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We moved in to our home in the summer. When fall came and we turned on the heat, fumes made my eyes burn, tongue thick, mouth dry, throat sore, dizzy, headache and heart beat faster! We replaced the furnace with no relief. Opening windows and running the dryer made it worse. This summer we didnt notice the fumes as much, if at all. Now that its getting cooler again we put the electric space heater (which we used all last yr also) in the family room and turned it on to take the chill off. Before long the smell & symptoms began! We turned the heater off and it took awhile but the fumes did dissapate slowly. Could it be the carpet? It had been cleaned before we bought the home and the previous owners had pets. We would appreciate any suggestions or information. Thanks!
Cleaning a carpet rarely leaves chemicals. What you are describing sounds more like the effects of reduced humidity, coupled with an allergy or reaction to the dust on the heater being burned off. Electric heaters are cheap. Buy a new one and see if it makes a difference in the smell. Do a web search on humidity and types of humidifiers.
I forgot to add that a trip to the ER and many test later showed a low EPO (low oxygen level). The Dr. kept asking if Im a smoker and the answer is that I have never smoked in my life! I also lost 15lbs over the winter and I always felt sick, mainly just wanted to sleep. Leaving the house would make me feel better. But shortly after returning, the symptoms would return. All flues, furnaces, water heater and sewer has been checked professionaly. One service left a monitor and told us it showed that we do have toxic fumes, but could not tell us what they were from! Didnt know if this would help anyone figure this out or not.
P.S. The heated is a oil filled elec. heater that looks like a small radiator...it was purchased last yr and is dust free, but there is a attatched humidifier on the furnace. We will look into that! Thank you!
You poor kid! This sounds really bad for your health.
Ok, so you've definitely ruled out carbon monoxide? How about radon? Are you the only one in the house who is bothered? Is your house newer? I've heard there is a problem with Chinese drywall, used in the past 10 years or so, giving off fumes.
Have you asked for help from your County EPA? I cannot believe they couldn't figure this out somehow. When you say you've had everything checked out professionally, I think you need a second opinion.
Maybe it's time to rip out the carpeting and see how you feel?
I don't want to alarm you, but I had a neighbor who became so sensitive to things in the environment that they had to build a whole new house, totally devoid of anything that wasn't all natural.
I forgot to add that a trip to the ER and many test later showed a low EPO (low oxygen level). The Dr. kept asking if Im a smoker and the answer is that I have never smoked in my life! I also lost 15lbs over the winter and I always felt sick, mainly just wanted to sleep. Leaving the house would make me feel better. But shortly after returning, the symptoms would return. All flues, furnaces, water heater and sewer has been checked professionaly. One service left a monitor and told us it showed that we do have toxic fumes, but could not tell us what they were from! Didnt know if this would help anyone figure this out or not.
P.S. The heated is a oil filled elec. heater that looks like a small radiator...it was purchased last yr and is dust free, but there is a attatched humidifier on the furnace. We will look into that! Thank you!
This sounds eerily similar to the symptoms I had that turned out to be low level carbon monoxide poisoning which also occurred during the winter months after I moved into my house. If a monitor was left, did the person tell you what type of toxic fumes or what type of monitor he used? This is very important to narrowing down the source. BTW, there are no monitors that simply say there are toxic fumes present. Most monitors are pretty specific to chemical class if not a specific chemical. You need to know if the fumes were CO, VOC, or something else. If you could tell what chemical class based on the monitor, someone here can help you narrow it down.
I forgot to add that a trip to the ER and many test later showed a low EPO (low oxygen level). The Dr. kept asking if Im a smoker and the answer is that I have never smoked in my life! I also lost 15lbs over the winter and I always felt sick, mainly just wanted to sleep. Leaving the house would make me feel better. But shortly after returning, the symptoms would return.
This definately sounds like Chinese drywall symptoms!
The only way to get rid of VOC's is several cycles of heating the home up and then allowing it to vent by opening windows and doors. Then do it all over again. You may want to do these cycles while you're not there. This allows all the offgasing to be maxed out before being vented. After several cycles there should be a minimalization of the VOC's and their offgasing from the building materials.
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