According to the American Lung Association, most people spend 60% to 90% of their time indoors and 50% of all illnesses are either caused by, or aggravated by, polluted indoor air. New research gives strong evidence that the type of oak engineered wood flooring selected can make a big difference in our indoor air quality.
Flooring has the potential to be harmful to
our air quality in 2 ways: the collection of endotoxins and through
toxic chemical emissions. Endotoxins are bacterial chemicals
particularly found indoors.
According to Darryl C. Zeldin, M.D., Senior
Investigator at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences,
“the likelihood of having recent asthma symptoms is nearly 3 times greater among individuals with exposure to high levels of endotoxin in their flooring.â€
One way to avoid toxic chemicals is to make sure that you choose flooring that doesn’t use formaldehyde glue or binders
and that has been off-gassed in the factory (off-gassing is the name of
that “new floor smell†and is a chemical by-product of the
manufacturing process). Research has also shown that green buildings
have employees with lower turnover rates, fewer sick days and higher
productivity; children in green schools demonstrate higher test scores,
lower absenteeism, and heightened academic enthusiasm among students.
Choose healthy flooring! To learn more about the health benefits of cork oak visit our website at http://us.wicanders.com.