For instance, after installing a new carpet or refinishing wood floors with chemicals that contain VOCs, provide 100 percent outdoor ventilation for two to three days. This means opening all of your windows and possibly some doors and blowing fans to move fresh air in and polluted air out. It may be chilly, but new products tend to out-gas in exponentially decreasing amounts. Therefore, in the first few days, most of the VOCs will have been released. If they stand in the air, they will reabsorb into all soft fibers, including clothing, drapes, carpeting and upholstered furniture, which act as sinks and then release the chemicals slowly and steadily over the next twenty or so years.
Biological growths provoke asthma or flu-like symptoms in many people.
Molds, mildews and dust mites are the biggest culprits. Molds and mildews grow in areas where moisture has collected and stood from more than a few days. Basements and bathrooms commonly have this problem. Dust mites are microscopic organisms that feed off of dead human skin. Many people are highly allergic to their dander.