Stop Blaming The “Sensitive” Spouse And Test The Air

That “new house smell” can be a warning sign, not a perk. We meet a problem that keeps showing up in new Ohio construction and even recent remodels: homeowners feeling dizzy, foggy, or irritated the moment they spend time indoors, sometimes with both partners getting sick at the same time. When a builder shrugs and says it will fade in a few weeks, we explain why that is not always true in today’s airtight homes. 

We break down VOCs (volatile organic compounds) in plain English and explain why formaldehyde deserves its own test. From cabinets and composite wood to flooring, insulation, paints, adhesives, nail products, cleaners, and “fresh scent” plug-ins, modern materials can off-gas a chemical mix that irritates eyes, nose, and throat and can contribute to headaches and other symptoms. We also talk through several common compounds seen in testing, what they are often linked to, and why fragrance-heavy products can make an otherwise clean home feel unlivable. 

Then we get practical: how professional air sampling actually works, why lab analysis matters, and why a handheld meter that only gives a single VOC number can leave you stuck. When you know the specific chemicals, you can hunt down the source, choose the right next step, and avoid expensive guessing games. If you are buying a new build, planning a renovation, or already feeling “off” at home, this conversation will help you decide what to test, when to test, and how to make your indoor air healthier. 

Subscribe for more real-world home inspection and indoor air quality guidance, share this with a friend moving into a new place, and leave a review so more homeowners can find it.

Transcript

New Construction And Sick Homeowners

SPEAKER_01 0:01

Hey everybody, it's Jim, and of course, Laura is here with me.

SPEAKER_04 0:05

Hello, everyone.

SPEAKER_01 0:06

Alright, so Laura, there's so much new construction going on here in Ohio. Which is good. We needed houses.

SPEAKER_04 0:13

Yes, we did. We've been deficient in new builds for years.

SPEAKER_01 0:18

So we were at a place yesterday where the woman was getting sick or didn't feel well.

SPEAKER_04 0:27

It wasn't just her, her and her husband both. They both have yeah, it was both of them.

SPEAKER_01 0:32

So what was it that we did at

VOCs And Formaldehyde Explained

SPEAKER_01 0:34

this house?

SPEAKER_04 0:35

We did VOC and formaldehyde testing.

SPEAKER_01 0:39

Okay, so from uh Englishers don't know what that is. What is VOC?

SPEAKER_04 0:46

Volatile organic compounds, basically chemicals that get released in the air from man-made items. So mattresses, uh pillows, uh flooring, plywood, anything that men make that has chemicals in it that can come out as it's sitting in your house.

SPEAKER_01 1:10

So it's not just man-made, like plants put out VOCs as well, but those aren't harmful.

SPEAKER_04 1:17

Not not like the chemicals are that man-made products release.

SPEAKER_01 1:22

Yes. So and then there's formaldehyde, that's also a VOC, but is it's it's looked at differently.

SPEAKER_04 1:30

It's looked at differently because it's a different size molecule.

SPEAKER_01 1:34

So it's measured has to be measured separately.

SPEAKER_04 1:37

Right. So when you when you do the VOC testing, the main VOC has like six layers of different sized medium in the little test tube. The one for formaldehyde only has one.

How The Air Testing Works

SPEAKER_01 1:51

Okay, so the testing is basically we go we go in there, we s we we find what the location of concern is.

SPEAKER_04 1:58

Yes. Or locations.

SPEAKER_01 1:59

Yeah, we have more than one, and we set up this pump that will suck air through this tube where the VOCs and the chemicals and or formaldehyde will stick to it or get absorbed, and then that go we send that to the lab, and the lab does, I don't do a mass spectrometer, I don't know what they do.

SPEAKER_04 2:20

They separate out the little the little medium, and then each one of those gets the test done on it because they're all different, and they all different chemicals adhere to it based on their size.

SPEAKER_01 2:34

And and that's how you find out what chemicals are in the air. Yes. Now, and here's something that we're that we're seeing a lot of is the air in new homes is sometimes very unhealthy.

Common New Home Chemicals

SPEAKER_04 2:48

It's rough, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:50

So I have pulled up here a list of the common chemicals that we will find in new homes, all right, and then some of the issues with them. So we have formaldehyde, which we just mentioned, formaldehyde, and that will think of anything like an adhesive. Because you're gonna have your your pressed composite wood products, you know, your plywood, OSB, MDF, your furniture, your flooring.

SPEAKER_04 3:19

Can I add another one on this?

SPEAKER_01 3:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 3:22

Um, if you are in school and doing dissection, whether it's high school or college, those animals are treated with formaldehyde. That's how I learned formaldehyde makes me very, very, very sick.

SPEAKER_01 3:36

Yeah, so if you were in high school and you did uh dissectembiology, that strong odor that is formaldehyde. That does make some people sick pretty easily. Some people more sick.

SPEAKER_04 3:47

I had a headache the whole time we were doing dissection.

SPEAKER_01 3:49

Now, the the health concerns of formaldehyde is eye, nose, and throat, irritation. It is also a known carcinogen.

SPEAKER_03 3:58

Which is great. Let's put it in dead animals and make kids cut them up and dissect them.

SPEAKER_01 4:02

Yes. Well, there's a little difference, like hey, short-term exposure versus long-term. But if it's in your house because you have a new house, they had uh just everything they use. You got these adhesives, like if you have your cabinets are probably a big contributor to this stuff, you're living with the formaldehyde in the house. It comes, it's an insulation as well. Like the bats of fiberglass.

SPEAKER_04 4:28

Insulation is bad.

SPEAKER_01 4:30

They they use that formaldehyde and adhesive to hold the bats together. So there's formaldehyde, and then other more typical VLCs are benzene.

SPEAKER_04 4:41

Paints, varnishes, glues, solvents.

SPEAKER_01 4:46

Okay. So what else health concerns do they have like headaches, dizziness, nobody, another human carcinogen. Yep, associated with leukemia and other blood cancers. Also, some neurotoxic effects at high levels. Hopefully, nobody gets that level. Then toluene, paint thinner. Think of a paint thinner, adhesive varnishes, rubber products, cleaning agents, nail polish.

SPEAKER_04 5:12

Nail polish also has um formaldehyde in it because they're there. I had to stop using nail polish with formaldehyde. Like it was literally listed as an ingredient on the nail polish.

SPEAKER_01 5:26

Terrible, terrible. Then that, once again, irritate, you know, eye irritation, headaches, dizziness, fatigue, central nervous system effects. Yeah, neurotoxicity, then uh reproductive effects. Yeah, so you got then xylene, uh, what paints, barnishes, adhesives, eyes, nose, throat irritation. That's that seems to be a constant thing. Eye, nose, and throat irritations, respiratory system issues, headaches, sensual nervous systems, uh issues, then styrene, carpets, adhesive, insulation. That's like I think I when you see styrene, I think a foam. Yeah. Foam board. But once again, you got those irritations, social nervous system, something they can't really pronounce.

SPEAKER_04 6:14

Pinene, lemonine, and related terpenes aren't a lot of those like fragrances to make it like smell lemony or piney.

SPEAKER_01 6:22

Cleaners, air fresheners. Which if it's a new build, you do not your your a clean house should not have an odor to it. Do not get your plugins or anything like that to make it smell a certain way.

SPEAKER_04 6:36

Horrible, they make me so sick.

SPEAKER_01 6:41

Acetyl Dahyde? You think I'm pronounced that right?

SPEAKER_04 6:47

Acetaldehyde. Something like that, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:50

It's it's in some like tobacco smoke with certain finishes. Once again, irritation that the carcinogen respiration, respiration in your eyes. But there's acetone, nail polish remover, solvents, paints, eye, nose, and throat irritation.

SPEAKER_02 7:12

Ethyl glycol.

SPEAKER_01 7:13

Antifreeze. Which why why would they ever use that? Someone has it could be used as an antifreeze, but they're using certain paints, detergent, carpets, adhesives, coatings, yep.

SPEAKER_04 7:24

Same thing. Oh, that one has potential kidney and organ issues. Naphthalene, aren't those mothballs?

SPEAKER_01 7:31

Those are mothballs. You got that weird issue. That's mothballs. Not likely to see that, but in a in a house, but air fresheners, if they do air fresheners, cleaning things up, nope, don't want that.

SPEAKER_04 7:42

That's not true. That one new house that we did a VOC test on, they came back with high naphthalene because I asked them if they ever used mothballs.

SPEAKER_01 7:53

And what'd they say?

SPEAKER_04 7:54

No.

SPEAKER_01 7:56

So it's in some products.

SPEAKER_04 7:57

So it was there was something in their house that had like, and it was high.

SPEAKER_01 8:01

It's it's it can be in some res residual fuels or combustion products. So if they had a generator, nope, they didn't. What builders? If they had a generator or fuel, because I've seen and I don't know if this be the source of or not, they have those little propane heaters in the building to heat it up during the winter time.

SPEAKER_04 8:22

Yeah, I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 8:24

Or or the little gasoline, fuel oil, and burn like little torpedo heaters. If they're burning inside, that stuff can get absorbed. Alright, so so

Why Symptoms Get Dismissed

SPEAKER_01 8:35

here's here's the here's the thing. All right, so you got stuff in your house. Can you do anything about it? Because we we're having people who are getting sicker. It really seems like more and more people are getting sensitive to these issues. And there's kind of two two, maybe three campses. One, the husband thinks the wife's crazy. Okay. Yes. They don't the guys don't understand what's wrong with what's wrong with a woman. She's just a whiny little bee. But women have 30% more olfactory nerves than guys do.

SPEAKER_04 9:10

So it's we smell stuff faster, people.

SPEAKER_01 9:12

Guys, your wife will or girlfriend will smell things before you do.

SPEAKER_04 9:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:18

So make sure you shower.

SPEAKER_04 9:19

Please do.

SPEAKER_01 9:20

But they will notice a lot lot sooner.

SPEAKER_04 9:22

Oh, and don't use a lot of cologne for the love of God or perfume. Yeah. I don't like that.

SPEAKER_01 9:28

Yeah. All right, so we have that. And then we have one where we heard the builders like, no, there's nothing in here, or they say it'll be gone within a few weeks. Which and both people are sick at that point. It can, it can be, but these things do not go away immediately.

SPEAKER_04 9:50

Well, we did that one VOC test. This house was over two years old. What was it, like two and a half, almost three? The one with the architect.

SPEAKER_01 9:59

Oh, yeah, it was like two and a half, two and a half years ago.

SPEAKER_04 10:01

And when we walked in there, I would have sworn to God it had just been recently built because it still had that new built smell. It was so airtight that none of the chemicals were ever released out of the house. They like just stayed in there. So, I mean, there are things that we could help with, but we need to come in and do the testing and find out exactly what's going on.

SPEAKER_01 10:28

Oh, yeah, absolutely need to know what's going on. So the total VOCs, they're there first of there's this, it's like mold. The government gonna tell you this is an absolute safe level, typically.

SPEAKER_04 10:40

No, but there are some on the the VOC test that we do that has NIOSH standards, which is a which is an occupational, which is an occupational thing. So my general assumption has been if this is that strict for occupational in a house where you're living

When VOCs Linger For Years

SPEAKER_04 10:58

constantly, you shouldn't be near that.

SPEAKER_01 11:00

Yeah, because you're there all the time. Because the work standards are like you're gonna be there eight hours. Home, you're easy there the other 14 hours. Let's say you drove an hour back and forth, but yeah, so what the heck can you do about these? Because they grow the the VOCs in a new house or or a newly renovated house, don't forget that. They're gonna be high at the very beginning. They do start dropping off over time.

SPEAKER_04 11:28

Assuming that the house is handled correctly and that they're allowed to drop off. That architect didn't.

SPEAKER_01 11:37

Yeah, and and that's where we can come in handy if we do a VOC test or and and a formalite test. What one of the both one or both, you typically both are done. Because they're both can be related to a new house or new products in the house, they both can cause you know irritation, neurological problems. And you you need you could have high VOC and high uh formaldehyde or high high formaldehyde, but no, no, but pretty low VOC overall. So you need to do both to really know what's going on. But one thing I'm seeing here is the first one to three months, the amount of total VOCs will drop like 60, 60 to 90 percent, perhaps. I will say this is gonna vary quite a bit. The time of year, how much air exchange you have with the outside air, humidity levels.

SPEAKER_04 12:35

I mean, there's a whole science of just studying how that how humidity impacts stuff, how airflow impacts, like how much airflow there should be. It's not just a simple process where you can just come in and snap your fingers or twinkle your nose and it works and it disappears.

SPEAKER_01 12:54

Yeah, you can't you just don't open your windows once a week and your house gonna be automatically healthy. No, there there are some things going on there, and each chemical will have a different temperature in which they will evaporate and therefore like out gas.

Habitation Investigation Sponsor Break

SPEAKER_00 13:11

Habitation investigation is the way to go for a home inspection in Ohio. Trusted licensed home inspectors for your needs. From radon to malt to warranty. For a great home inspection, you really can't go. Visit home inspections in Ohio.com.

SPEAKER_01 13:36

And and put their their chemical structure in the air. So there's different uh temperatures, levels, but they do, and some of these things can last years in the house. But there are some things you can do to speed up the removal of these things from the house. And some of them are pretty simple, but

What You Can Do Next

SPEAKER_01 13:55

it really starts with knowing what the heck's in the air because you don't want to. Well, the lady we talked about yesterday talk with yesterday, she she wanted they had a device that was telling them like some ratings. It's not that not as accurate, doesn't tell you what type of chemicals are in there, but she wanted to know if they're on the right track, right? And she did some research, so she kind of she knew more than most people will do.

SPEAKER_04 14:19

She did some really good research, actually.

SPEAKER_01 14:22

And actually, the VOC test that we do can actually tell you if there's mold actively growing. Yes. So that's another thing that our tests can do. But there's a lot of variables in how quickly or you know, or how slowly lingering the VOCs will be in the house.

SPEAKER_04 14:39

And we we have nothing to gain if a test comes back high or low or whatever. When we come out, we have a specific standard for how we test for the VOC, for mold testing, for formaldehyde or whatever, and we adhere to that. Other company reports I've seen don't.

SPEAKER_01 15:00

Well, she paid some company money to tell her tell the VOC number in a house. Didn't she? But that it didn't tell you what type of chemical.

SPEAKER_04 15:08

Yeah, it they just had a handheld thing and and it didn't break it down, which is why she contacted us.

SPEAKER_01 15:14

And and I do have a thing that will do that, but it doesn't tell me what type of chemicals it is, which is a so you can't help figure out how they should remediate that or or the cause. Because if I see, all right, and there's some chemical if I see if we see a certain chemical, we're getting back in our in our thing. I'm like, oh, this you're leaving the gasoline you need, then we then we know what direction to go. Hey, where are you throwing your gasoline at? What who spilled gasoline?

SPEAKER_02 15:42

Right.

SPEAKER_01 15:43

Is your car running in the your attached garage and your doors left open? We can narrow it down to help people that way. But just the total VOCs, you're really gonna be taking shots in the dark to figure out what to do to reduce that in the house. So you need to know the chemicals, and that can help tell us the source of it.

SPEAKER_04 16:01

And we've we've been called by a lot of people that have kind of run into a dead end and not been able to find someone to do testing. I I've heard that industrial hygienists won't come out until they know what the problem is, but people are like, well, we don't know what the problem is, that's why we're contacting you, and they refuse to come out, refuse to do testing, or other companies will come out and they'll charge, you know, ten thousand dollars for a bit of testing. And you know, that's ridiculous. We're we're not here to gouge somebody, we're here to give you information and to give you a service that is of benefit to you. Are we cheap? No. Lab tests are not cheap. No, so but do we gouge you and jack up the price like some of these other companies? No.

SPEAKER_01 16:53

I think we charge about half of what uh other can other come couple of weeks. From what we've been hearing, yeah. And we give a far better testing results. Yeah, far better service, that's for sure. So, anyway,

Testing Advice And Closing

SPEAKER_01 17:05

new house, you really you should always get the house inspected, but you should also consider doing a VOC test, which we can do during the time of the inspection, makes it a little more cost effective that way as well. Then that from those results, we can give you direction how make sure your house is gonna be healthy. Also, sometimes the VOCs and in the house, as the house ages, the VOCs may be lowering based upon the the materials in the house. But if somebody is adding things to their personal habits, what what they do, they they may just maintain those levels too high. Right. So there's a lot, and our our test will help help us determine is this a personal use thing or is this building products? So I think it's about in the next one, but yeah, new house, new house is actually new issues to look to look at. Yeah, it can and we can help you make sure it's gonna be safe for you and your family.

SPEAKER_04 17:58

Make sure you get it inspected and make sure you get it tested for air quality.

SPEAKER_01 18:01

Yep. And if you don't feel right, but you don't see what the issue is, ask call call Habitation Investigation or Environmental Consultants of Ohio. We can come take a look and uh help do the testing, help you narrow down so you know what to do to improve your house. Thank you. Bye bye. Bye.