Environmental experts rate the toxic risks at home
DAVID LAYTON
Retired environmental scientist, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, in Berkeley, now living in Tucson and recently appointed adjunct professor at the University of Arizona's School of Public Health.
1) Passive smoking, also known as environmental tobacco smoke.
2) Lead (banned in new homes since 1978 but still found in old paint).
3) Ozone, a smog byproduct, seeping in from outdoors and getting trapped in the confined space.
4) Carbon monoxide from vehicle exhaust, gas and propane stoves and furnaces, wood stoves, kerosene heaters, cigarettes.
5) Dust mites, cat and dog allergens, fungi and other biological contaminants.
LANCE WALLACE
Retired environmental scientist, Environmental Protection Agency, co-editor of "Exposure Analysis," a new textbook dealing with human exposure to pollutants, now living in Reston, Va. He picked only four top risks.
1) Passive smoking.
2) Lead, probably through household dust.
3) Radon (a naturally occurring, radioactive underground gas that hasn't been a big problem in Tucson).
4) Particles from indoor combustion sources such as cooking, heating, fireplaces, toaster ovens, matches and candles.
WILLIAM NAZAROFF
Professor of civil and environmental engineering; chairman of the Energy and Resources Group, University of California at Berkeley, and a longtime indoor air quality researcher.
1) Passive smoking.
2) Carbon Monoxide.
3) Ozone.
4) Allergens.
5) Formaldehyde (often found in particle board and synthetic building materials).
THEO COLBORN
Environmental health analyst, co-author of "Our Stolen Future," a book on endocrine disrupting compounds, and president of the Endocrine Disruption Exchange, an informational/advocacy group that seeks to reduce use and production of chemicals that interfere with development and reproduction of people and wildlife.
1) Flame retardants used in electronic equipment such as TVs and personal computers.
2) Phthalates used in many plastic compounds in toys and shower curtains.
3) Bisphenol A, a chemical found in some hard plastic bottles.
4) Perfluorinated compounds used in non-stick cookware..
5) Pesticides.
CHARLES WESCHLER
Adjunct professor of environmental and occupational medicine at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.
1) Passive smoking.
2) Unvented indoor combustion products, especially from a gas stove without an exhaust fan above it.
3) Ozone coming in from outdoors.
4) Painting or using cleaning products without adequate ventilation.
5) Formaldehyde.
WAYNE OTT
Consulting associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford University and a retired Environmental Protection Agency scientist.
1) Passive smoking.
2) Volatile organic chemicals in household cleaners, disinfectants, air fresheners, dry-cleaned clothes, adhesives, home paints, polishes, waxes, leather treatments and solvents.
3) Lead.
4) Fireplace and wood-stove particulates.
5) Airborne particles from cooking.
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