sweet smell coming off of baseboard heaters

[yarrow]

these are way old (50's?) copper tube and flange hot water baseboard units in an apartment that i just moved into. the longer i run the units, the higher the setting, the stronger the smell, kind of a chemical sweet smell. i've totally soaked/cleaned them with non-toxic cleaner, so that they're completely shiny/like new, but still get the odor when i turn them on/leave them running.

i notice if i turn the units down to 60 at nite, they'll kick in early morning and i wake up with chest pain, sore throat, smelling that sweet odor and my cat does a wierd thing with his mouth, like he's got something distasteful in there.

if i leave the heat on for several days in a row during the day, my cat will start throwing up, hiding in closets.

reading earlier threads, i'm wondering if the sweet smell could be a glycol leak in the system? e.g. turning up the heat vaporizes it/makes it offgas more?

i know my landlord thinks i'm crazy, but i've had too many toxic episodes in older buildings to ignore symptoms like this (e.g. being diagnosed with hodgkins, when in fact it was a sick building - whole thing cleared up when i identified the problem - poof, no more "hodgkins", co poisoning a couple of times, chimney backdrafting particulants, etc.). i'd leave, but other than this, the apartment is wonderful, environmentally sound.

is there a way to show/prove that there is a leak, to convince the landlord to call in somebody? or is this just what these older units do and there's no fix, other than replacing the units?

also, if it is a leak/leaks, is it enough to keep the units off - or can pinhole/undetectable leaks in a cold system cause health issues?

any thoughts appreciated.

[leejosepho]

reading earlier threads, i'm wondering if the sweet smell could be a glycol leak in the system? e.g. turning up the heat vaporizes it/makes it offgas more?

Sounds right to me. Leaking anti-freeze in a automobile heater can give off that same kind of odor.

Your local health department might be able to put you in touch with someone who has a sniffer to measure toxicity and maybe even find the leak. Or, look in your phone book and call the Poison Control Center and ask what you should do. And personally, I would either find a way to ventilate the place or sleep somewhere else until the problem is resolved.

[jadnashua]

A tablespoon or so of ethelyene glycol can easily kill a small animal...you may want to cage your cat before it dies. It can mess up their organs, so it may already be too late. It's sweet tasting, so they're attracted to it. Could be from various places, maybe the packing on the adjustment valve or maybe a leaking air vent.

[yarrow]

thanks guys for your input - i'm keeping the baseboard heat off and providing ventilation thruout the day (can't leave windows open for extended periods due to pollution/pollen issues). no more chest pain since shutting it off. i've shut the baseboard flaps so the cat can't access anything.

interestingly, if i keep the apt. below ~68 degrees, no sweet odor. but if i allow the room temp to get upwards to 68 (using a separate space heater), i'll start noticing the odor again coming from the baseboard areas (faint at first, getting stronger if i allow the temp to climb) and i'll start experiencing chest soreness. which again, seems to point to glycol - it doesn't cause respiratory issues at lower temps, but will vaporize at the higher temps, causing inflammation of bronchial area.

i'll contact the health/poison control guys on monday.

[krow]

I'm just curious what glycol is even doing in the heating system......... unless its heating a parking garage or ramp........ in which case it would end up going through a heat exchanger anyway. The heating system should not have any glycol in it. It is possible to have a leak in the heat exchanger, but that may freeze in the garages or ramps when mixed with water.

I would definetly ask to have some tests done on the system, but it may not be coming from you radiators

[yarrow]

yeah, i know it sounds wierd. but it is somehow related to the heat registers. since i've kept them off, no more problems with the cat or me.

another tenant in the building is moving out because... her cat keeps puking and has stopped eating and the vet can't figure it out (after lots of visits/$$$ the vet is telling her it's immune system and is wondering if the cat is getting into something at home). i told her, hey, i don't know exactly what it is, but i can tell you what is causing your cat to be sick - told her to turn off her baseboard heat and loaned her a space heater, told her my cat had been doing the same thing for weeks until i figured out the cause. she checked back with me a couple days later - yep. fixed the problem. no puking, cat has come out of hiding, is eating food, moving around, back to old self.

re: fresh air. i open my windows every day, but anyone who has allergies will tell you (including weather.com, lung association, allergy sites, etc.) that you probably don't want to keep them open all the time due to pollens, particulants, pollution (hmmm... is there a reason all of these things start with "p"?)

another interesting correlation - the other tenant who is moving (an RN, not a nut case) started having a lot of the same symptoms i'd been having (e.g. rash/exzema, bleeding gums, waking up tired/fatigue when at home, sore throat, itchy eyes, etc. - which she only started getting when she moved in several months ago. again, the symptoms went away when she turned off her heat.

re: why would they put glycol in the system, the current landlord does not, but since they have never drained the system, it's the only thing i can think of. otherwise, why the chemical sweet odor that kicks in when you turn the heat up? (and i cleaned off all of the flanges/registers - squeaky clean - first thing i tried).

no, no lawsuits. i'm looking for another place. just trying to stay safe in the meantime.