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Toxic Building Materials in Residential Construction

April 23, 2016

Toxic Building Materials in Residential

Construction

Toxic Building Materials in Residential

Construction

BY ALEX STADTNER (HTTP://HEALTHYBUILDINGSCIENCE.COM/AUTHOR/ASTADTNER/) / TUESDAY, 27 NOVEMBER 2012 / PUBLISHED IN

ENVIRONMENTAL TESTING (HTTP://HEALTHYBUILDINGSCIENCE.COM/CATEGORY/ALLERGIES-ASTHMA-ENVIRONMENTAL-TESTING/), GREEN BUILDING

CONSULTING (HTTP://HEALTHYBUILDINGSCIENCE.COM/CATEGORY/DESIGN-CONSTRUCTION-GREEN-BUILDING-SUSTAINABLE-DESIGN/), HEALTHY

BUILDING MATERIALS (HTTP://HEALTHYBUILDINGSCIENCE.COM/CATEGORY/DESIGN-CONSTRUCTION-GREEN-BUILDING-SUSTAINABLE-

DESIGN/HEALTHY-BUILDING-MATERIALS-DESIGN-CONSTRUCTION-GREEN-BUILDING-SUSTAINABLE-DESIGN/)

Toxic Building Materials in

Residential Construction
 A reporter from Angie’s List Magazine just asked for my
opinion on toxic building materials in residential construction…
and while writing my response I realized there was some
valuable information to share. Hopefully Angie’s List Magazine
will decide to run the piece.

Here is my response to some great questions from Brittany

Paris:

(http://healthybuildingscience.com/wp- 1) What do you consider to be the most toxic building

content/uploads/sites/85/2012/11/Angies- materials used in residential construction today – and why?
List.jpeg) PVC, lead, mercury, and halogenated ＼眛ame retardants would
be top my list. Each of these common building components have known health and toxicity problems, and
can become deadly under the wrong conditions.

PVC: Polyvinyl Chloride has a tremendous upstream toxicity impact (chemical manufacturing in “cancer
alley”), releases phthalates during it’s use phase of life, and releases dioxin when burned. Dioxin is one of the
most toxic substances known to exist. PVC and PVC-byproducts contain known carcinogens, and
developmental and reproductive toxicants.

Lead: We’re learning that lead exposure – at even lower rates than previously known – has negative e＼眛ects in
the form of cancer, and developmental and reproductive toxicity. Around the country you can still buy
faucets and lead-containing solder to be used for potable water. In fact, in the US, even “lead-free” solder and
＼眛ux is allowed to contain lead! So you have to specify “100% lead-free” if you’re serious about eliminating
lead.

Mercury: There is still mercury in some electronics and thermostats, but the most signi＾笜cant source in the
residential sector is in lighting. Since the massive rollout of Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFLs), several states
and the EPA have published clean-up protocols for broken CFLs. Mercury is a known developmental toxicant,
and it’s suspected of many other health e＼眛ects.

Halogenated Flame Retardants: HFRs are added to too many building materials – even when they are not
needed. Fire scientists, toxicologists, and even ＾笜re＾笜ghters are raising alarm bells around the world. There is
no signi＾笜cant ＾笜re safety bene＾笜t from HFRs in foam or wiring behind walls or under concrete slabs, yet
current US codes requires HFRs in these applications. Sadly, during a ＾笜re, HFRs release signi＾笜cantly more
smoke and very toxic gases that harm/kill occupants and ＾笜re＾笜ghters. The European Union has already
banned some HFRs, but the US lags behind. There is currently a concerted e＼眛ort in the green building
movement to remove HFRs from materials when there is no added ＾笜re safety bene＾笜t.

2) Are you seeing a shift in the green building community to phase out some of these noxious materials? 

Absolutely. There are numerous green building rating systems that now “give points” for avoiding these
known hazards. At last week’s GreenBuild Conference – the largest green building conference in the country
– CA Governor Jerry Brown really hammered home the point that “green buildings” need to be healthy, and
not just energy eＹ焚cient.

Major architecture and engineering ＾笜rms are voluntarily specifying alternatives to these chemicals, and huge
companies (e.g., Google) are going through great extremes to reduce their use in buildings. So forward
thinking designers are meeting more conscientious consumers – and a major shift is taking place in the
design/build industry.

3) What are some alternative building materials for those you listed above? 

PVC piping for potable water can easily be swapped out with copper, PEX or polypropylene, and there are
even less expensive alternatives for non-potable water piping.

Lead in potable water plumbing should be avoided where possible. Most brass ＾笜ttings and valves do contain
trace amounts of lead, but eliminating lead from ＼眛ux and solder is low hanging fruit.

Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) are far more energy eＹ焚cient than CFLs, and they do not contain mercury.

Halogenated Flame Retardants (HFRs) are in all foam products in the US, and now the only avoidance
strategy available is to not specify foam. There are alternatives to PVC- and HFR-jacketed wiring, but the cost
premium to avoid these toxins is so high it is out of the reach of most American home builders.

4) Do you encounter clients who are sickened by the e＼眛ects of toxic construction materials?

Yes, every day! Half of our business focuses on green building consulting for new buildings or remodels, and
the other half is devoted to environmental testing (industrial hygiene) for existing buildings. The number of
people sick and su＼眛ering in buildings is alarming, and the stories we hear every day are heartbreaking. It
doesn’t have to be this way, but sick buildings are contagious, and our jobs are secure for the foreseeable
future.

5) How can a consumer ＾笜nd out what a building product contains?

I wish there was an easy answer. Unlike food labeling laws that require full ingredient disclosure, intellectual
property rights provide a corporate veil of secrecy over many common building materials in the US. Most
products disclose their primary ingredients on mandated Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS), but it’s not
required they post all ingredients. It’s a two-pronged movement toward healthy building materials: on one
side there are growing precautionary lists of chemicals to avoid, and on the other side are people demanding
more transparency!

Pharos is an online database of materials and their ingredients, but it’s voluntary and therefore doesn’t have
enough materials cataloged to be very useful when evaluating the material palette for an entire building.

The push for transparency is from many diverse stakeholders. But just last week the Health Product
Declaration Collaborative made it’s big debut, and moving forward this non-pro＾笜t lead by respected industry
leaders will undoubtedly become the de facto umbrella group organizing the push for transparency. Keep an
eye out for many major product manufacturers to start completing Health Product Declarations (HPDs) and
disclosing more ingredients.

6) Anything else you’d like to mention?

Healthy building is about much more than air quality. Light quality, acoustics, electromagnetic ＾笜elds, and
connections to nature are all part of a truly healthy building.

So many green building consultants focus primarily on energy eＹ焚ciency, and some energy eＹ焚ciency
measures can actually harm occupant health.

We frequently use two images to remind people of how important health is: 1) from the American Lung
Association, “when you can’t breathe, nothing else matters,” and 2) If you were driving your kid uphill to the
hospital and he was having an asthma attack – would you drive your Prius slow to improve your fuel
economy?

I like to think these help people frame the importance of healthy buildings. Without our health – what do we
have?

(http://www.groupon.com/deals/angies-list-
hampton-roads)
Angie’s List

12

5 Responses to “Toxic Building Materials in Residential Construction”

Alex Stadtner (http://www.healthybuildingscience.com) says :

November 30, 2015 at 4:25 pm (http://healthybuildingscience.com/2012/11/27/toxic-building-materials-in-residential-
construction/#comment-582)

In terms of material ingredient disclosure, Pharos (https://www.pharosproject.net/login) and

the Healthy Building Network (https://www.healthybuilding.net/) are really pushing the
envelope. You may also check out Declare (http://declareproducts.com/product-database),
Cradle to Cradle (http://www.c2ccerti＾笜ed.org/products/registry), GreenGuard Gold Certi＾笜ed
(http://productguide.ulenvironment.com/SearchResults.aspx?Certi＾笜cationID=2) products,
Health Product Declaration (http://www.hpd-collaborative.org/), and GreenSpec by Building
Green (http://greenspec.buildinggreen.com/). All good resources.

Cyprus Architects (http://www.nivipa.com/) says :

November 26, 2015 at 11:25 am (http://healthybuildingscience.com/2012/11/27/toxic-building-materials-in-
residential-construction/#comment-580)

Great article! Besides Pharos are there other online databases of construction materials’
ingredients?

Alex Stadtner (http://www.healthybuildingscience.com) says :

October 21, 2015 at 9:18 am (http://healthybuildingscience.com/2012/11/27/toxic-building-materials-in-residential-
construction/#comment-539)

Hello Josephine,
 I’m very sorry to hear of your son’s health issues. It is entirely possible that these symptoms
are brought on by toxic building materials, but without a bunch of medical and
environmental testing we could not know for sure. If his symptoms clear up when he’s away
from the building for an extended period of time, I would be even more suspicious of the
building itself. And it may not be from building materials. It could be from mold, soil vapors,
etc.
Here is a list of symptoms associated with Sick Building Syndrome and Building Related
Illnesses (http://healthybuildingscience.com/2015/10/02/sick-building-syndrome-and-
building-related-illness/):

http://www.cpsc.gov/en/Safety-Education/Safety-Guides/Home/Indoor-Air-Pollution-
Introduction-for-Health-Professionals/ (http://www.cpsc.gov/en/Safety-Education/Safety-
Guides/Home/Indoor-Air-Pollution-Introduction-for-Health-Professionals/)

The US Consumer Product Safety Commission has a nice, easy chart of symptoms and
possible causes. I believe all the symptoms you reference are on this handy chart. It is an
oversimpli＾笜cation, but clearly con＾笜rmation that these mystery symptoms may be stemming
from exposure to something indoors.

Best of luck ＾笜nding a good doctor who is willing to think outside the box. And if you ever
need a Sick Building Inspection (http://healthybuildingscience.com/environmental-
services/healthy-building-inspections/)… you know who to call.

Good luck,
Alex

Josephine says :
October 16, 2015 at 8:38 pm (http://healthybuildingscience.com/2012/11/27/toxic-building-materials-in-residential-
construction/#comment-536)

This is such crucial information.

I have been searching for reasons why my son has gastrointestinal issues…pain, nausea and
bomiting for more a year now. It started 6 months after we moved back into our
reconstructed home. We have been to so many doctors, specialist (GI, neurology, pain,
internist, naturalist, allergist) and no diagnosis has been identi＾笜ed. We are puzzled.
Have you heard of such symptoms in relation to the toxic building materials?
Looking forward to hear from you.

Why Build with Earth? « Holistically Organized Multidisciplinary Endeavors Farm (http://www.home-farm.org/building-
with-earth/) says :
November 14, 2013 at 10:38 am (http://healthybuildingscience.com/2012/11/27/toxic-building-materials-in-residential-
construction/#comment-174)

[…] ¹¹ http://healthybuildingscience.com/2012/11/27/toxic-building-materials-in-residential-
construction/ […]
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