Chlordane Testing
Approximately 75% of U.S homes whose construction started before March of 1988 are suspected of indoor air chlordane contamination problems. Chlordane was used to treat termite prior to the "banning" of chlordane in 1988. The U.S. Air Force research shows 7% of homes are suspected of being above the "safety levels" of 5 micrograms per cubic meter of air, set by the National Academy of Sciences.
Professional Building Inspectors provides affordable, state-of-the-art air analysis for chlordane in homes and assists owners with reducing the health effects posed by breathing this insecticide. Over 30 million homes in the United States were treated with chlordane before this insecticide was banned. Unfortunately, due to the lack of obvious odor or easily administered test, most occupants are unaware this pesticide is in the indoor air they are breathing. If this insecticide was applied under your home, it will continue to degass into the indoor air at levels that can cause disease.
If you are buying a house built before 1990 and live in a termite infested area, or if your family is experiencing symptoms of upper respiratory infections, headaches, anxiety, or depression or neurological disorders, chemical sensitivity, or breast cancer, then consider taking preventive steps by having the house tested for chlordane.
When Should I Test?
If you are buying a home:
- If you know the house has been treated with chlordane/heptachlor.
- If the house was treated for termites between 1950 and 1990.
- If you see drill holds around the basement floor or in the sill plates. (This type of application results in the highest levels)
- If you suspect external treatment or that the house was pre-treated. (No drill holes will be visible)
- If you plan on refinishing the basement as a living space or if it is now a living space. (We have found that chlordane levels in basements can be up to 8 times higher than those in ground level rooms)
Documented Medical Problems Caused By Chlordane
Neurological
- Headache (migraine)
- Anxiety
- Fatigue
- Confusion
- Chronic jerking movements
- Insomnia
- Learning disabilities in children
- Brain cancer
- Parkinson disease
Reproductive
- Early onset of menopause
- Breast cancer
- Prostate cancer
- Testicular cancer
Other
- Diabetes
- Lung cancer
- High cholesterol levels
- Low testosterone
- Hair loss
- Upper respiratory infections
- Asthma
- History of Allergies