Where toxins lurk
Keep your indoor spaces free from harmful substances.


A healthy indoor climate at home is vital because we spend a lot of time in our house or apartment.
Do not overheat your rooms, as high room temperatures dry out your mucous membranes. 19 to 22 degrees should suffice.
The toxins in indoor spaces can have very different sources. Low-volatility substances contained in old wood coatings, fluorescent tubes or joint sealing materials are problematic. These can often continue to evaporate for decades and cause damage to health.
Also stay away from cleaning agents with chlorine or antibacterial, germ-free effects indoors, as their residues irritate the skin.

The toxins put your health at risk
Nausea, dizziness, headaches, inflammation of the mucous membranes, tiredness and allergic reactions are all signs of inhaled toxins.
Ventilation and correct heating are therefore the right way to ensure a healthy indoor climate. You should therefore ventilate at least three times a day. Up to ten minutes each time in cold seasons and longer in summer.
Formaldehyde – a health killer
Furniture toxins
Your home can be contaminated with toxins in your furniture. For these reasons, you should air it out for up to four weeks after purchase in a room where nobody sleeps.
Always make sure that your furniture does not contain formaldehyde. You can find it in chipboard, resins and carpets, among other things.
Formaldehyde leads to headaches, breathing difficulties and can cause asthma. Wood sustainability seals or the “Blue Angel” environmental seal can help you with this.
Formaldehyde is found in wood-based materials and carpets
The pollutant formaldehyde has a strong odor, so you can usually recognize this indoor toxin when you go shopping.
Formaldehyde compounds gradually evaporate from materials and therefore permanently pollute your indoor air. If there are many objects contaminated with formaldehyde in a room, the concentration of vapors adds up. Carpets and other home textiles are also often contaminated with it.
This toxin can trigger allergies and irritate the nasopharynx and pharyngeal mucosa. You can also suffer headaches and it damages your upper respiratory tract, which can lead to shortness of breath and nausea. In high doses, formaldehyde may have a carcinogenic effect.
In the past, such high concentrations of the harmful substance were mainly found in plywood and chipboard. Nowadays, however, many wood products are low-emission, so buyers should always look out for corresponding test seals (e.g. “Der Blaue Engel“).
Wood preservatives in wooden toys, furniture and roof trusses
Wood preservatives contaminated with the chemicals PCP and lindane were used in interior work until the 1980s. Nowadays, these are hazardous contaminants.
These substances are considered carcinogenic and nerve-damaging. Above all, they can fade out and pollute indoor air for many years.
Environmental impact of remediation work
The chemicals are particularly hazardous to health, for example, when roofing. Especially if toxic dust is stirred up by grinding work. If machined improperly, this toxic dust spreads throughout the house. This can also contaminate rooms that did not actually have direct contact with the pollutants.
In the worst-case scenario, the work exposes a layer of wood into which the toxic chemicals have penetrated. In this case, the substances are released freely into the interior.
With a newly insulated roof, the air exchange is reduced and the load rises to a health hazardous level. Therefore, a test for old wood preservative contamination is highly recommended especially for old buildings.
Today’s wood preservatives also often evaporate pollutants. They can damage not only your nervous system but also your skin.
Today’s lacquers and oils, for example, often contain turpentine oil. Terpenes, a natural component of coniferous woods, can cause skin allergies and headaches. Inhalation of the poisonous substance can also irritate your mucous membranes.
Therefore, do not use wood preservatives in your interiors. If use is absolutely necessary, use solvent- and terpenic-free products.
Wood preservatives use biocidal agents that kill insects (insecticides) and fungi (fungicides). Due to their properties, they can damage organisms in ecosystems when leached into soils, surface waters and groundwater. Wood preservatives should therefore only be used if there is a risk of infestation after all possible preventive measures have been taken.
The most sustainable wood protection
In order to prevent the wood from being damaged by weather, insects and fungi, a suitable type of wood must be used and the wood must be constructively protected from moisture.
In most cases, this means that the use of wood preservatives can be dispensed with.

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