Insulation infiltration & health effects

[Guest guest]

Hi all, we have a quad (bi-level type) house in Cincinnati, built in 1959. The

walls are

plaster (on blue-board), no insulation behind them. The living room/dining room

floor

has cove ceilings. All hard wood or ceramic tile. Basement is unfinished and

cement.

It appears that insulation had been infiltrating the house from the attic. The

insulation

was probably added years after the house was built, and was poured rockwool,

with some

poured fiberglass in the mix. When my wife moved into the house 10 years ago,

she blew

Cocoon cellulose insulation that apparently had the ammonium sulfate, zinc

sulfate, boric

acid mix on it.

Due to the way they built the cove ceilings, the attic was open to the walls

wherever they

had to form the curves. This apparently allowed the insulation to more readily

get down to

the walls, and combined with panned-bay returns to the HVAC, microscopic bits of

the

insulation apparently were being blown through the house for years. We noticed

issues

more specifically after we had kids (now 3.5, 2 and 6 months), and they started

having itch

and respiratory/inflammation issues. This was a really hard situation to figure

out, and

took quite a while to track down. We are now approaching 2 years since my oldest

daughter started having issues.

I had the old insulation extracted, The attic space above the one panned bay

that was

really open, sealed up, and had Bonded Logic's Ultra Touch cotton insulation

batts

installed. We also had a Thermastor dehumidifier with outside ventilation

installed, and a

5 " filter box put in for the HVAC, which I currently have a Lennox Merv16 filter

in. The

insulation was done in April, and now 8 months later, the house is still really

not livable in

for us. I would have figured some time for the remnants in the walls to work

out, but no,

it's still pretty bad. It seemed to get worse as the cold weather and windy days

set in. I

guess the cold air pushes down through the walls and brings the insulation

particles which

we have become sensitive to down into the house.

I have I guess gotten sensitive enough that I can tell when the insulation

fibers are in the

air. I can tell the difference between rockwool and fiberglass -- rockwool is

definitely

more itchy, fiberglass is finer, but still causes issues. We visited in-laws

recently, I could

tell in my sinuses right away that they had fiberglass issues in their house. It

turns out

from fiberglass lines HVAC ducts. They don't notice or recognize the issue, so

probably

won't change anything there, but my wife, kids and I all got congested and

headaches

from being there.

- Have any of you here dealt with insulation issues like this?

- Will the insulation eventually wash out of fabrics, or is it permanently

attached? It

appears to me that polyester (even in blends) will not let go of the fibers. I

don't know if

they stick together like velcro, or what. It seems like washing natural fibers

like cotton

makes a difference, I'm not sure if it just reduces the quantity on cotton, or

totally washes

out.

- Would other people have the same issues eventually with things like our

couches and

clothes? Trying to figure out if we should just throw it all out, or if donating

is an option.

- Would getting the walls filled with foam and maybe switching the house to hot

water

heat and maybe a central vacuum make a difference, or are we likely to still be

sensitive to

the house?

- Do people who have fiberglass sensitivities have issues with HEPA's? I heard

recently

that HEPA media is usually boro-silicate which I guess is a type of fiberglass.

Also, talking

about filtration, it seems to me that some of these particles are not caught by

some

supposedly HEPA filtration. I couldn't vacuum without my daughter being sick the

next day

until I got Nilfisk with ULPA filtration. The Sears with HEPA didn't work, the

Miele with

HEPA was better, but still didn't catch it. With air purifiers, Austin Air

didn't catch it.

Everyone would get congested when the Austin was turned on. I got an IQ Air, and

that

made a big difference in particle capture, although I don't care for the plastic

smell from

it.

Two weeks ago we moved into an apartment that was built about 90 years ago. It

is

hardwood with steam heat (I really think that forced air is a big part of kids

allergy issues).

The kids symptoms in the apartment are better than at the house, but not totally

gone. I

have been washing all clothes and furniture before bringing them into the

apartment, but

it appears that there is still residual stuff that is bothering them,

particularly on fabrics.

Another thing regarding sensitivity -- When I tried vacuuming with our Nilfisk

ULPA at the

apartment it smelled like the house, and gave us headaches. I had changed the

bag before

moving it, but I guess the ULPA held on to and released odors, and even

particles as small

as odors can cause issues. A similar problem was with the IQAir. I put a new

pre-filter in

it, but the voc cartride and/or the HEPA cartridge were saturated or

contaminated because

the air out of that had the house smell which gave headaches and I turned it off

right

away.

Needless to say this all of the work on the house along with vacuums, air

purifiers,

throwing away mattresses, etc has really depleted us financially, so I hate to

throw away

good money if it won't fix the problem. However, if foam, radiators, and central

vac would

fix it, we would consider it.

Thanks so much for whoever has experience with this or ideas about it.