BBC News
 Researchers
found high levels of toxic chemicals
Those who
have just bought a brand new house may be feeling sick at the
expense they have just incurred.
But researchers say they could also be at risk from the presence
of toxic chemicals, say researchers.
Studies in
both Australia and the UK, detailed in the New Scientist have
found new-build homes have high levels of toxic chemicals leaking
into the air out of carpets, floors and paints.
The Australian
research looked at the levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
recommended by the country's National Health and Medical Research
Council.
It found homes
in Melbourne which were less than a year old had up to 20 times
the recommended safe limit of VOCs, set at 500 micrograms (mcg)
per cubic metre.
In a study
due to be published later this year, the Building Research Establishment
in Watford found one in 20 homes have at least twice the Australian
limit.
Owners could
be exposing themselves to chemicals including formaldehyde, used
in construction, and styrene, which new carpets can give off.
Formaldehyde
can cause skin irritation, and even cancer. It is used while making
wooden floorboards and furniture.
Styrene is
also thought to be carcinogenic. It seeps out of new carpets.
Other toxic
chemicals can, say the authors, emerge from paints and solvents
used in a house.
New homes
The BRE has
looked at 800 newly-built homes.
Five per cent
of homes had levels of 1,000mcg.
And levels
of VOCs in homes which were less than a year old were twice as
high as in those built ten years ago.
Jeff Llewellyn,
the BRE's indoor air expert, told BBC News Online, said that the
chemicals were not likely to pose a serious threat to most people's
health.
He said the
build-up of the chemicals was partly due to the newness of the
home, but he added that new homes were now much less drafty, measures
which helped the accumulation of chemicals.
He said the
chemicals would not have a major effect on people's health.
"Most
people would just notice a smell, some would find it unpleasant.
Others may have headaches, and feel sick."
He said there
formaldehyde could be dangerous, and said tests on rats had found
that they developed nasal cancers after breathing in high levels
of the chemical.
But he said
the levels in houses were very low.
Steve Brown,
of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation,
which carried out the Australian research, warned: "Up to
500,000 Australians moving into around 120,000 new homes every
year could be subjected to high levels of airborne toxic chemicals
for months."
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