VOC emissions

[Cno]

A Little history:
In May 2008, I lost my voice while photographing a wedding. I was without any voice at all for five weeks. Shooting a wedding with no voice is an adventure in itself.

The doctors assumed it was just a virus, and some of my voice slowly returned but I never regained 100% of my voice. Beyond this I had no idea of the illness that was coming upon me.

During the following weeks my voice would come and go without any apparent reason that could be identified. Doctors could only tell me that something was inflaming my vocal cords but the cause could be almost anything.

Around September 1, I started noticing a smoky smell in my office. It smelled like burning wood or plastic. I have a home office and studio that are in the downstairs of a split foyer. The smell seemed just as bad upstairs and sometime I noticed it outside. My wife could never smell it but at times it was so strong it made me sick to my stomach.

At the time my office included two CRT monitors, an Imac, a Powermac G4 and G5, LCD monitor, three printers, three UPS units, laptop computer and misc. USB hubs, modems and other assorted pieces of technology. Another Dell computer system was in my upstairs office and a large wide screen LCD TV and digital cable box. Most of these devices have in my office for 5 to 10 years. Two of the computers stay on nearly 24 hours a day.

I started doing a lot of research on the internet and read about Phantosmias (phantom smells) and thought for awhile that I was suffering from this condition, but as the weeks passed the smell started to cause sinus burning and eventually grew worse followed by other symptoms below:

Chest burning and pressure
Throat burning and Tightness
Nasal burning
Eye burning
Hoarseness
Sinus headaches
General fogginess
Trouble swallowing
Lung spasming
Sore throat
Voice loss
Metal taste in the mouth.

My doctor referred me to an Allergist, but he determined I did not have any allergies. He suspected that I might be reacting to something in my home.

My next step was to have installed an $1800 PureAir purification system, but it seemed to give no relief.

About this time, around October, I started reading about VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) and the possibility of the computers being the sources.

Working with the company that installed the purifier, they agreed to have an outside lab test the air quality of our office and upstairs. They tested for chemical pollutants including VOCs, allergens and various other environmental conditions in our home.

One testing unit was placed downstairs in the office and the other one placed upstairs in the main living room.

According to their recommendations, normal VOCs for an average home should be no more than 500 ug/m3 on any given day. Anything above that is considered hazardous to your health.

Upon completion of a six-day test, our downstairs office showed over 4000 ug/m3 every day. The upstairs averaged 3000-4000 ug/m3 every day during the test. According to PureAir, this was considerably more pollutants than their system was designed to handle.

Using my nose and smelling every piece of technology in the home I identified the following sources of VOC emitters that seemed to be causing my reaction:

CRT monitors
Flat screen monitors
Computers
UPS battery backups
Wireless and wired Internet devices
External drives,
USB hubs
Wide screen and CRT TVS
Digital cable box

Other non-office related sources are:
Vehicle emissions (we live within 50 yards of a major interstate highway)
Air fresheners
Hair blowers, fans and other devices with electric motors
And anything else that contained hot circuitry.

There are many others, but these seem to be the ones that affect me.

By having these devices all running all day every day for the past 10 years I was slowly poisoning myself without knowing it.

I don't know how long I will suffer from this or if there is a cure. I am seeing a specialist for this condition at John Hopkins in Baltimore in January, but the most I can do now is manage my environment. Managing my environment meant eliminating technology in my home. I have eliminated about 50% of the technology so far and reduced myself to one computer system encased in a ventilated box that vents the VOCs outdoors. I have included a photo of what I built. For it to work best both the intake and outtakes should be vented outdoors. If you want to build one yourself, be sure to use “Green” or environmentally safe materials. Also don’t use galvanized metal or aluminum tape like I did. The galvanizing is coated with an anti rust oil that emits a high amount of VOCs and so does the aluminum tape. I eventually had to remove the tape and replace it with screws and “Green” caulking.

Air purifiers with carbon filtering (charcoal) can help eliminate a lot, but make sure they are designed to accommodate the number of square feet you are trying to filter, and be you are able to tolerate the charcoal smell (to me is as bad as the smoke smell). If you purchase a portable air purifier, make sure it is returnable if it does not suite your needs. Some come with electronic fans that emit the same VOCs that they are designed to filter out

I know my sensitivity is growing worse and I cannot tolerate places like coffee shops and small offices with lots of computers running, or homes with air fresheners or candles burning. I have run into little understand from others. It’s hard to make others aware of the potential danger unless they are directly affected by it themselves.

Vehicle emissions are another source for me and I react when the windows are closed and the heat is on in a vehicle. Both heaters in my vehicles pull the air from the engine compartment. I suspect that is where the VOC source is. Setting the heater to recycle the air does help. Opening the window give best relief if you can stand the cold.

Ventilation of your environment is the best solution, but the price of the systems and increased energy cost due to loss of heat can make them very expensive.

I also use a respirator that you can buy at the local safety store. If you purchase one, be sure to ask for chemical and smoke blocking filters. The filters are pricey, but I have found that when the charcoal gets used up in a few days, you can cut the filter container open and replace the charcoal with charcoal pads purchased from a high quality source like Good Filters on-line. I found that charcoal filters from local Home Depot or Lowes tend to be lower quality and are more like to emit a charcoal odor.

The whole ordeal has really changed the environment I live in. Though I still suffer daily from hoarseness and metal taste in the mouth, the levels are tolerable if I limit the use of my electronic devices.. Now when I shop for anything for our home, I have to look at VOC ratings and only environmentally safe products.

My official diagnosis so far is Multiple Chemical Sensitivity or Sick Office.

If anyone wants to read more, there are several articles on the web about this that can be found at the following links. I only share this so that others can avoid what I have been going through.

Despite my condition, I am so very thankful that most of my wedding and other on-location photography work does not expose me to toxic environments. I am also thankful that my condition is manageable.

Macopinion

Volatile Organic Compunds (VOCs) in Your Home: Environmental Health in Minnesota

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Syndrome - September 1, 1998 - American Academy of Family Physicians

aerias (outdated links removed)

Hi, have you any advice on how to test computer monitors for VOCs? Thank you

 

[IWT]

@Cno. A warm welcome to Mac-Forums.

You are responding to a 13.5 year old thread.

It might generate more interest if you were to open a new Thread. Admins and Mods may do this for you??

Ian

 

[Raz0rEdge]

Beyond what is normally let out by natural material, we've come a LONG way in manufacturing things in a more eco-friendly way in the past decade. So this topic might be moot.

 

[chscag]

Welcome to our forums.

We moved your post to a new thread rather than having it attached to a 13 year old one.

 

[daisy55555]

Hi, have you any advice on how to test computer monitors for VOCs? Thank you

Thank you for posting your experience. I struggle with MCS as well. It's challenging to say the least. I would love to learn more about ways that you are protecting yourself. Have you found the Pure Air filter to be sufficient for your home? I'm using an Eviroklenz and it's okay. I tried several reputable ones but they gave off so many VOCs that I had to return the. Dealing with air purifier off gassing is a bummer.

I need to check out the picture you posted of your incased computer.

Thank you.
Maria