DEBRA'S ANSWER:

I would probably choose the electric furnace with a whole house air filtration system and ultraviolet light in the duct work.

The heat from radiant heat floors can make the flooring outgas more than it normally would (although this wouldn\'t be a problem with tile floors). But also radiant heat floors wouldn\'t filter the air, if that\'s something that is needed.

Readers?

Debra :-)

DEBRA'S ANSWER:

Readers?

Debra :-)

DEBRA'S ANSWER:

I'm traveling and all my EMF books are at home.

Readers, what can you fill in about this? Thanks!

Debra :-)

DEBRA'S ANSWER:

Readers?

Debra :-)

DEBRA'S ANSWER:

I haven't done any research on this.

Readers?

Debra :-)

DEBRA'S ANSWER:

Personally, I always buy used washers so the plastic has had a chance to outgas.

Readers?

Debra :-)

DEBRA'S ANSWER:

I haven't looked at new stoves recently. The Tappan self-cleaning oven that came with my house has a regular enamel interior. You might want to consider a used stove if you can't find a new one you like.

Debra :-)

DEBRA'S ANSWER:

Readers?

Debra :-)

DEBRA'S ANSWER:

Readers, any ideas?

Debra :-)

DEBRA'S ANSWER:

The answer to this question is at Q&A: Safe Window Film.

Debra :-)

DEBRA'S ANSWER:

Readers?

Debra :-)

DEBRA'S ANSWER:

Readers?

Debra :-)

DEBRA'S ANSWER:

I don't know of one. My understanding is that what makes a difference is the completeness of combustion of the gas--less complete combustion produces more toxic combustion by-products.

Readers?

Debra :-)

DEBRA'S ANSWER:

I have the perfect solution for you. Wool felts from Shepherd's Dream. I was just visiting their business last weekend and saw that founder Eliana Jantz uses them for car seat covers on her Prius hybrid car.

They are made from totally natural wool with no chemicals. I saw them myself and there is no chemical odor.

When you go to the website, look for "felts". Then get the size for seat covers.

You can also easily cut them to size for any use.

Another benefit of felts over sheepskin is that felts are made from sheared wool, and sheepskin is the actual animal skin.

If this works to make the car tolerable for you, this would be a simple fix. If worse comes to worst, you can have the seats reupholstered with any fabric you want. I've done that.

Debra :-)

DEBRA'S ANSWER:

I don't have a definitive answer on this, but here are my thoughts.

Silver in and of itself is not particularly toxic. Most of us have worn silver jewelry with no ill effects. And some water filters use silver to control the growth of bacteria in activated carbon.

On the other hand, however, silver dragees (those tiny sugar balls coated with real silver) have now been banned in the state of California, and websites that sell them warn that the FDA has recommended that dragees are for decorative use only, and technically are not a food item).

The fact that the silver particles in the wastewater are nano-sized concerns me. Certainly if there is silver in the waste water it could get into clothing, and perhaps be absorbed by the skin. Note I said perhaps. I don't know how small a nano particle needs to be to be absorbed through the skin.

Readers, any data on this?

Debra :-)

DEBRA'S ANSWER:

The main environmental concerns with washing machines are water use and energy use.

We can reduce water and energy by choosing a resource efficient washing machine and by washing our clothes less frequently. Living in San Francisco temporarily and having to pay per load instead of having my "free" washer at home, I think twice before washing clothes and find myself washing less frequently that I would at home. And my clothes are clean enough. Less frequent washings makes clothes last longer too.

Energy Star: Clothes Washers

Debra :-)

DEBRA'S ANSWER:

Readers, how have you handled this?

For the past three months I have been living in a rented apartment and have had to use a shared washer. I was concerned about this moving in, but it hasn't been a problem. Maybe here in "green" San Francisco, people use less fabric softener (I've noticed bottles of green laundry detergent in the laundry room at times).

Debra :-)

DEBRA'S ANSWER:

Disposable batteries can contain heavy metals such as lead and mercury, and other toxic substances, so it's best to not step on them if you can help it. The sole of your shoe will protect you from the toxic exposure, but be careful, then, not to wear these shoes into your house (see Q&A: What we pick up on our shoes)

Debra :-)

DEBRA'S ANSWER:

I don't have any data about emissions on the interiors of new Prius cars, but you might try contacting the manufacturer about this.

While I haven't checked out the interiors of all new hybrids, the interiors of the ones I've driven through my local carshare while visiting San Francisco seem to be the usual interiors. I have driven Priuses and also Honda Civic Hybrids. I actually prefer the Honda for driving.

The car manufacturers have their attention on energy efficiency, not nontoxic interiors. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong and you have come across a hybrid car with a nontoxic interior.

My suggestion would be the same for hybrids as for any other car. See Q&A: How Do I Choose a Nontoxic Car? and Q&A: Car air purifiers.

Debra :-)

DEBRA'S ANSWER:

Here's what I could find.

From Environmental Defense Fund:

Should a bulb break, take these simple precautions. If a CFL breaks, first open nearby windows to disperse any vapor that may escape. Then sweep it up instead of vacuuming it to minimize vaporizing the mercury (that’s when it becomes toxic). Do not use your hands. Finally, wipe the area with a damp, disposable paper towel to pick up all glass fragments. Place all fragments in a sealed plastic bag and call 1-800-CLEAN-UP or go to earth911.org to find out where to dispose of it.

Debra :-)

DEBRA'S ANSWER:

Energy Star has addressed this question at Energy Star: Home Audio.

Debra :-)

DEBRA'S ANSWER:

This doesn't sound right to me. I'm not sure that the fiberglass would break down and get into the food if it isn't disturbed, but it sounds like a manufacturing defect or poor design. I would probably return the stove and get a different model.

Debra :-)

DEBRA'S ANSWER:

I'm not aware that they outgas a chemical.

Readers, anyone know anything about this?

Debra :-)

Debra :-)

DEBRA'S ANSWER:

My husband and I thought this was a good idea too and looked into it. There are a number of different manufacturers making them now. For those of you that are not familiar with solar roof tiles, they fit in with your roof tiles instead of being large panels that sit on top, so you can have solar energy that is almost invisible (photo)

Here are some links to get started with. And I hope you do this as Florida is a prime area for solar energy and it's not being utilized. So lead the way!

Premier Power

PowerLight

Sharp

Sunslates

Debra :-)

DEBRA'S ANSWER:

Info about safe distances from power lines is at Q&A: Safe Distance From Electrical Transformer. Since you're only 5 feet away--I think that's too close--I suggest hiring an EMF professional to work this out with you.

Debra :-)

DEBRA'S ANSWER:

I would suggest that you contact someplace that restores vintage stoves. "Vintage stoves" is the keyword here. When I lived in the San Francisco area, there was a store in Berkeley (I can't recall the name) that restored vintage stoves. A place like that would be able to answer your question.

There are a lot of resources online, such as antiquestoves.com. Any of them should be able to guide you to a place that can restore your griddle.

Debra :-)

DEBRA'S ANSWER:

I think it's a great idea to get our power from the sun. I've looked into this several times for myself and found that it was not practical or cost effective for me.

What I have done is purchase green energy certificates, which offset the grid power I use with a purchase of solar energy that is added to the grid somewhere else. It adds about $40 a month to my energy costs, but I feel it is worth it.

There are also many ways we can incorporate passive solar benefits to our homes without installing solar panels. Not for electricity, but for heat.

The technical question you've asked is a good one, which I am not qualified to answer. But I'll bet my readers will have some comments on this. Readers?

Debra :-)

DEBRA'S ANSWER:

The department of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy of the U.S. Department of Energy has an online Do-It-Yourself Home Energy Audit and a page on Professional Home Energy Audits. You can also find much more online simply by typing "home energy audit" into your favorite search engine.

Also contact your local energy provider. Mine actually sent me a survey themselves, asking me questions about my usage and when I replied they sent me a whole customized report on how I could reduce my energy use. Many providers have energy auditors who will come to your home to do the audit either for free or a small fee.

Debra :-)

DEBRA'S ANSWER:

Readers? Please post your solutions.

Debra :-)

DEBRA'S ANSWER:

I did some research and found that window film is made up of several layers of plastics. It's like a postage stamp in that it has a water-activated adhesive that glues the film to the inside of the window. There is a layer of polyester film that has the materials that block the UV and then the outside layer is very hard, scratch-resistant acrylic. If you want to learn more about how window film is constructed, see Different Types of Window Film and How Does Window Film Work?

The most popular brand here in sunny Florida is Llumar. I'm sure you can find it in your local Yellow Pages. I spoke to the company and they said that they have done a number of installations for people with chemical sensitivities and there was no problem. I didn't specifically ask him this, he just volunteered it. He recommended NOT using the "spectrally selective" films because installation uses a sealer that contains toxic solvents.

I'm not concerned about the toxicity of this film, since I have tinted windows on my car and there are no emissions at all, but I'm glad I researched it so we all know exactly what the materials are.

Debra :-)