation, but no way around that.) This is for my friend, a wonderful sculptor who loves her frame home/studio (built 1916) here in Seattle. Now she is really screwed over, cause she was fumigated out of her home by improper paint; she is highly reactive to the chemicals in the paint. This all happened about about one year ago in basement. Basement has daylite windows and is usually quite dry. NOTE: this is not about culpability and lawsuits, only about whether anyone has been thru this and has a brainstorm or insight for fixing the house so she can move back in happily.

FACTS: Benjamin Moore, Moorcraft, super spec, industrial exterior paint #166. Applied very thickly (somewhat dripping) to concrete basement interior walls, and part of the wood ceiling joists and subfloor. 12 hours later it was all sprayed over with an equal amount of interior latex -- also Ben. Moore super spec , but interior paint. So it never cured properly. She later went over the joists and subfloor area with acrylic primer and latex interior paint. (Not sure why she did that.)

To mitigate, she heated and ventilated when the house heat went on last fall, and she turned it up as high as possible, for a week. The paint off-gassed, so the vapors toxified the upstairs as well. The area has been ventilating for a year now. Still no good. She tried to strip a small area of the concrete walls with a non-toxic stripping agent, designed for chemically sensitive indivuals, but it was very ineffective. It got most of the evil paint, but not the older paint below. An industrial hygenist (IH) and painters have said that a commercial stripper will be 2 times as toxic as the paint. Also, that the substrate may have absorbed the product, so even if it is removed it may be off-gassing for some time. Two IH's thus said blast the stuff out. A paint coating expert recommended sealing with acrylic barrier rating of #1. Benjamin Moore tech support recommended painting over the water-based paint with an acrylic or oil, to seal. But apparently she did not like that idea. All 3 IH’s recommended heating and ventilation. But it didn’t get hot enough in the basement even with heat up full for a week.

Had testing done in June, by a very highly recommended IH, who is a Ph.D in chemistry. Some slightly elevated levels of voc's ( this is after a year of ventilation, voc's greater in the basement, where the paint was applied) He, and one other IH, both recommended sandblasting. He poo-poo'd sealing or further heating. The Ph.D. recommended planing the joist faces and then blasting under negative pressure with a hepa filter. He also said that since her symptoms are so extreme, she should just sell (w/ full disclosure).

Builders have not liked the idea of sandblasting… that it might not get done properly and/or make an enourmous dust mess. The IH said that if she blasts, there may be only a 23% chance of living in the house again, due to the severity of her symptoms.

ANY CHANCE NOTION THAT HITS THE NAIL ON THE HEAD WILL BE WELCOME.

Toxic Inhahler

glibhamdreck — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 11:22:02 -0800

Where can I learn more about professional (or semi-professional) equipment for testing the levels of indoor air toxins like carbon monoxide, radon, mold, VOCs, etc.? Here's a Talk of the Nation show that addresses the need, if it helps.

Stinky Sickly Air "Freshener" Situation

Fat Guy — Sun, 21 May 2006 08:33:16 -0800

I believe that another tenant has place an air "freshener" in the hallway out side of our apartments in violation of their lease. I want it removed. What should I do? I guess this is the inverse of this post.

Recently, new neighbors moved in across the hall from me. A couple and a baby. Soon afterward, I noticed a Glade Wisp Air Freshener on the landing of the stairway immediately outside our apartment doors. I can't say the other tenant placed the device there, because I don't know that for a fact, but it is certainly likely. Maybe the landlord placed it, but I think they would have said something to me if they did.

The hallway now smells like a men's room, and I don't have the world's greatest sense of smell. Aside from the foul odor from this device, it is designed to emit a aerosol of "combustible" material "every 9 to 36 seconds". According to the product packaging, the aerosol is "hazardous to humans and household pets." I am concerned for myself, and my two cats. I am also concerned about the build-up of combustible gas at the top of the stairwell.

Full disclose: I smoke cigarettes, but not "every 9 to 36 seconds". Though not prohibited by lease, I have never smoked or carried lit tobacco products in the common hallway. I'd like to avoid restricting a legal activity that is not prohibited by my lease, but I'd being willing to compromise as long as the device is removed from the hallway permanently.

I believe the device is in violation of terms in the other tenant's (mine too) lease which prohibits items that "could damage the leased premises or harm tenants or others" and forbids "hazardous material from being stored in or around the leased premises". I want the device removed immediately. I'm ready to fire off a certified letter to landlord asking for that, but I figured I would google "smoking bothering apartment neighbors", and post a question here.

I haven't met these people, and I don't really care to meet them. I'm really mad that they would move in here and almost immediately do something to bother another tenant, they are obviously inconsiderate people. They must have toured our complex and looked at empty units before they moved in, if the hallway smelled like smoke then, they should have rented another unit.

Have any renters (smokers especially) been in a similar situation? From what I've seen online, the problem and resolution is typically told from the non-smokers perspective. While I welcome that here, POV from smokers might be more helpful in this particular situation. I've already checked out Tenants Rights.net. I don't really want to become the test case for smoking and tenants legislation, I just want to be able to walk up the stairs to my apartment with walking through a aerosol of foul-smelling hazardous material generated by a device placed there.

Helpmedomyjobfilter

Danf — Fri, 24 Mar 2006 13:48:43 -0800

Are there toxic issues with a kid playing with an old circuitboard? A principal called me. Kids in her school were given "found" objects with which to create sculptures. A few of these found objects are old motherboards and/or other circuitboards. I know that there is lead and there are other toxic materials in these things, and if I were to use a "lead swab" on one, I would likely get a positive reading.

I am not sure, however, whether lead, cadmium, etc. would come off with just skin contact.

I have an hour to research this before the kids in that school go home, so ask mefi is one of the resources I am using.

Any input?

(thank you)

What's the deal with these detoxing food pads?

kyleg — Tue, 07 Mar 2006 00:07:10 -0800

What's the deal with Koyotakara detox foot pads? I saw a picture of these after being used, and got intrigued. What is really going on? Has anybody tried these and documented it, or do any MeFites have personal experience? How could this work? How can you tell there are "toxins" absorbed? It says there is wood vinegar in the pads, would that react with the heat and moisture from your feet to make it look like this?

Supposedly, the color changes after continued use and can vary for different people. But the pads cost so damn much and I can't find any reputable discussion of them that I want to know just how sketchy this is.

Chewing the fat

lunkfish — Tue, 21 Feb 2006 09:31:25 -0800

Paleo diet and lo carb/hi fat- Couple of questions, and want to hear how you got on. I'm attracted to this diet because of the 'what we evolved to eat' idea and because I can have fried bacon and eggs for breakfast all the time, but have a couple of questions. I don't need to lose weight btw.

I know it's a controversial subject whether saturated fats and cholesterol are harmful, so my first question is if I did it for a few years (I'm 26) and then decided it was bad, would I have done much lasting damage?

Secondly, what do you think about the idea that potatoes, pulses and grains have more 'toxins' in than other food and should be avoided? I'm quite skeptical of 'detox' and most foods have toxins in right?

Also wanted to know what your experiences were of trying the diet.

Stinky Sickly Secondhand Situation

pranalaxmi — Tue, 03 Jan 2006 07:06:22 -0800

I live on the second floor of an old turn of the century mansion and the first floor party-hardy dwellers are serious chain smokers. Their noxious, secondhand smoke is so pervasive (they entertain smoker friends by the droves) that it seeps through my hardwood floors and walls and stinks up my apartment something awful. Sometimes it seems like I'm living above a nightclub it is so bad. I moved into the place in July not knowing their habits, so now that the windows are closed for the winter, the smell has intensified to an intolerable level. It seems unlikely that I can convince two heavily-addicted users to smoke outside their own place, so I'm left to "treating" my own environment, cleansing my own air. Incense is only a temporary relief, while a little essential oil diffuser doesn't seem to be cutting it. What else can I do but move out or open the windows and freeze?

Does Draught Beer Contain Formaldehyde?

petebest — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 10:24:05 -0800

BeerFilter: I've been told by 3 separate bartenders that draught beer has formaldehyde in it, that's why they only drink from bottles. A Google search shows at best that there may be two reasons for formaldehyde being in beer. (1) Can manufacturing and (2) ethanol breakdown. Are either harmful enough to avoid draught beer? One article, here about can manufacturing says that in "the old days" formaldehyde was used, but today other washes take it's place.
Another article here (about 1/3 down the page) suggests formaldehyde is a common byproduct of ethanol, which should be in all beer.

Are these the same chemical things, or enough to change my habits? Should I only drink bottles to oxymoronically "drink healthy"?