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Comment by nextos | Hacker News Reader

That is spot on. The only solution is to build houses with better materials that release less VOCs and/or use an air filter with a good activated carbon stage.

Carpets have become very popular. But cheap ones release tons of VOCs due to fire retardants and anti-stain treatments.

I've switched to a house built in the Scandinavian style, with oiled wooden floors and simple soap-treated furniture. Not only beautiful, but also lacks the typical brand new smell. Theoretically much better in terms of nasty VOCs.

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Most modern European housing also has to abide by strict energy efficiency and air leakage standards, so they come with heat-recover air exchange systems.

I came here to say exactly this. I'm in Toronto Canada and just renovated a duplex, i was required to install ERV's to exchange the air. VOC's from off-gassing is unavoidable with present building materials, so the best we can do is replace the air as often as possible to minimize the impact. They're not expensive, and the impact to air quality is massive.

Air leakage standards in which direction?

Building envelopes need to be tighter

Got a Netatmo CO2 sensor recently and i think that needs to be rethought. That shit builds up fast inside a well sealed system.

That's why there are requirements around installing an air exchange system.

What is the health impact, in quantifiable terms of those "nasty VOCs?"

It's hard to say, there's evidence some are carcinogenic. E.g. formaldehyde.

Studies are lacking, so I prefer to err on the safe side. Especially since buying natural furniture that releases less VOCs is not limiting. In fact, it will last longer as materials are of higher quality.

The limiting factor is they cost a lot more than most people can afford.

If you shop around, there are some really affordable options.

IKEA has a whole range of raw solid pine furniture (without stain) that is incredibly cheap. E.g. an Ingo dining table costs ~$50. Last time I checked, it was manufactured in Poland, and it's pretty awesome quality for the price.

On top of that IKEA often has several of the best ranked air filtering plants from NASA's study available at great prices.

Buying used is definitely a good option for well-built furniture. (Here you can get a lot of things for free as well if you're willing to arrange transport.)

If you buy used, VOC's don't really matter. They've already mostly offgassed in someone else's house.

Nearly any wood treatment will emit a load of VOC's.

Interesting. Why oiled and soap-treated?

They barely off-gas, and protect raw wood.

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