Upon the installation of carpet inside an indoor environment, there can be issues that will enter into your home that can ultimately taint your indoor air quality. Carpeting is manufactured with an amalgam of adhesives and materials that can all contain different types of chemicals that are used to produce this product. When these chemicals get applied onto the carpeting through the manufacturing process, it allows for these contaminants to enter into your home and invade your indoor air after its installation.
VOCs are used within carpeting and they are one of the key culprits of off-gassing carpeting. VOCs are chemical compounds that eventually will become a vapor or gas as it is introduced to room temperature. These chemicals can be found in various consumer products that can be found within the home including building materials, cleaning products, and smoke emission.
Is Off Gassing Dangerous
The process of VOCs off gassing into the air in an environment can be a potentially hazardous event that can leave those exposed with some possible serious health effects. The level of danger present with off gassing will vary depending on the level of VOCs in the environment and how long exposure lasted. Short-term exposure has been linked to minor symptoms such as eye, nose, and throat irritation, nausea, dizziness, and respiratory problems. Whereas the long-term exposure symptoms can be more severe and could include cancer, kidney and liver damage, and potential nervous system damage.
How Long Does Off Gassing Last
Off gassing is produced from new, manufactured items that are brought into the home that begin to release chemicals (VOCs) that are used in the manufacturing process. Depending on the item that is off gassing the length of time that this will occur for will vary. However, during the initial introduction or installation of the item into the home and the next 72 hours after the off gassing, the process will be the most intense and dangerous.
During the first 72 hours that off gassing occurs, it is important to implement mitigation methods to speed up this process such as increasing ventilation and air flow within the environment. The off-gassing process, though, can be a lengthy process that can last for up to 5 years, particularly for items like carpeting that contain a lot of chemicals within its composition.
How Do You Get Rid of the Smell of New Carpet
After you have carpeting installed and you begin to experience significant off-gassing inside your home, you may want to rip the new carpet out to eliminate this hazardous process that is occurring inside your personal indoor environment. However, before you go and start removing the carpeting, there are different methods you can implement to speed up and minimize the off gassing of chemicals from the new carpeting.
Airing out the environment is the first step, this is done by opening the windows and placing fans inside the space to promote air flow inside the area. This should be done for a couple days to help speed up the off-gassing process. If, however, this method does not alleviate the odors from the off gassing as well as flush the chemicals from the air, then it may be necessary to implement an air purifier into the space.
Air purifiers help to alleviate both the odors produced from off gassing and the chemicals that are being off gassed into the air. The EnviroKlenz Air Purifier is an air purification device that is both highly efficient in odor removal as well as the removal and neutralization of a broad spectrum of chemicals (VOCs). EnviroKlenz utilizes a patented earth mineral technology that is able to capture, eliminate or neutralize chemicals and chemical odors from the air. The EnviroKlenz Air Purifier can be a useful device to use when trying to remove new carpet smell and off gassing odors from the home.
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