05/22/98

Home Toxic Home

We strapped a double mattress to the roof of the car, so we could sleep in our new house the night before the moving van arrived with the rest of our belongings. But I couldn't fall asleep. Salty mucous kept collecting in the back of my throat, gagging me just as I was about to drift off. I tried a half-sitting position, but the tickle in my throat persisted.

The next day we thoroughly aired the place out, vacuumed everything and washed down the walls. With all of our furniture in place, we settled in for the second night. No luck. The mucous built up again and I lost another night's sleep. Benadryl was no help. My symptoms escalated to nausea and vomiting, which sent me scurrying to specialists for answers.

After I completed a multi-paged medical and environmental history questionnaire, the allergist confirmed my suspicions. "It doesn't take a rocket scientist to conclude that you're allergic to something in that house," he said. (I had no history of allergies to anything.) We discussed various possibilities. The most likely culprit was the aging high-pile carpeting throughout the house, "probably full of dust mites," the doctor hypothesized. He recommended that we remove it.

Reluctant to pull up five rooms of wall-to-wall carpeting, we started with the master bedroom. Sleep at last! But I couldn't tolerate sitting in other parts of the house for longer than half an hour. I began to suffer from repeated eyelid sties and eye infections, too. We took out the rest of the carpeting, thankful for the gorgeous oak floors underneath it.

My health settled down for several months, so we decided to re-carpet the stairs, thinking, erroneously, that dust mites had caused my allergic reaction. The symptoms returned. Everyone in the family also seemed to be getting more upper respiratory infections than usual.

Oddly, I could sleep comfortably in carpeted hotel rooms, friend's houses and various other places, so we began to look for other sources of toxicity in and around the house, thinking that my body might be reacting to multiple sources of irritation. We researched the subject and one by one, began eliminating potential toxins.

We canceled pesticide and chemical lawn treatments, filtered the water supply to reduce chlorine content, installed special filters and a non-reservoir humidifier on the furnace (to eliminate the need for mold-retardant chemicals in the humidifier), and hired professionals to clean out the ductwork. Step by step and year after year, in response to these and other changes, my health has improved. I've been infection free for nearly two years now -- the longest stretch without antibiotics that I can remember!

My theory is that everyone has sensitivities to environmental toxins, but we rarely inhabit places where the toxicity level is high enough to produce symptoms. When I entered an environment containing too many irritants for me, my system went haywire. Now that I know the signals, I can take corrective action quickly, no matter where I am.

When I look back at nights spent in hotels or in a tent in the backyard, I wonder how we ever got through it. It's torture to get sick over and over and have no idea what's causing it. The sleep deprivation was the worst part; I was a walking zombie for months.

I now pay extra attention to reports about environmental contaminants, because I have experienced their effects myself. Air and water borne irritants, chemicals in carpets and fiberboard, molds, dust, mites and mildew, aerosol and exhaust fumes are just a few of the hazards produced in industrialized societies, hazards that we need to reduce in our homes, hospitals, schools and work sites in order to improve everyone's general health.

Please send questions or comments to bbruno@snet.net.