Are environmentally-friendly building and decorating materials allergenic?

Do environmentally-friendly building and decorating materials also have little impact on health? Health assessment for these materials requires, as with all other such materials, measurement of emission of aldehydes, volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds, fibers and particles, odors, tests of fungal and bacterial resistance, measurements of radioactive elements from mineral products, and the presence or absence of cancerogenic, mutagenic, and reprotoxic substances CM R 1 and 2 as well as toxic substances T and T+. Only results obtained from mineral or wood-based products, vegetal and animal insulation products, vegetal and mineral paints, allow judgment of their potential for harm to human health for building workers and occupants. (C) 2010 Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.