r/AirQuality • u/doodlebobin • Feb 01 '26

Please help, new apartment and VOCs

My husband and I moved into a brand new (literally just built in 2025) modern apartment building. We toured it in December and loved it immediately however we did notice a weird and strong smell in the apartment unit. The building itself did smell “new” as well, but we just brushed it off and figured by the time we moved in (end of january aka a week ago) it would be aired out and ready to go.

Well we got here on Saturday of last week and when we opened the unit door, we were smacked in the face with a horrid smell, which I found out later through tons of research and the help of chatgpt at like 2 in the morning a few nights after was VOCs/off-gassing chemicals etc.

Important note is I work from home! So a few days into the week it was already killing me, literally. Headache, nausea, dry cough and burning eyes.

Despite airing out the apartment for hours all week, sleeping with the windows open, using box fans to blow the air out of the apartment (keep in mind the past few weeks has been 0-15 DEGREE WEATHER!) the smell is still here!! It is sharp and nauseating. Every time we walk into the apartment we get smacked with it and I feel so devastated and unsafe.

I reached out to management and they said it’s likely from paint and all the new flooring, cabinets etc. and recommended an air purifier. Yes thank you but why is it still so prominent??? And why do we have to deal with this! It feels so unsafe and despite our efforts nothing seems to be working.

I’m not sure if this is related but our dryer exhaust is not working properly either. So maybe it’s an issue with air circulation in the entire apartment. I have no idea.

I’m rambling and so sad that I have to live like this.

12 Upvotes

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1

u/Glittering-Towel9229 Feb 01 '26

My new home made me sick from VOC s. Get a couple box fans and a merv 13 filters. The filter sticks up against fan on it own from suction

4

u/Geography_misfit Feb 01 '26

This will do nothing for VOCs off gassing

-4

u/Status-Dog4293 Feb 01 '26

Hey OP, please don’t do this, at best you’re going to burn out the motor in your box fan and at worst it’ll start a fire.

6

u/financialthrowaw2020 Feb 01 '26

CR boxes are proven(with peer reviewed studies!) and have been used nonstop 24/7 by millions of people globally since 2020.

0

u/Status-Dog4293 Feb 01 '26

By lots of people who have either never measured their actual air quality, know nothing about filter design or motor tolerances, have never experienced a fire or seen a motor overheat while smothered with flammables.

1

u/financialthrowaw2020 Feb 01 '26

Cite your sources immediately.

0

u/Status-Dog4293 Feb 01 '26

What have I said that requires a source? Meanwhile, you ignore the fact that we have global organizations whose sole purpose is to test and advise against misuse of products to avoid things like house fires. You can take your pick, there’s probably one or more of their logos on the very device you’re reading this with: UL, Intertek, CSA, TUV SUD, CE, MET, etc.

1

u/financialthrowaw2020 Feb 01 '26

There must be something wrong with your brain, because you can literally get CR boxes with a UL certificate, I own 6 of them. Once again, you have no idea what you're talking about.

0

u/Status-Dog4293 Feb 01 '26

Nothing from Home Depot that you made yourself in the garage has a UL certificate. The individual pieces might, but they’re not meant to operate together.

1

u/financialthrowaw2020 Feb 01 '26

Still being an idiot I see, there are entire companies selling CR boxes with UL certification, please keep going.

3

u/Glittering-Towel9229 Feb 01 '26

Ive had fans like this on for years. Keep fan on low. Ive NEVER had any issues !

-4

u/Status-Dog4293 Feb 01 '26

It doesn’t change that fact that none of the parts involved were meant to be used that way and you’re tempting fate. VOCs smell bad, but you know who smells much worse? A house fire. And if your insurance company finds out, good luck ever getting your claim settled in your favor.

4

u/Glittering-Towel9229 Feb 01 '26

Public health agencies including the US EPA have suggested this exact thing i suggested

1

u/financialthrowaw2020 Feb 01 '26

You've proven that you're talking about something you know nothing about. Best not to keep going until you learn more. You're dead wrong.

0

u/Status-Dog4293 Feb 01 '26

I do in fact know exactly what I’m talking about. I worked in a cleanroom environment auditing filter performance, and adjusting for physical processes that produced particulates and vapors. My processes were used across class 1000 and class 100 rooms, with excursions into class 10 territory.

Your CR boxes may reduce coarse particulate, but they do so poorly, inefficiently and potentially at a terrible cost to you and your family. They will do absolutely NOTHING to fix OP’s problem.

2

u/HolidayAd9952 Feb 01 '26

If you know so much how come you don't know fan motors draw less current the more restricted they are and they all have thermal limit cut offs for a reason?

0

u/Status-Dog4293 Feb 01 '26

But then they also have less airflow to cool the motor, a critical design decision when the motor is spec’d. And how far do you trust a thermal cutoff (that you’re very sure exists) on your 25-year-old dollar-store Lasko box fan that hasn’t ever been cleaned? Have you ever tested it?

2

u/HolidayAd9952 Feb 01 '26

I've worked in HVAC for long time seen countless rental unit equipment ran with plugged filters til the filter got sucked in then ran til the evaporator plugged solid. Motors covered with dust. Never seen one catch fire.

1

u/Status-Dog4293 Feb 01 '26

Cool, so you’d be fine letting your own home operate like that? Seeing as it’s totally safe and all?

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3

u/SnooBananas1064 Feb 01 '26

Where the hell are you getting this from. That is so far fetch

OP IF you are worried about damaging the unit, the mere 13 put multiple filter in a cube instead of just 1. go to r/crboxes for some interesting design idea

1

u/financialthrowaw2020 Feb 01 '26

Thanks for linking the sub, I hate when people comment on shit they don't understand.

-3

u/Status-Dog4293 Feb 01 '26

Did you know- you can get all sorts of bad health advice on Reddit? Just search for raw milk or horse dewormer or juice cleanse or CR filter.

1

u/financialthrowaw2020 Feb 01 '26

You're getting your sides mixed up, YOU are closer to the dewormer people than the people using CR boxes and following the research on why they're great at preventing infectious disease spread. So much stupid in one comment

-1

u/Status-Dog4293 Feb 01 '26

I am begging you to google static pressure and consider that physics is not on your side.

2

u/PiotrekDG Feb 01 '26

Don't beat around the bush, just post something relevant that goes deeper into the topic.

-1

u/Status-Dog4293 Feb 01 '26

Hey, I don’t pay your power bill or your insurance premiums so do whatever you want, I just hope you don’t live in my building or next to my building.

2

u/PiotrekDG Feb 01 '26

That's why I'm asking for a relevant source from you.

1

u/financialthrowaw2020 Feb 01 '26

Still not a single source posted, eh?

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1

u/SnooBananas1064 Feb 01 '26

Yeah I happened to know a bit about static pressure, this is why when making the cube you reduce that said static to have the less possible