JLC · AUGUST 1989
BUILDING
HEALTHY
HOUSES
Alternative materials can help protect
your client from indoor air pollutants
I am a contractor specializing in nontoxic
homes. I got started in this
specialty when my wife and I
renovated an 1850 Federal-style
house. As we worked and lived there,
my wife developed a number of
troubling symptoms, including
inflamed sinuses, stomach and kidney
problems, breathing difficulties, and
muscle soreness. We soon learned that
she was being poisoned—not by
anything she was eating, but by the
outgassing of fumes from underlayment,
carpet, vinyl, insulation, paint,
and other synthetic materials we were
installing in the house. Eventually we
had to move out and build a new
house with nontoxic, hypoallergenic
materials. Even so, because of