Title: Paint fumes can trigger asthma and cancer: Hidden dangers of decorating | Daily Mail Online
Headings: Will doing up the front room make you ill?
Will doing up the front room make you ill?
There are also hidden dangers in ­apparently simple procedures such as removing old wallpaper and replastering.
So what are the risks - and how can you avoid them...
SANDING FLOORS
VARNISHING
WALLPAPERING
TACKLING MOULD
INSTALLING INSULATION
LAYING CARPET

Content: If you paint for too long in a room with no ­ventilation, it can even cause a blackout,’ says Dr Prowse. When VOCs are inhaled, they can cause eye, nose and throat ­irritation. In large quantities, ­animal ­studies have linked these chemicals to birth defects, cancers and damage to the central ­nervous system. Professional painters are most at risk: they have a 20 per cent increased risk of a range of ­cancers, particularly lung cancer, according to the World Health Organisation. Meanwhile, in Denmark, ­specialists have identified a ­neurological condition brought on by long-term exposure to paint solvents — ‘painter’s dementia’. And men regularly exposed to the chemicals in paint may be more prone to fertility problems, suggests a study from Sheffield and Manchester University. The World Health Organisation has also raised concerns about the long-term health effects of ‘off ­gassing’, the release of vapours over the life of the paint. Getting paint on the skin can also lead to an allergic, rash-like reaction, says ­consultant ­dermatologist Dr Andrew Wright, of ­Bradford Teaching ­Hospital Trust. So can white spirit, which is used to remove paint from skin.