DEBRA'S ANSWER:

I no longer recommend sodium hexametaphosphate. Many years ago I was recommending it because at the time there were no alternatives to chlorine bleach. There's nothing wrong with using it, but it is hard to find, difficult to purchase, and today there are a number of chlorine-free bleach products--sold even in supermarkets.

The new oxygen-based cleaners work even better than sodium hexametaphosphate. OxiClean! is available on-line and is sold in many stores. Natural Choices Home Safe Products has a full line of cleaning products based on the power of oxygen bleach that contain a higher percentage of active ingredients than the brand-name products.

Oxygen bleaches work by releasing oxygen. Hydrogen peroxide is the active ingredient. Either it is used as an ingredient, or it is released as the product of the reaction of another ingredient when combined with water.

Since hydrogen peroxide is the active ingredient in all these products, you could also just use drugstore-variety hydrogen peroxide as a laundry bleach. Dilute it in a pint of water before adding it to your laundry, so you don't get white spots on your clothes. Experiment with different concentrations in different amounts to find the level of whitening you need.

Oxygen bleaches often contain sodium carbonate peroxide also called sodium percarbonate, sodium peroxide, or sodium perborate, all of which are made by reacting molecules with hydrogen peroxide. When these the hydrogen peroxide is released. Naturally-occuring borax also releases hydrogen peroxide into the water.

Like chlorine bleach, hydrogen peroxide does have an antiseptic action. It is commonly used as a topical antiseptic in dilute solutions, and as a water purifier in stronger solutions.

In the environment, hydrogen peroxide breaks down into harmless water and oxygen.

"All-fabric" bleaches are oxygen-based, whether or not they have "oxy-" in their name. Often these all-fabric bleaches contain fragrances, so it's best to stay with the unscented "oxy-" products.

Here's what The Soap and Detergent Association has to say about oxygen bleaches:

Oxygen Bleach all-fabric bleach

Oxygen bleaches are available in both a dry and liquid form. All dry oxygen bleaches contain inorganic peroxygen compounds, such as sodium perborate tetrahydrate and sodium percarbonate. When dissolved, the inorganic peroxygen compounds convert to hydrogen peroxide the oxidizing agent and the residue of the compound e.g., sodium borate or carbonate. Liquid oxygen bleaches contain hydrogen peroxide, which supplies the oxidizing agent directly. The hydrogen peroxide reacts with the soil and organic materials in the wash to either decolorize or break them up. Hydrogen peroxide provides a more gentle bleaching action than sodium hypochlorite used in chlorine bleaches.

Water temperature affects the bleaching rate of oxygen bleaches. Hot water accelerates the bleaching action. As water temperature decreases below 130 degrees F, exposure time must be increased substantially.

Powdered oxygen bleaches also contain a builder, usually sodium carbonate, which provides additional alkalinity and allows the perborate to function more effectively as a bleach. Other ingredients--such as surfactants, brighteners, bluing agents and fragrance-- can be incorporated into both liquid and powdered formulations. Enzymes are used in powdered bleaches. How to Use Oxygen Bleach: Read and follow bleach package directions. Use a standard measuring spoon or cup and measure the recommended amount. Add oxygen bleach to the wash water before clothes are added. Do not pour oxygen bleaches directly on wet colored fabrics without testing for colorfastness first.

Oxygen bleach is safe for most colored washable fabrics. However, if the care label states "No Bleach," do not use any bleach _ not even an oxygen bleach. To determine if a color is bleach safe, mix 1 teaspoon 5 ml dry oxygen bleach to 1 cup 240 ml hot water or follow instructions on the package. Place a few drops of test solution or undiluted liquid oxygen bleach on an inconspicuous portion of fabric for the time designated on the package. If color does not bleed or there is no color change, oxygen bleach may be used.

> a great review of available oxygen-based bleach products

Debra :-)

DEBRA'S ANSWER:

Here's what I say about formaldehyde on polyester in the new edition of Home Safe Home.

Many textile products are treated with formaldehyde. Even if not stated on the label, all polyester/cotton-blend fabrics have formaldehyde finishes. Polyester/cotton bedsheets have a particularly heavy finish because of their continuous use and frequent laundering. Formaldehyde is also used on nylon fabrics to make them flameproof, and some pure-cotton fabrics also have been treated with formaldehyde finishes for easy care.

The finishing process combines formaldehyde resin directly with the fiber, making the formaldehyde irremovable. At the end of processing, new textile products often contain free-formaldehyde levels of 800 parts per million ppm to 1,000 ppm. Simple washing can lower these levels to 100 ppm, but formaldehyde continues to be release as the resin breaks down during washing, ironing, and wear.

Formaldehyde vapor inhalation can cause tiredness, insomnia, headaches, respiratory problems, coughing, watery eyes, excessive thirst, and many other common symptoms. Exposure also can aggravate asthma attacks. Contact with formaldehyde finishes can result in mild to severe skin rash...

Logic tells me that the formaldehyde finish never completely washes out, because the it is designed to stay on the fabric for the life of the garment. If it was completely gone, the fabric would wrinkle because the finish is there to keep the fabric wrinkle-free.

That said, after many washings the finish probably outgasses very little formaldehyde, if any.

Debra :-)

DEBRA'S ANSWER:

Having the air ducts cleaned in your central air system is a relatively new service that is being promoted as part of central HVAC maintenance. The EPA has addressed this quite thoroughly on their website "Should You Have the Air Ducts in Your Home Cleaned?". The site includes:

• What Is Air Duct Cleaning?
• Deciding Whether or Not to Have Your Air Ducts Cleaned
• Suggestions for Choosing a Duct Cleaning Service Provider
• What to Expect of an Air Duct Cleaning Service Provider
• How to Determine if the Duct Cleaner Did a Thorough Job
• How to Prevent Duct Contamination
• Unresolved Issues of Duct Cleaning
• To Learn More About Indoor Air Quality and Air Duct Cleaning
• Consumer Checklist

The EPA concludes most homes probably don't need air duct cleaning and the cleaning may actually worsen indoor air quality.

Before getting your ducts cleaned, I would recommend getting a second and even third opinion. When we first moved to Florida and needed to get an air conditioner, the evaluations of what we needed and its costs were up to $10,000. Ultimately we found we could repair what we had by replacing part of the system for less than $1000 and it's been working fine since.

As for the health effects of mold that may be present in your home...mold is ubiqutous--there is always a little mold in the air and on many surfaces. Molds can easily enter your home by circulating through doorways, windows, and, yes, HVAC systems. But mold spores in the air can also land on people and animals, who can bring them indoors as well. Mold only becomes a problem when it can proliferate because of excessive moisture. Unless you have leaky pipes, a roof that leaks during a rainstorm or other sources of excess moisture, you probably don't have a mold problem in your home. For more on the health effects of mold, see

> EPA Mold Resources
> National Center for Environmental Health: Mold
> American Academy of Pediatrics: Toxic Effects of Indoor Molds

Here are some tips from the EPA on how you can keep your ducts clean and minimize the contamination that might require a duct cleaning:

• Change filters as often as is necessary to keep air flowing through them easily. Filters cost only a few dollars--duct cleaning can cost over $1000.
• Use the highest efficiency air filter recommended by the manufacturer of your system.
• Be sure you have installed all the filters required by your system and that air cannot bypass filters by leaking through gaps around the filter holder.
• During construction or renovation work that produces dust in your home, seal off supply and return registers and do not operate the system until after cleaning up the dust.
• Dust and vacuum your home regularly. The EPA recommends using a high efficiency vacuum HEPA cleaner or the highest efficiency filter bags your vacuum cleaner can take, as "vacuuming can increase the amount of dust in the air during and after vacuuming as well as in your ducts."

Debra :-)

DEBRA'S ANSWER:

This is a big question. There is a whole chapter on choosing water filters in Home Safe Home, and I'm also in the process of writing a how-to guide for the website.

Here's a simple place to start.

Most water filter advertisements say they remove a whole long list of pollutants. But what is more important to know is what pollutants do you want to remove from your water?

The first thing to look at are two key pollutants: chlorine and fluoride.

In the past, the standard disinfectant was chlorine, but it is fast being replaced by chloramine. Chlorine combines with the natural organic matter in water such as dead leave and humus in soil, silt, and mud, to forms trihalomethanes, or THMs, the most common of which is chloroform. According to the EPA, trihalomethanes were present in virtually all chlorinated water supplies in the United States.

So chlorine is now being replaced by chloramines. If your water is not yet treated with chloramines, it probably soon will be. Chloramine is made by combining chlorine and ammonia. In addition to producing substantially lower concentrations of byproducts in the distribution system, chloramine is more stable, so it’s disinfectant benefits extend further throughout the system. Customers also like it because there is less of a chlorine taste and odor.

A water filter that removes chlorine, however, will not remove chloramines, and vice versa. So the first thing to find out is:
1 do you have chlorine or chloramines in your tap water, and
2 does the filter under consideration remove chlorine or chloramines?

Choose a filter that removes the type of chlorine that is in your water.

Then, go through the same process with fluoride. Fluoride is added to many water supplies as a public service to reduce dental cavities in children. Fluoride does help reduce cavities, at the right dose and administered in the proper way. In tap water, however, it is a pollutant. Using fluoridated water for drinking, cooking and bathing can quickly result in a dose that exceeds the optimum level, leading to a long list of health problems.

So find out:
1 does your tap water contain fluoride, and
2 does the filter under consideration remove fluoride?

Then choose a filter that removes fluoride if it is present in your water.

Beyond chlorine/chloramine and fluoride, you need to find out if there are any particular chemicals you need to remove from your water that are specific to where you live. You probably need to filter out lead that may be entering your tap water from the pipes, or you may need to handle pesticide runoff, or something specific like that.

Asking these questions is a good place to start.

Debra :-)

DEBRA'S ANSWER:

I don't have experience with Pure Performance. I've used Glidden Lifemaster 2000, Sherwin Williams Harmony and Benjamin Moore Pristine EcoSpec.

All are fine in terms of odor, but Benjamin Moore has many more colors. I don't think that Glidden Lifemaster 2000 is available any more. I haven't been able to find it.

If any of you have any experience with other brands of low-VOC paint, would you write and tell me about it? I'll publish all replies.

Debra :-

RESPONSES:

In response to the query about low-VOC paints, I would recommend AFM Safe Coat Paints.

I used both flat wall paint, semi-gloss for trim and for bathroom walls, and cabinet/trim for bookshelves. The paint covers well, and painters say it is good to work with. We used these paints in 1989 and the paint was still in very good shape 13 years later, in 2002, but we did some re-painting in a few areas because we were putting the house up for sale.

It was also used in my office at the college where I used to teach, about 6 years ago. My colleagues were astounded that there was no smell from the fresh paint in my office, while their offices smelled for a couple of weeks.

I have used Glidden and a milk-based paint, both of which were acceptable, but I like Safecoat paints better. I used Lifemaster in one room in 2002, since it was supposed to be a replacement for the original paint probably Glidden, but it does not cover nearly as well as Safecoat, so it ended up being more expensive. The painter didn't like it much.

E. O.

For more reviews and personal experiences using nontoxic and natural paints, see Green Home Guide. Click on the product link, then click on the "reviews" tab at the top of the page.

Debra :-)

DEBRA'S ANSWER:

Any water-based wood finish will contain significantly less toxic solvent than oil-based finishes. Most, water-based finishes still contain glycol ether, which is toxic, but considered "less hazardous than most chemicals" type "glycol ether" into the search box at Scorecard Chemical Profiles for more details on toxicity.

If you don't have time to order AFM AcryGlaze, which does not contain glycol ethers, you can use any water-based wood finishes you find on the shelf. Even though these water-based products contain fewer toxic chemicals, they are not completely nontoxic, so use adequate ventilation and fans.

I've been very happy with Flecto Water-Based Diamond Finish, which was recommended to me by my cabinetmaker when I had solid-wood cabinets built for my kitchen. Be sure to get water-based Diamond Finish, not oil-based. Read the label carefully as this distinction is in fine print.

I've also used Minwax Polycrylic Protective Finish. This, to me, has a stronger odor and needs more ventilation during application, but it will dry to an odor-free finish in two days. Minwax Water-Based Wood Stain can be tinted to fifty colors at the paint counter it is a stain only and still needs a clear protective finish applied over it.

Both of these are available off the shelf in most hardware and home improvement stores.

Debra :-)