Avoiding dangerous gases
These volatile organic compounds may be building up in your house without you being aware of them.
NO matter how clean you keep your home, there are always compounds and particles that find their way inside, whether in the form of moisture, solids or gases.
It’s fairly easy to prevent hazardous solid or liquid materials from entering our home, but we should be aware of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) – gases that are emitted by many indoor sources, which we might not even be aware contained them.
Sources of VOCs include everyday items like fabrics, cleaning agents, wall insulation and perfume.
Concentration levels of most VOCs are higher indoors than outdoors as air circulation is confined within one space indoors.
VOCs can be released from products during use, and even while in storage.
However, the amount of VOCs emitted from products tends to decrease as the product ages.
VOCs are a cause for concern because they create health issues.
They include a variety of chemicals that can cause eye, nose and throat irritation, shortness of breath, headaches, fatigue, nausea, dizziness, skin problems, and hormonal imbalances.
Long-term exposure to high concentrations of VOCs can cause lung issues and damage to the liver, kidney or central nervous system.
Some VOCs are even suspected to play a role in cancer, while others have been proven to cause cancer in humans.
Although most of us are unaffected by short-term exposure to lower levels of VOCs found in homes, it can be an irritant for people with issues like asthma or respiratory problems.
Research is currently ongoing to better understand any health effects from long-term exposure to low levels of VOCs,
Common products
Here is a list of eight common VOCs that are found indoors:
> Butanal
Candles, barbecues and gas stoves increase the presence of butanal, one of the most common VOCs.
To prevent butanal from damaging your indoor air quality, keep these items outside and ventilate the house when cooking.
If you like a nice fragrance in your house, use natural candles made from beeswax or soy-based candle wicks instead.
> Acetic acid
Vinegar is the most common source of this chemical compound.
High doses of this organic gas can result in throat and breathing issues, so be sure to check vinegar products to ensure safe exposure levels.
Luckily, most vinegars contain less than 4% of this compound, making them safe for consumption and in general.
> Alcohol
Isopropanol or isopropyl alcohol is a common solvent for home and professional use as a disinfecting agent.
It evaporates quickly, making it easy for large amounts to build up in the home.
Maintain air quality by opening your doors or windows to ensure proper ventilation, and consider using breathing protection when using alcohol in enclosed areas.
> Acetone
Acetone is found in common products such as nail polish remover, furniture polish and wallpaper, and it can be a rather potent chemical.
It is one of the most common VOCs out there and is harmful to human health in high doses.
Opt for alcohol-based nail polish removers and water-based furniture polishes, which are safer alternatives.
> Formaldehyde
This is one of the most common VOCs out there because it is present in everyday products such as moulded plastics and lacquers.
To lower the concentration of formaldehyde around you, avoid heating plastics, such as microwaving food in plastics and limit plastic use in general.
Check to make sure that finishing products do not contain formaldehyde.
When they do, make sure to use these products in well-ventilated areas.
> Carbon disulphide
Carbon disulphide is found in chlorinated tap water, which is a standard utility in cities and suburban neighbourhoods.
To avoid exposure and decrease the concentration in the body, use a charcoal or carbon-filtration system, or subscribe to a water purifying system.
> Methylene chloride
Also known as dichloromethane, this VOC is present in paint removers, aerosol solvents and other flame retardant chemicals.
Although it is quite a dangerous compound, it is difficult for it to exist in large concentrations, mainly because of the rapid rate of evaporation.
But inside a home, proper ventilation is a must when dealing with products containing methylene chloride because it is easier for it to collect indoors.
Avoiding exposure
How do you avoid exposure to VOCs?
Control the source by using materials and products that do not give off VOCs.
Here are some tips:
> Before using, store furnishings and building materials in a place with lots of ventilation for a few weeks to allow the gases to dissipate.
You can increase ventilation by opening windows and doors in your home.
For items like paints and varnishes, choose ones containing low VOCs.
> To avoid storing unnecessary sources of VOCs, buy only enough paints, cleaners and solvents for immediate use.
If you have leftovers, keep the lids on tightly.
Store products in a separate room like an outdoor shed or in a space with proper ventilation.
> Dry-cleaned clothes have VOCs when they come back fresh from the cleaners.
Remove your clothes from the plastic wrapping and hang them in a ventilated area for a few days before storing them in your closet.
> Second-hand smoke contains many pollutants, including VOCs.
Do not allow smoking in or near your home if you can.
> Minimise the use of scented products such as plug-in or aerosol deodorisers, candles and incense.
> For new carpets, ventilate the space as much as possible during the installation using fans, and opening windows and doors.
Continue to ventilate for several days after installation.
> When using household chemicals, follow the instructions on manufacturers’ labels.
If the label says “use in a well-ventilated area”, go outside or to an area where an exhaust fan or open window provides extra ventilation.
Be safe
VOCs are prevalent in common substances such as household cleaners, varnishes, paint, cigarette smoke and others.
It is impossible to eliminate them entirely from your home, but knowing the most common VOCs and their sources goes a long way in helping you to make better decisions when choosing products for your home.
Awareness, combined with prevention and frequent assessments, is the best way to maintain air quality and stay safe from VOCs.
Datuk Dr Nor Ashikin Mokhtar is a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist, and a functional medicine practitioner. For further information, email starhealth@thestar.com. my. The information provided is for educational and communication purposes only and it should not be construed as personal medical advice. Information published in this article is not intended to replace, supplant or augment a consultation with a health professional regarding the reader’s own medical care. The Star does not give any warranty on accuracy, completeness, functionality, usefulness or other assurances as to the content appearing in this column. The Star disclaims all responsibility for any losses, damage to property or personal injury suffered directly or indirectly from reliance on such information.
URSULA Haeussler still remembers the frenzy of that day more than a century ago.
She had just sat down for breakfast at the kitchen table as the maid began the morning chores at their home on a small farm in a rural, idyllic German town.
Suddenly, just as the maid began fixing her apron, she collapsed onto the floor.
Haeussler’s uncle and father immediately sprung into action, attempting to revive the unconscious woman before carrying her onto a cart and taking her to the nearest doctor.
The young girl’s mind whirled with confusion, wondering what had just happened.
Only days later did Haeussler – then just a toddler – learn that the maid had died from the Spanish Flu.
Weeks later, the same disease claimed the lives of Haeussler’s uncle and godparents.
“That is all I personally know,” she said of the 1918 outbreak, noting that she was too young to remember anything else.
“But I know it was miserable. Back then there were no vaccines; no one could help it, they just died.”
Today, at 105 years old, she sees the parallels of the Spanish Flu that changed her life and infected onethird of the world’s population, and the Covid-19 pandemic that has already killed more than two million people worldwide.
But this time, there’s a difference.
In a small room at the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Fremont, California, United States, Haeussler received the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine.
For the first time in a long time, she felt relief.
“We had no way to fight the pandemic back then,” she said of the Spanish Flu.
“They had no vaccine, and all the medical advancements we’ve made, we can be so thankful now.
“I am certainly thankful for the people who gave us the vaccine and risk their own life to do so.”
Then the most severe pandemic in recent history, the Spanish Flu was estimated to have infected about 500 million people after the first outbreaks in 1918 and 1919.
The number of deaths from that particular strain of the influenza virus tallied at least 50 million worldwide, including about 675,000 in the US, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In Germany, about 287,000 people are estimated to have died from the Spanish Flu from 1918 to 1920.
The SARS-CoV-2 virus, meanwhile, has infected more than 25 million in the US, a number that is climbing daily with the number of deaths exceeding 440,000, according to the latest health figures.
Disease and unrest
From her home in Fremont, Haeussler recalled that the first pandemic of her life was just the start of a tumultuous 25 years to come.
And in many ways, she said, these days are just as turbulent and similar to the ones she grew up in: a pandemic, protests, economic anxiety and family strife over politics.
She saw it all: the Roaring Twenties in Weimar-era Berlin, the collapse of the world economy, hyperinflation, the rise of the Nazi Party in the ‘30s in Dresden and the loss of everything her family had worked for at the end of World War II.
“It was a constant uproar,” Haeussler said of her time in Berlin in the late 1920s.
“We lived on a big street that connected Potsdam to Berlin.
“There were always people coming by.
“Brownshirts marching down the street, singing their songs.
“Then came the communists and the anarchists.
“I was at the time 15 years old, so I probably didn’t understand what I was seeing.”
In a warning of the potential far reaching implications of the Covid19 pandemic, the New York Federal Reserve published last year a paper linking the 1918 flu pandemic to the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany and right-wing movements across the world.
It was partly the constant protesting and civil unrest born out of that right-wing fervour that made Haeussler and her family move to Dresden in 1930, at the start of the Nazis’ rise to power.
The social strife that came after the Spanish Flu – and the economic anxieties caused by the Versailles Treaty that ended World War I and forced Germany to pay reparations for the war – frustrated everyone at the time, she said.
Though her father did not support the Nazis, there was still a lot of social pressure to follow Adolf Hitler and his movement.
“For instance, my brother – who is six years younger than me – he liked the Nazis because they did all kinds of things for young people,” she said.
“Young people liked Hitler. “They all went to the bonfires in the evening. They all sang nationalistic songs.
“We were sad for them, not only because we lost them to him, but because we knew he needed them for cannon fodder.”
Vestiges of the kind of fanaticism that Haeussler witnessed in the ‘20s and ‘30s have resurfaced over the past four years in America during former President Donald Trump’s administration, she said.
For Haeussler, the storming of the US Capitol on Jan 6 was like the Reichstag fire in February 1933 – the Nazi-organised burning of Germany’s legislative building that successfully lifted the Nazis to power.
Lessons learnt
Despite the similarities between her time and ours, Haeussler said the world has learned to better deal with historical events like a pandemic and the economic collapse that followed.
“I feel very horrible that many people do lose their businesses and their possessions,” she said.
“But today is not to the extent you lose completely everything.
“At that time, everything you had saved, everything owned became valueless.
“I hope that this time doesn’t end up being like last time.”
For Haeussler’s daughter Cora Assali, the development of the Pfizer vaccine, in part by the Turkish-German husband-and-wife team of Ugur Sahin and Özlem Türeci, is a testament to how much things have changed and how much more accepting the world is now.
“I think people now understand the value of working together, of everybody working together,” she said. – The Mercury News/Tribune News Service
I READ that people who do not wear masks when they go outside have some sociopathic tendencies. What is a sociopath?
A sociopath is someone who has antisocial personality disorder (ASPD).
In general, someone who is a sociopath cannot understand someone else’s feelings or empathise with others.
They like breaking rules and making impulsive decisions without feeling guilty for the harm they cause others.
They can be charismatic and charming, but they also like to use mind games to control other people around them, which may include their family members, colleagues, friends, and even total strangers.
They may have problems with drugs and alcohol, and breaking the law.
Do you know anyone like that?
Is this a psychiatric problem?
There is a range of sociopathic symptoms, and some people merely have certain tendencies and traits, but are not completely sociopathic.
In order to be diagnosed as having ASPD, you have to show a consistent lack of regard for other people’s feelings and consistently violate other people’s rights.
And you usually do not realise that you are doing it.
According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (the handbook used by most health professionals to diagnose mental illness), a person has to consistently exhibit three out of these seven traits to be diagnosed as a sociopath:
> Doesn’t respect social norms or laws, and consistently break laws or overstep social boundaries, e.g. committing crimes like stealing on a continual basis. > Lies, deceives others, uses false identities or nicknames, and uses others for personal gain.
> Doesn’t make long-term plans.
They also often behave without thinking of consequences, which may include being imprisoned, destroying long-term relationships with family, or being sacked from work.
This shows impulsiveness.
> Shows aggressive or aggravated behaviour.
They consistently get into violent fights or physically harm others, especially men.
Women may like to emotionally harm other people.
> Don’t consider their own safety or the safety of others.
> Doesn’t follow up on personal or professional responsibilities.
This can include repeatedly being late to work, not performing jobs and tasks as expected, or not paying bills on time.
> Doesn’t feel guilt or remorse for having harmed or mistreated others.
You also have to be over 18 in order to be diagnosed a sociopath.
I know some people who have some tendencies like that, but they are not extreme enough to have warranted arrest or sacking from the job. Are there other things that might indicate they are sociopaths?
Some people who have sociopathic tendencies can also be quite “cold”.
They don’t show emotions, neither are they emotionally invested in other people.
They may use charm, humour and wit to manipulate other people for their own personal gain.
They feel superior to the rest of us, and they are very opinionated.
They cannot keep positive friendships and relationships, and they cannot learn from mistakes.
They like to control other people by frightening them or threatening them, e.g. a parent who always tells a child they will disown them or kick them out of the house if the child does not behave a certain way.
They like to take risks, even though they can get into legal or criminal trouble, and cause risks for others.
They like to threaten suicide without really going through with it.
They can become addicted to drugs or alcohol.
So what is the difference between a sociopath and a psychopath?
In the psychiatric sense, there is no difference.
They are both terms that are used to describe people who have ASPD.
Some people say that psychopaths have more severe symptoms and behave more extremely towards the end of the spectrum, such as being very violent and putting others in physical danger.
Sociopaths are then described as those who have some of the symptoms, but behave at a more minor level that does not cause serious physical harm or distress to other people.
However, you will see that the thought pattern and the lack of remorse is the same in the psychiatric evaluation sense.
My brother is extremely mean and selfish. Is he a sociopath?
The diagnosis of ASPD can only be given to someone who not only continuously exhibits the symptoms mentioned above, but also cannot change their behaviour, even though they are punished for it or have suffered negative consequences from it.
Someone who is merely selfish may lose friendships or destroy relationships, but can learn that it has negative consequences and attempt to change their ways, so that is not sociopathic behaviour.
Sociopathic people cannot change their ways or behaviour, even when it is damaging to them.
Dr YLM graduated as a medical doctor, and has been writing for many years on various subjects such as medicine, health, computers and entertainment. For further information, email starhealth@thestar.com. my. The information contained in this column is for general educational purposes only. Neither The Star nor the author gives any warranty on accuracy, completeness, functionality, usefulness or other assurances as to such information. The Star and the author disclaim all responsibility for any losses, damage to property or personal injury suffered directly or indirectly from reliance on such information.
LIKE our toes, our fingers are another body part we tend to ignore.
Our hands are often the first point of contact with our environment, and movement with our hands is a primary way of communicating.
The fingers grip and pick up things, squeeze pimples out, scroll through electronic gadgets, smack a child’s bottom, etc – basically, they manipulate objects to accomplish a goal.
All those tiny daily movements they make means our fingers are subject to a lot of repetitive tasks, which can eventually take a toll.
German philosopher Immanuel Kant called the hand the human outer brain, while Hungarian psychologist Géza Révész thought the hand is frequently more intelligent than the head.
Our elongated thumb is able to oppose our fingers, and hence control objects and instruments with a far greater degree of precision than primates and other animals.
The small or intrinsic muscles in the hand allow fine control of the thumb and fingers, although some fingers work harder than others.
Depending on how it’s measured, the verdict out there is that the index or middle finger is the strongest on the human hand.
Kept straight, the index finger can exert the most strength – enough to support your entire body weight.
You may have seen Shaolin martial artists and yogis perform two-finger handstands and push-ups.
However, the middle finger can exert the most arched strength due to its length and position.
Whatever remarkable feats our thumb and four fingers can achieve, it’s a fact that we seldom exercise them in a structured manner.
Having manicures and applying moisturiser leave them pretty, but the muscles still need to be worked to keep the fingers functional.
Here are some simple exercises you can do to strengthen the finger and thumb extensor muscles.
These are particularly useful for those with mild arthritis or are constantly on their mobile phones.
It’s not necessary to do these exercises daily – twice or thrice a week should suffice.
The only tool you need is a rubber band, and perhaps a golf ball.
And before you start, flick your wrists a few times to loosen up the joints.
Revathi Murugappan is a certified fitness trainer who tries to battle gravity and continues to dance to express herself artistically and nourish her soul. For more information, email starhealth@thestar. com.my. The information contained in this column is for general educational purposes only. Neither The Star nor the author gives any warranty on accuracy, completeness, functionality, usefulness or other assurances as to such information. The Star and the author disclaim all responsibility for any losses, damage to property or personal injury suffered directly or indirectly from reliance on such information.