• about us

Periwinkle Porte

~ Design, inspiration and the environment insights from Associates III Interior Design.

Periwinkle Porte

Tag Archives: Toxicity

Formaldehyde Junkies

22 Wednesday Feb 2012

Posted by periwinkleporte in design, environment

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

Formaldehyde, Toxicity

Ubiquitous. Omnipresent. Universal.

I’ve heard people use these words to describe how they connect with a spiritual being in the universe or how they view God. However, if I told you that I’m using them to describe the presence of formaldehyde in our world, you might do a double take and raise your eyebrows…..wwwwhat??

Formaldehyde appears to be almost everywhere; it touches our skin – from lotions and cosmetics to toothpaste and bubble bath. It’s in baby wipes and sun block that we buy for our children, which I find to be horrifying. Many cleaning products we use in our homes contain it. In fact, manufacturers of cleaning products are not required to spell out the ingredients used in them, making it all the more tricky to decipher the code on their labels. My question is – are we cleaning and sanitizing or are we creating conditions that make us more at risk to sickness?

Reactions to any and all chemicals are becoming more common. In my research to become better informed, I came across a number of good resources – two of my top choices are shared below. A reaction to formaldehyde may be hard to isolate and so being on the lookout for all chemicals in products can help us move toward a toxic free life. Hope they help inform your journey too.

The US Dept of Health & Human Services lists health and safety information for commonly used products around the home on their website: householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov. Take a BIG gulp of coffee or chai before reading through the ever growing list of chemicals found in and around our homes. After looking it over, I’ve decided to look for “non-toxic to humans and aquatic life”, or “readily biodegradable”, or similar phrases in the descriptions on any new items I purchase from now on!

Green EarthMena Noll’s blog is called Toxic Free Kids (toxicfreekidsblog.org) and her personal story is inspiring. She questions if her clean freak habits actually caused or, if not, contributed greatly to her son’s illness. She has a Top Ten List of how to begin the process of detoxing that is straightforward, do-able and systematically addresses some of the basic areas in our lives and homes. And if you’re experiencing hard-to-pinpoint symptoms it’s a great start to remove toxins from the home environment.

Eliminating formaldehyde is not easy. And when feeling sick from its effects, it’s even tougher to identify what may be causing the problem. Obvious items?  Body products (me? I’d try Cetaphyl and Aveda), clothing (natural organic, or try washing everything you bring home first before wearing), and furniture (most fabrics and even bedding are sprayed with a formaldehyde based product, so washing is definitely helpful) – all require some form of trial and error, as we look to use and surround ourselves with the most inert products possible.

So, open the window or take a walk and get some fresh air, it’ll help clear your mind and hopefully dilute some of the effects of the chemicals we’re exposed to every single day.

For those of you who enjoy the more technical side, here are the chemicals that make up formaldehyde:

  • Imidazolidinyl urea (Germall 115)
  • Diazolidinyl urea (Germall II)
  • Quaternium 15 (Dowicil 200)
  • 2-bromo-2-nitropropane-1, 3-diol (Bronopol)
  • DMDM hydantoin
  • Hexamethylenetetramine
  • Formaldehyde is also released from certain other chemicals such as Dowicil75, Tris Nitro, Grotan HD2 or BK, Triadine-10, Onyxide 200, Vancide TH, Myacide BT.

— Debbie Hindman

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 593 other followers

Categories

  • design (62)
  • environment (63)
  • inspiration (156)
  • miscellaneous (24)
  • Uncategorized (6)

Recent Posts

  • Happy Chinese New Year!
  • Colorado Gives Day 2015
  • Wishing you a beautiful Thanksgiving!
  • Chicago Cultural Center
  • Harmony with Nature

Archives

  • February 2016 (1)
  • December 2015 (1)
  • November 2015 (4)
  • October 2015 (4)
  • September 2015 (1)
  • July 2015 (1)
  • June 2015 (2)
  • May 2015 (1)
  • April 2015 (3)
  • March 2015 (4)
  • February 2015 (2)
  • January 2015 (3)
  • December 2014 (4)
  • November 2014 (7)
  • October 2014 (2)
  • September 2014 (2)
  • August 2014 (1)
  • July 2014 (3)
  • June 2014 (5)
  • May 2014 (4)
  • April 2014 (3)
  • March 2014 (3)
  • February 2014 (5)
  • January 2014 (6)
  • December 2013 (4)
  • November 2013 (1)
  • October 2013 (2)
  • September 2013 (5)
  • August 2013 (5)
  • July 2013 (8)
  • June 2013 (5)
  • May 2013 (5)
  • April 2013 (6)
  • March 2013 (6)
  • February 2013 (6)
  • January 2013 (7)
  • December 2012 (4)
  • November 2012 (6)
  • October 2012 (8)
  • September 2012 (5)
  • August 2012 (7)
  • July 2012 (8)
  • June 2012 (8)
  • May 2012 (4)
  • April 2012 (12)
  • March 2012 (14)
  • February 2012 (17)
  • January 2012 (6)

Tags

Alan Weisman Albert Einstein Allergen Allergy art balance Bee Biedermeier Bill McKibben Book Club Building material Business Chemical substance Chicken Chicken coop Chief Seattle Chipotle Christmas Climate change Color Colorado Compost Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations coop design creative relationships Denver Denver Chalk Art Festival Design Downton Abbey Downtown Denver Downtown Denver Business Improvement District Environment Factory farming Fast food Flatirons Community Church Formaldehyde Furniture Garden Graham Hill Health Healthy interiors hen house Highclere Castle holistic style Home Hong Kong inspiration Interior Design Ishmael John Muir Landscapes Larimer Square Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design LifeEdited LoDo Denver London Marcel Proust Nature Photography Plant Recycling Red Rocks Rolling Stone SHINE Silent Spring Slavery Soil and Additives Sustainable Residential Interiors Symptom The World Without Us Toxicity Treehugger Volatile organic compound Waste management Zero Waste

Blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • Periwinkle Porte
    • Join 593 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Periwinkle Porte
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...