[Njhuckman]

please can you give me some advice about something I'm extremely worried about? The room that I rent in a small shared apartment has been refurbished over the last 3 months by the landlord whilst I have been living there. Because it's cold, the Windows haven't been opened and so it has continually smelt of paint, varnish and flooring adhesive fumes. I didn't realise how bad these were for you until recently, and I'm now very worried that these chemicals will have stored in my body. Last week I was eating lunch when he was using flooding adhesive on the new kitchen floor and I'm worried that eating at the same time as this chemical was in the air will lead me to have ingested it with my food and make the exposure worse than if I had just breathed it in.
How can I remove all these toxins out of my body and how long will it take? Do I need to avoid all fat so nothing gets stored in my body? I had planned on increasing my daily calories as I wanted to join the gym and put on a lot of muscle mass, but I am very worried that putting weight on now will mean that these chemicals will get stored in my body so how long will I need to wait before it is safe for me to start putting on muscle mass and gaining weight? I'm a little bit under weight so gaining weight wouldn't be unhealthy, but it is if it means all these chemicals will get stored in my body. Please help, as I'm so worried that my body and life has been ruined. I've now moved out of the apartment and only now realise how funny my old one was, but I'm worried that it's too late. I'm not interested in suing the landlord or anything; just interested in getting healthy. Thanks so much.

[P]

My guess is that you will be perfectly OK. I would vent the room if you are worried that you are still getting fumes from the paint. Do you know what the solvents are? I would think there would be little more harm than a slight head spin if it was a strong smell. Very long term exposure can be carcinogenic - but I think it takes very long time with regular exposure over years for that to happen.

People have been using solvent based paints and varnishes for many years without many issues. The drive towards water based formulations is a good thing for the environment, but light exposure shouldn't give you anything to panic about.

[P]

PS - The older fashioned solvent based paints used a lot of Xylene - which is harmful....  but again I would think it would take prolonged exposure to damage you seriously. White spirit based paints are less harmful, but are still bad for you with long term exposure...  I think a lot of modern formulations use acetates, which aren't so bad for you...   either way it takes long term exposure to hurt you I think.   Think about it - people have been using these for many decades.

[Njhuckman]

My guess is that you will be perfectly OK. I would vent the room if you are worried that you are still getting fumes from the paint. Do you know what the solvents are? I would think there would be little more harm than a slight head spin if it was a strong smell. Very long term exposure can be carcinogenic - but I think it takes very long time with regular exposure over years for that to happen.

People have been using solvent based paints and varnishes for many years without many issues. The drive towards water based formulations is a good thing for the environment, but light exposure shouldn't give you anything to panic about.

Thanks for your reply. I appreciate that they have been used for years and my concern is not that they had been used, but because they have been used in a dangerous way by not being aired at all.
I doubt any damage happens if you paint your walls and air it in one day, but I have been exposed for weeks in a poorly ventilated area whilst eating and drinking too.
Do you know how long these chemicals take to leave the body and is there anything you can do to get them out of your body fat?

[P]

Are you experiencing any ill health effects at the present?

With regard to how long they stay in the body, I do not think it is long...  it depends on what the solvent is. Do you know what it was? I can't see it doing you any harm in this short term other than getting you a little high.  Air the room.