Healthy Kitchens

The One Ingredient You Don’t Want in Your Kitchen

We all know that to be healthy we should eat well-balanced, nutritious meals. The experts tell us that if we stock our pantry with staple ingredients for healthy meals we will be well on our way to a healthy life. But what about the pantry itself? The materials they are made from may be silently and significantly impacting our health – and not in a positive way.

Many cabinets, shelves and countertops in our kitchens are made with pressed-wood. This common building material often contains adhesives or protective coatings made from urea-formaldehyde (UF). Along with other Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) that may be in the furniture, cleaning products, flooring, or paint used in your kitchen and throughout your home, UF leaches into the air and, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, can cause serious health problems, including eye, nose and throat irritation, nausea, breathing problems, fatigue, skin rashes or allergic reactions.

In fact, concern over exposure to UF has led California to file a class-action law suit against the manufacturers of children’s furniture, such as cribs and changing tables, containing formaldehyde. The suit argues that the level of UF given off by the furniture may be high enough to cause respiratory irritation in children exposed to the furniture, yet the companies failed to provide adequate warnings about the risk to their consumers.

It is possible that, if this furniture—or any other products giving off formaldehyde gas—were located in well-ventilated areas, the effects of formaldehyde would be mitigated. But as we make homes more energy efficient, updating windows and doors and increasing insulation, they also become more air-tight. While saving energy is good for the environment, an air-tight home increases the concentration of air pollutants indoors, making it even more important than ever to eliminate as many sources of those pollutants as possible.

As more evidence of the negative affects of UF on health and well-being is uncovered, people are seeking alternatives to products containing formaldehyde, as well as other ways to reduce the levels of UF in their living environments. As a LEED AP and CEO of Working Wonders, a company that sells many sustainable home and commercial products, I have developed a company committed to helping people make their homes safer and healthier. That is why Working Wonders works closely with companies like Valcucine, a manufacturer that is committed to designing and producing kitchens that are not only functional and beautiful, but also healthy and sustainable.

What Makes a Kitchen Healthy and Sustainable?

You want your kitchen to be attractive and functional, and those features are mostly influenced by personal preference. The environmental and health impacts of your kitchen, on the other hand, are generally under the control of the manufacturer you choose. If you want your kitchen to be healthy and sustainable, you will want to look for a manufacturer that:

• Minimizes their environmental impact through production strategies that limit or eliminate the generation of harmful byproducts and toxic emissions.
• Minimizes consumption of energy and raw materials by designing quality products that use fewer materials and resources than the industry standard.
• Considers recyclability, creating products that can be easily separated into components and recycled or reused.
• Builds durable, toxin-free products that reduce the need for frequent replacement.
• Chooses their resources wisely AND sparingly, utilizing “dematerialization” (the least amount of raw materials necessary to make the product, and avoiding use of wood from primary forests.
• Reinstates raw materials to offset their use through environment support projects such as reforestation.

If you want to improve the health of your kitchen, start by choosing eco-friendly cabinetry and shelving that contains no or low-levels of UF. Then furnish your dining area with furniture that is UF- and VOC-free. Use paint and sealants that do not contain UF or other VOCs. And select flooring that has no or low UF content. You might also want to consider installing or purchasing an air purification unit or system that can remove any toxins and pollutants that do find their way into your home.

By carefully selecting your kitchen manufacturer and outfitting your kitchen space with cabinets, shelving, flooring and furniture that doesn’t contain formaldehyde or other toxins you’ll start every meal without that undesirable ingredient hanging around. And that’s the perfect recipe for a healthy home.

BethAnn Lederer, LEED AP is the founder of Working Wonders, a company that offers a “one-stop” source where design-build professionals and consumers alike can quickly and easily find aesthetically pleasing eco-responsible products, knowledge and services to build out, furnish and accessorize green projects, homes and workplaces. BethAnn speaks and writes about the links that exist between human health and the products we choose to furnish and accessorize our homes and workplaces. Her perspective comes out of a former career in healthcare education, marketing and advocacy.