Feb 6 2008
“Just because building products are labeled ‘natural’ may not mean they’re safe and healthy,” says Sara Speer Selber, president of BuildClean™, a new not-for-profit (501(c)(3) pending) organization formed in late 2007 to educate consumers and the building industry about safe, healthy and environmentally friendly choices.
BuildClean
“The trend in ‘green’ building products has been a tremendous movement forward in making homebuyers, builders and manufacturers more aware of the importance of protecting the environment,” said Speer Selber. “Studies about the negative effects of lead in paint and other products have awakened the country to a threat that has now been proven to impact the neurological development of children. What’s missing is the same level of scholarship about the health effects of all the product choices we make when we remodel or build a new home,” she added.
BuildClean™ aims to advance interest in such studies by supporting laboratory and in-home research and promoting cross-disciplinary collaborations that may eventually generate new standards for building product health and safety.
According to Speer Selber, “For example, we have little information about radon emissions from granite or concrete; yet those products are enjoying tremendous popularity among designers and consumers, in general. We know that granite - a volcanic rock - contains uranium. As the element decays, it emits radon in varying amounts, and it is widely accepted that radon causes lung cancer. What scientists around the world are beginning to discover is what types and colors of granite, particularly in rooms with limited fresh-air circulation, may emit radon at levels that exceed U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guidelines for safe exposure limits.
“It is critically important that the building industry and consumers understand the long-term impact of what is going into residential and commercial buildings, and we believe the answers lie not in assumptions, but in scientific research,” she added.