Environmental Health & Home

17/06/2026

Another great session this morning! And June has filled up fast. Still time to schedule today and save 25% with the June promo. I have a couple of slots left available this week and openings Wed, Thurs, and Friday next week and that's it for the month! Thanks for making my first month downtown a great one!

👉 Schedule here https://calendly.com/andy-ehh-llc

If ionic detox (pictured) isn't your thing ask me about a VIBE session, Qest4 energetic scanning or Environmental Health consults! Reach out, and discover a few things to help make life a little easier and more enjoyable.

08/06/2026

CASE STUDY 9.4
In October 1987, the EPA installed carpet at its headquarters in the Waterside Mall in Washington, DC. A total of 1,141 complaints were received regarding adverse health effects related to the new carpet. These complaints included decreased short-term memory, loss of concentration, confusion, anxiety, headaches, joint and muscle pains, rashes, digestive disorders, reproductive abnormalities, asthma, insomnia, chronic fatigue, and multiple chemical sensitivities. Dozens of workers remained permanently disabled. After the EPA investigated these carpet complaints from its headquarters building, it published a report showing a positive correlation between the EPA worker complaints and the new carpet.
Despite the results of its own study, and the removal of 27,000 square yards of carpet from the headquarters building in 1989, the EPA published a public information brochure that stated, “Limited research to date has found no links between adverse health effects and the levels of chemicals emitted by new carpet.”ᶜ
Excerpt taken from https://www.amazon.com/Prescriptions-Healthy-House-3rd-Architects/dp/0865716048

The symptoms reported by EPA workers are most consistent with exposure to a VOC mixture, especially:

4-Phenylcyclohexene (4-PC)
Styrene
Formaldehyde
Toluene
Xylenes
Ethylbenzene
Acetaldehyde
Ammonia
Isocyanate-related compounds
Various glycol ethers

Additional chemicals commonly found in carpet systems that deserve mention:

Methylnaphthalene
Trimethylbenzene
Cyclohexanone
Acetone
Vinyl acetate
Ammonia
Propylene glycol
Dipropylene glycol monomethyl ether
Isocyanate residues (especially from polyurethane padding)
Flame retardants (older carpets)
PFAS stain-resistant treatments (more modern concern)

The combination of headaches, impaired concentration, short-term memory problems, fatigue, anxiety, and irritation symptoms is characteristic of elevated VOC exposure in a poorly ventilated building rather than any single chemical acting alone.

From a Building Biology / indoor environmental medicine perspective, many practitioners would also point out that carpet can act as a long-term reservoir for pesticides, flame retardants, plasticizers, mold fragments, endotoxins, dust mite allergens, and semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs), making the issue more than simply the initial VOC off-gassing.

05/06/2026

“ I just can’t get over how cool this room is”

03/06/2026

I've met more than one grown man, nearly twice my size -- completely disabled by pesticide exposure. If that can happen, and it does, and in consideration of all that is written below then we all need to seriously reconsider what it means to 'clean' our homes. I'm going to be honest Environmental Health takes a lot of knowledge, effort, very often money and constant maintenance but in the end isn't worth it to have a better life?

excerpt taken from: https://www.amazon.com/Prescriptions-Healthy-House-3rd-Architects/dp/0865716048

31/05/2026

29/05/2026

Indoor air pollution is one of the top 5 killers on Earth, exceeding:
COVID‑19, Traffic deaths, Tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and Alzheimer’s

This is rarely communicated to the public, and it underscores the enormous cost of weak IAQ regulation.

Why indoor air pollution kills so many people?

Indoor air pollution is a top global killer because two very different types of pollutants build up inside homes where people spend almost all their time: combustion by‑products and chemical VOCs.

Combustion by‑products come from burning fuels — wood, natural gas, kerosene, coal, candles, smoking, and poorly vented heaters. These produce extremely fine particles (PM2.5), carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. These particles are small enough to enter the bloodstream, where they damage the heart, lungs, blood vessels, and immune system. Over years of exposure, this leads to heart attacks, strokes, chronic lung disease, and severe respiratory infections.

Chemical VOCs, on the other hand, come from modern materials — carpets, adhesives, paints, flooring, furniture, cleaning products, and synthetic building components. These chemicals off‑gas continuously, especially in tightly sealed homes with poor ventilation. VOCs irritate airways, disrupt immune function, trigger asthma, and in some cases cause neurological or systemic effects. While VOC exposure rarely causes dramatic, immediate poisoning, it steadily increases the risk of chronic disease by inflaming the respiratory system and weakening the body’s defenses. When you multiply low‑level exposure across billions of people and decades of time, VOC‑driven harm becomes a major contributor to global disease and premature death.

Together, these two pollutant categories — combustion by‑products and chemical VOCs — quietly amplify the world’s biggest killers (heart disease, stroke, lung disease, infections). People die of the diseases these pollutants accelerate. That’s why indoor air pollution ranks so high globally, even though most people never see the harm happening in real time.

28/05/2026

This is what happened to me when I was around 5 years old, I was a little older than this poor fellow and so, my response was a bit less destructive and severe. But I was still very damaged and had to remain outdoors as often as possible especially when I got older - all 4 seasons. Rain, snow, nice weather - didn't matter. I always felt better outside.

CASE STUDY 9.3 Toddler Made Severely Ill

“B. J. is a two-year-old boy who was in excellent health until the age of 10 months, when he suddenly developed seizures. These episodes of rigidity and tremors occurred up to 40 to 50 times a day. The baby was subjected to a series of invasive diagnostic evaluations by many different specialists. The blood tests, brain scans, and electroencephalograms revealed no apparent cause of the seizures. The baby was placed on medication to suppress the central nervous system. The seizures persisted, although their intensity declined. The baby’s grandfather, a building contractor, suggested that the culprit might be the expensive new carpet installed shortly before the onset of the seizures. The parents contacted a representative from the carpet industry, who denied any similar complaints of neurological problems from customers. The parents suspected that this information was incorrect. They sent samples of the carpet to the independent Anderson Laboratories in Vermont for testing. Air was blown across the carpet samples into the cages of mice, whose symptoms were then observed and documented. After a short period of time elapsed, the mice developed tremors, rigidity, and seizures. The parents were horrified by the report. It was clear that their beautiful new carpet had essentially poisoned their son. The carpet and pad were immediately removed from the home, the adhesive scraped off, and the house aired out. The seizures stopped. The child is now off all medication and doing much better, although blood testing shows immune system damage consistent with chemical injury. Most standard adhesives for carpet installation are solvent-based and contain harmful chemicals. “ (taken from the book below)

28/05/2026

Well ladies and gentlemen, now is a good time to bring to light a few points on air quality. We did jump into the yellow a day or 2 ago (over 50 AQI, air quality index). Myself, I am pretty sensitive and felt this wave rolling in. And it could be a coincidence but as it seemed to happen also a few times in the past, I noticed an uptick in emergency response the day of, and the day after. They all dispatch from within 2 blocks of here so it's hard not to notice these things. I looked into a study which was compiled out of Los Angeles and sure enough, there's a connection between bad air quality days and emergencies of all kinds.

"Takeaway: Physiological changes begin at AQI levels far below what most people think — with measurable cardiovascular and respiratory effects starting around AQI 50–75, and clear, clinically significant impacts (including increased EMS calls) once AQI exceeds ~100, driven primarily by PM2.5. Below is a structured, evidence‑grounded synthesis using the search results you triggered...."

This post may seem like new information overload. lol. I am certain of that. But keep in mind it doesn't address the 90 thousand chemicals in the environment -- the environment really means your house, your cars, office, stores and the great outdoors and everywhere else. All that must be dealt with as well if we expect to remain happy, healthy and productive.

Stick with me. In the near future I will try to produce some low cost tips and tricks to improve all of the above in your very own little micro-climate (car & home/bedroom).

We all breathe 11 thousand liters of air each day. It's mandatory. Let's make it better!

One last thought - be EXTREMELY cautious and careful about air filter/air purifier marketing. I think I speak for almost everyone in the environmental illness community saying that we buy them with the highest hopes, and later? It always turns out to be an expensive disappointment ( okay for removing fine particles but very sketchy on the air trace chemical removal, and can actually make things worse).

17/05/2026

Hey gang, sitting at the office alone has given me some time lately to focus, and read. Check out this quote from a book I got in Texas back in 2019.

"Outside air contains natural allergens, pollens, molds, terpenes, and synthetically-created chemicals. On the best days in cities of 100,000 or more, the average pollution gradients may be 1000 times that of sea air. According to EPA studies, there has been no fresh air in the United States in over 20 years. A 1989 EPA study of toxic air chemicals released by industry showed over 2.45 billion pounds per year, with the chemical industry releasing the most at 886.6 million pounds per year (primary metals 21.5 million and paper 207 million). This figure climbed to 4 billion pounds of toxic chemicals released into the air in 2006, of which 72 million pounds are recognized carcinogens…
A Harvard School of Public Health Study of 6 cities for 11 to 16 years was released in 1994 and documented a direct correlation between pollution and mortality. It showed that the higher the air pollution rate, the higher the mortality rate. Another study of 7 large U.S. cities, released in 1995, showed a 10-parts-per-million increase in outdoor carbon monoxide concentrations resulting in a 10 (New York) to 36% (Los Angeles) increase in Medicare admissions for congestive heart failure."

Not exactly sunshine and lollipops. But it's not all gloom and doom either. The main reason it's called the Detox Room is that while you're in there with almost $2000 dollars of air purification equipment, you will get a break from breathing all of the above! And some degree of relief from everything outlined below.

These are the most consistently detected VOCs in traffic exhaust, roadside air, and vehicle interiors, especially new cars where formaldehyde, toluene, benzene, acetaldehyde, and acrolein dominate
(All effects supported by traffic‑pollution and in‑cabin VOC studies. )

Formaldehyde — headaches, slowed thinking, irritability.
Acetaldehyde — dizziness, impaired coordination.
Benzene — fatigue, confusion, CNS depression.
Toluene — slowed reaction time, memory issues.
Xylenes — headaches, balance problems.
Ethylbenzene — dizziness, slowed motor response.
Styrene — concentration problems, mood changes.
Acrolein — headaches, neuro‑inflammation.
Acrylonitrile — CNS depression, weakness.
Carbon monoxide — cognitive slowing, confusion, impaired judgment.
Nitrogen dioxide — neuro‑inflammation, headaches.
Ultrafine particles (UFPs) — brain inflammation, cognitive impairment.
Isopropanol — dizziness, slowed reflexes.
Methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) — headaches, reduced attention.
Naphthalene — fatigue, mild cognitive effects.