Formaldehyde is found in many conventional household building supplies.  Whether you use them to outfit a trailer or to fancy up your basement, you’re going to get the formaldehyde.

How can you guard your man cave against this scourge?  Hitch a ride below the fold with me and find out.

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The swanky housing is packed with renewable bamboo flooring, considered wall paneling, low VOC finishes, and regionally sourced siding with recycled content. It was also designed and engineered to minimize energy usage.

The housing was designed by architect Kyu Sung Woo, who recently won Korea’s version of the Nobel Prize - the Ho-Am Prize.

Source: worldarchitecturenews.com

Image source: © Coleong | Dreamstime.com

I dunno. Seven years later I still can’t finish the sentence because, it doesn’t make sense to me now or then but I know I needed the stinkin room painted. A few short months ago that freshly painted room sent out the last of it’s toxins. Seriously.

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The Center for Health, Environment & Justice has just published “Volatile Vinyl: The New Shower Curtain’s Chemical Smell”, which claims more than 100 chemicals are released into the air when consumers open the packages containing the curtains.

That “new” smell sticks around too. the report found that 108 different VOCs were released into the air over a months time. AND, the level of total VOCs was over 16 times greater than the recommended guidelines for indoor air quality established by the U.S. Green Building Council.

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I don’t have enough hands to count the number of those shower curtains I’ve used in my brief 23 years, but it’s a lot. I’m happy to say I switched to cloth a few months ago after having a conversation about the possible effects of continued exposure to these shower curtains with my friend John Laumer of treehugger.com. I’m glad to see our fears were not confounded. The smell you most often associate with the excitement of a new product is actually a sign of off-gassing, a process by which harmful toxins become airborne through evaporation. There should be no rejoicing when this smell is encountered.

Some interesting findings from the study:

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By now, a lot of people have heard about the hazards of VOCs — Volatile Organic Compounds. In this case, “organic” doesn’t mean they’re good for you.

VOCs are a toxic soup of carbon-based molecules such as ketones, aldehydes, and hydrocarbons. Indoors, they escape from a variety of things you probably take for granted: certain kinds of treated wood, carpeting, plastics, cleaning supplies — even cosmetics. And VOCs vapors tend to hang around.

How big a problem is this? The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has research showing that indoor air can be 2 to 5 times more polluted than the air you breathe outside. Exposure in effected homes and businesses is chronic, and VOCs are a big contributor to “sick building syndrome.”

A major source of VOCs is household paint. Fortunately, paint manufacturers are getting on the low- or zero-VOC bandwagon, from specialty companies like AFM to old-guard names such as Sherwin Williams.

Concern about VOCs has also led to a revival in milk paint. Milk has been used as a pigment base for thousands of years: it’s cheap, widely available, and imparts a rich glow that was very popular until locally-made paint was displaced by the convenience of non-perishable oils around the middle of the 19th century.

Milk paints hung on as a craft item and for the restoration of historic wall and furniture finishes. But now modern companies are turning out milk paint with the explicit purpose of providing zero-VOC wall coverings for healthy indoor environments.

One such manufacturer is the Old-Fashioned Milk Paint Company. Their one concession to convenience is that they’ve chosen to use dried milk, which allows customers to mix as they go. Otherwise, Old-Fashioned Milk Paint sticks to tradition, choosing clay, ochre, iron oxide, and other natural pigments to arrive at about 20 mixable colors. In theory, you could drink their paint. That’s about as green as it comes.

Got a home project coming up, or are you looking for a way to cover-up a conventional wall finish? Perhaps milk paints are for you. Visit the Old-Fashioned Milk Paint Company website for color ideas, or try one of these other milk paint manufacturers: Real Milk Paint, The Original Milk Paint Company, or Vintage Paint Works.

Feeling a bit do-it-yourself? Check out Pioneer Thinking’s 1870 Milk Paint Formula. Sounds like eco-friendly fun. 

The old standards on the paint market are normally oil based or water based (latex) paints. Latex paints, most common for DIYers, are made up of pigments, binder, additives and water. There are also solvents and biocides (to prevent bacterial growth) that aren't always listed. All these things can add up to one giant headache - literally. When you get a headache or nausea from wet paint aroma, that is the VOCs affecting you (volatile organic compounds).

Reduce your exposure by purchasing low VOC paints. Many major paint brands have low VOC lines and can be found in many hardware stores and at most home improvement centers. Look for the Green Seal certification for an added eco-stamp of approval.

Another options is to go the natural route. Natural paints mainly contain citrus oil, lime, clay, linseed oil and/or chalk, and little or no VOCs. The manufacturing of these products is often more eco-friendly as well. However, keep in mind that natural paints could also contain some non-natural ingredients, can take longer to dry, and have different finishes than the (low VOC) latex counterpart.

In addition to the paint think about the tools you're using. Instead of buying cheap, disposable brushes and rollers, invest a few dollars more into quality products that you can reuse the next time around and will give you a better result. Better quality paint and spackle will also hold up over time so repainting and touch-ups will be less frequent.

Even with low VOC paint, make sure to keep areas ventilated with open windows and fans. Turn off central AC or heating to prevent the spread of any VOCs throughout the house.

When cleaning up take any extra paint to a designated waste disposal site. The GreenHomeGuide recommends washing brushes in a bucket instead of in the sink, then pouring that water down the toilet so it will be treated by the sewage system.

If you're not doing the painting yourself be sure to bring up these points with the painters or contractors you hire. And when doing any prep work, especially sanding, take proper precautions as the old paint on the wall may contain lead or mercury that will be released into the air through dust.

Amy says: I'm about to repaint my bedroom and choosing a low VOC paint was the easy part. Choosing a color is a little more difficult.

For more information and a further detailed description of oil, latex and natural paints read more at GreenHomeGuide. Also take a look at our new Green Life Guide entry.

Environmental Protection Agency painting and indoor air quality information