At INDIGO, we have always been concerned with the added chemicals and solvents put into traditional building and interior materials we fill our homes and buildings with. Two things in particular paint and carpet, have been raising concerns for decades on not just indoor air quality (IAQ) but also hazardous air polutants (HAP's) as well persistant organic pollutants (POP's) that can remain not just in the environment, but in our bodies as well. In this post we are looking at the bioaccumlative stain and water repellency compounds known as PFC's.

This is from The Healthy Building Network, a place of great information on building materials that goes beyond the greenwashing:
Perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) are manmade compounds, based on the element fluorine, and are the key ingredients in stain- and water-repellent treatments such as Teflon®, Crypton® and Crypton Green®, Gore™, and Stainmaster®, and in nanotech products such as Nano-Tex™ and GreenShield™.2 Scientists have raised concerns about PFCs because they are persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic. Moreover, biomonitoring studies confirm widespread human exposure to this class of compounds.
click here for a fact sheet on PFCs.

next week we will be looking at the greenwashing of the paint industry and what zero VOC really means.

Click here to view our July 2009 Newsletter, DIG (Do It Green!)

Owners Tom Smith and Edith Williams have hired local deconstruction artists The Bearded Brothers as well as Fro of Superior Woodwork to carefully dismantle an amazing piece of local history. Built in 1871 by James McCredie and his brothers, the house features some insight into how passive heating and cooling homes in our region used to be built including a broad veranda, a four sided bay window, tin roof, and a separate kitchen house (sure to help keep heat out of the living space in the summer). Salvaged material for sale include gable ends, gingerbread trim, replaned heart pine, bricks, and the entire kitchen house (you move it!). Check out the website for pics and details on pricing: http://www.historicflhousematerials.com