Question
I feel strongly it is related to the vents and the air flow, not the carpet (my Husband isn't so sure and feels it's the carpet). The wall to wall carpet was brand new when we moved in one year ago, but it has since been vacuumed (obviously) many times and all that fiber and dust is gone. There is no odor, no detectable fumes in the house at all.
I also cannot smell anything from the carpet.
I do feel this is related somehow to the vents, but don't know what could BE in those vents that I might be reacting to.
I'm thinking it's an allergy because the roof of my mouth is itchy, my lungs and throat feel like it's been RAKED raw, my ear is itchy, my sinuses stuffy, occasional swollen glands, sore throat,... it seems like mostly "allergy" type symptoms combined with flu like symptoms.
We don't feel sickly when we have the heat or A/C off or when we use it infrequently, so symptoms are directly related to using the vents more as opposed to access to the carpet.
I'm not sure what might be doing this that would be in the vents or what the landlord would do. I call them after a year to complain of being sick? How much credence can that kind of claim make, ya know?

Answer

When you have the a/c or heat on, it's blowing allergens or whatever it is around your apartment. Probably that's why you feel worse at those times. Also blowing air dries out your repiratory tract.
Does anyone else in your complex have a problem like yours?

Answer

Hmm, good question. I've never thought to ask. One woman in our building is rather sickly, has fibromyalgia and a host of other neuromuscular disorders that can never seem to get cleared up. I know she had them before she moved here, but I don't know to what degree.
Is air circulated like that, around between apartments like that? (That's kind of creepy if you think about it -- that we don't even have our own air supply).
I'd think if we were all sharing air that I'd smell other people's cooking and such, and other than curry and other than in the hall way, there's no apparent permeation of odors (but I guess this goes to a deeper level than that, huh?)

Answer

Hi Merrida
I do understand what you are going through with your new apartment because we are having the same reaction to our apartment. I have been through this before and moving solved the problem. Now here I am again in that situation and I am planning to move as soon as I can.
As I look back I have been fortunate most of my life to have lived in new or almost new construction. That can have it's problems too but I never felt affected by anything. Then I rented a duplex, older home and I felt sick all the time, whenever the air or heat was running. The vents were rivited in the ceiling like yours and I changed the furnace filter every month. I decided to sell some things before I moved out and one gentleman who came to the sale was a heat/ac contractor. We discussed the issue I had and he said its not uncommon for mold spores to start growing in the duct system in older homes and cause health problems. After getting out of the place all my symptoms disappeared like magic.
My girlfriend had alergy problems, she was always stuffed up, runny nose and couldn't get through a sentence without clearing her throat. She went to allergist for years, took all kinds of medication and finally out of desperation she got rid of her cat even tho the allergist assured her it was not the cat. She laundered and cleaned everything in her house and recovered. It was the cat.
Now this apartment...it is on the third floor facing east and south so it gets a lot of sun. My son painted it himself and sprayed the ceilings so we know what is on the walls. New carpet was installed and we've had it steam cleaned twice, two months and four months after moving in. We've removed the cold air ducts and cleaned throughly, even removed the vent covers and cleaned the vents, they were actually quite clean. We replace the furnace filter every month. I vacuum everything twice a week with a hepa filter bag and replace that every week. We have only sold oak furniture, no pressed fiberboard bookcases or formaldahyde stuff. I only use Simple Green, Glass Plus and Mr Clean which I have used for years. Still when the furnace or air runs we feel quite sick.
I was sitting on the kitchen floor one day with the cabinet doors open under the sink. I could feel a "breeze" actually blowing from the cabinet. What's this? There was a large hole in the wall around the pipes and plumbing and the breeze was coming right out of the wall and into our apartment. From Where? We plugged up the holes and caulked everything and did the same in the bathroom. In fact we pulled up the edge of the carpet and caulked any cracks or holes into the walls, twelve tubes of caulking. Went overboard I guess but had to do it for peace of mind.
It does help to run the humidifier, I put warm water in it in the winter and turn it on whenever the furnace runs. In the summer I fill it with cold water and dump in a few trays of ice cubes and turn it on when the air is running. And change the filters regularly. I use tap water but recently read that the clorine in the water is not good to breathe. Isn't that the way. You try to do something to help yourself and then find out that's not good either.
Well I have learned a lot from my son being a painter here. One thing for sure is that you have no way of knowing what went on in your apartment before you moved in. Were the previous tenants heavy smokers, did they have pets, were there exterminating chemicals used, is there a mold problem in the basement of the building or growing in the walls. There is no mold problem in this apartment but my son recently painted the apartment two floors below and it was filty and gross with black mold. No doubt these mold spores are in the air filtering through the building and walls. The property does not address this issue, they just have the painters spray seal lock and paint over the mold. The maintenance scrape the mold around the tiles in the bathroom and fill up with new caulking, but the mold is in the walls and in a matter of months the mold comes through the paint and caulking.
If I had any idea this was going on here I would have never moved in. Most of the maintenance is done on the outside, trees, shrubs, landscaping, looks nice. The common areas and laundry area are always clean, freshly painted and mold free. What goes on in the apartments.... you don't want to know!
We are moving, my son has found another job. He doesn't want to be part of this cover up, work or live in this toxic environment. Before I move into a new place I will ask a lot of questions and do a through inspection of the apartment and the building. I may have to rent from an individual rather than a complex but those individuals will appreciate a tenant like me who takes care of the environment rather than neglecting or distroying it.
Merrida...I hope you can find some answers soon. I know there are too many possiblities in my building that contribute to the contamination going on here, and they won't be addressed, so best I just get out of here.


Answer

Hi Merrida,
Sorry to hear what you are going through, sounds really crappy
There is something we in the building trades call "forced air".
Forced air is when there is little to no natural air in the home or building, but air that is centralized or forced through ventilation systems.
The problem with these particular systems, is they often lack what natural air has, and tends to be very dry and dusty air... dead air, stagnet air.... non circulating air.
This is so with both Air AND heat.
In your little thingee outside where your furnace is, check the pipe which leaves the system and see where it leads to. Does it lead outside, or back into the building?
Also, is there a gap around the hole which the pipe leads into?
If there is, it needs to be filled, because this is where carbon monoxide can be leaking from.
THe cellulose filter in the furnace, can you describe what it looks like to me?
It may need to be replaced, or modified.
Do you have humidifiers in your home?
To answer your question about vents, yes, they can be and should be cleaned with relative frequency, especially if you have breathing problems.
Also, do not be fooled by carpeting.
Just because it does not omit any fumes does not mean it does not omit chemicals.
There are some chemicals in carpeting, padding, and the adhesive used to mount the carpeting that are highly toxic, some of which should not be permitted to be used.... these chemicals can be activated by heat, or moisture.
IT may be a combination of things, but I agree with you regarding the air flow.
HEre are some solutions.
YOu can take a small sample of carpet fiber, and have it tested for noxious chemicals. Some doctors do this.
You can bring it to the allergist.
You can call your landlord and tell them that there is something involving the air flow in your apartment that is making you all ill.
You can call your local gas company and they can come out and test for carbon monoxide and gas.
We had a terrible gas leak, but did not even smell the gas it was so subtle... but we were ill from it.
When we called the gas company out, they also found that we had carbon monoxide leaking around our furnace pipe.
WE also have forced air in our apartment. The gas man told us that the filter was completely missing.
He also recommended changing it every year. In my trade, we recommend at least every six months.
If you live in a complex, Merrida, it may not even be your home necessarily. It could be under you or in the walls.
Check around your bath tub, under the sinks, and behind the toilets..... for any discolored paint, raised paint or moisture. If any of the paint is raised or wet, scrape it,
If the color beneath it is black you have toxic mold.
Good luck!!!!!
Blue