March 23, 2013 – EZ Breathe tech consultant, Rick Capp with James Ketterer, owner of Value Dry at a recent Home show in Washington D.C
March 23, 2013 – EZ Breathe tech consultant, Rick Capp with James Ketterer, owner of Value Dry at a recent Home show in Washington D.C
Wow, check out this most recent article on About.com that talks about the relationship between our attached garages & our homes:
Stop Garage Fumes from Polluting Indoor Air
Attached garages are very convenient, but there is mounting evidence that they are responsible for negatively affecting indoor air quality. That’s because much of what we use our garages for (cars, mowers, paints, lubricants) contains or generates substances that are considered toxic. Once the toxic substances become airborne, they can easily migrate indoors.
It’s a bit ironic that we keep a floor mat by the door leading from the garage to the house so that shoe bottoms can be cleaned of largely nontoxic items like dirt, yet we often take no such preventative measures regarding the air.
Car exhaust, toxic chemicals and volatile organic compounds are present in almost all garages at least some of the time. And they can find their way into the house very easily through open doors, gaps around closed doors, ducts and other wall and ceiling penetrations.
There is scientific proof to back up this claim. A study involving 100 houses conducted by Health Canada found that those with attached garages had measurable quantities of benzene inside the house, while houses without attached garages had little if any benzene. Benzene is a gasoline-related pollutant. The study found similar results with other pollutants.
According to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), long-term exposure to benzene can affect bone marrow and blood production. Short-term exposure to high levels can cause drowsiness, dizziness, unconsciousness and death.
A survey of Minnesota houses during the winter of 1996-1997 found that 74 percent of homes with carbon monoxide (CO) detectors that went off were triggered by CO leaking in from the garage. Other studies from Iowa, Colorado and Alaska have found substantial evidence of garage-generated CO leaking into houses.
Nobody wants to breathe toxic pollutants, especially at home. Fortunately, there are a series of steps you can take to keep your indoor air quality something you need not worry about inhaling. Here are some tips:
If you are planning to build a new house or garage, give some thought to making the garage fully detached from the house. In addition to largely eliminating garage pollutants from migrating inside the house, here are some other benefits of a detached garage.
Finally, make sure your home has at least one CO detector mounted probably. And, if you are curious about the CO levels in your garage, go ahead and mount one out there, at least temporarily, to see if it goes off on a regular basis. Though it might be irritating, it could be educational to learn that the air you are breathing in that space contains a toxic substance.
To view this article in full, go to: http://garages.about.com/od/buildingagarage/a/garages_and_indoor_air_quality.htm