Last night 60 Minutes ran a very interesting expose by Anderson Cooper on the recent Lumber Liquidators scandel. It turns out, that the laminate flooring that Lumber Liquidators has been having produced in Chinese factories has formaldehyde levels that well exceed those which are allowed by law in California. 60 Minutes tested flooring from a numnber of different Lumber Liquidator outlets in California and found that some of the formaldehyde levels were off the charts. They then decided to test samples of laminate from Lumber Liquidators across the country to find the exact same results. What this mean is that hundreds of thousands of homes across the US have flooring installed that is dangerous to the people living in them.Formaldehyde levels like those found in this flooring can cause evrything from repsiratory problems to leukemia and most succeptible to the toxins are children. Formaldehyde is very dangerous and it is just one of the toxins that can be present in our homes such as VOC’s, paint, fumes from carpet, pressure treated lumber and the list goes on. This alone is bad enough, but add to that the fact that homes today are being built air tight and it is a recipe for disaster. The same funky toxic brew is being recirculated through your home over and over. Given the amount of time we spend in our homes, the exposure is incredible. It is no wonder that so many people are sick.
So what can you do to stay healthy? You have to clean up the air inside your home. I have talked about whole home air purifiers and hospital grade air filters so many times in my blogs. This is exactly why these whole home indoor air solutions are so important. In today’s air tight homes they are not a luxuty but a necessesity. They filter out miniscule particulant matter and vapors. They also have the ability to destroy germs and sterilize the air and indoor surfaces. If you have ever been in a home that has one of these systoms, you can actually feel the difference in the air. It is so light nad there is no odor.MTB Heating and Air has a selection of high quality indoor air purifying products. These products will all work with your current HVAC system and are an easy install. Go to our indoor air quality page to learn more.
To look at the Lumber Liquidator report on 60 Minutes click here.