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Now that you are aware of the potential health hazards of shipping containers, what do you need to do to ensure your safety when you are moving and make it your home?
To start with, this is only a concern if you are buying a used shipping container. If you buy a new container, you can simply instruct the manufacturer that you are only interested in a shipping container that has not been coated with (potentially) hazardous chemicals, and does not have treated floors. And if you are going for a prefabricated unit, communicate with the manufacturer about safety precautions and procedures they have already undertaken to ensure that your unit is safe to live in.
With used containers, you need to be more careful. To mitigate any health risks posed by chemicals used in the shipping containers, it is always advisable to check with the manufacturer you are purchasing from and find out what the history of the container is. These containers are tracked using identification numbers and other tags, so it can be readily identified whether they were used for carrying agricultural produce, and if any pesticides or chemicals were utilized in the past.
If at all possible, check the shipping container you are purchasing personally before making any final decisions. This will give you a clear perspective of the quality of the container you will be getting, and the condition it is in.
Your best option is to sandblast the whole container. Sandblasting the entire container is absolutely a necessity, because it removes most – if not all – of the toxic coatings. If you then encapsulate the container in an enamel or polyurethane rust-resistant paint, your shipping container will be spick and span for many years to come.
With regard to treated wooden floors: do not be cheap here by deciding to keep them, thinking you will save some money by not replacing the floor. You will not: not taking these floors out can lead to high medical bills in the future. And by then, it is both your wallet and health that are suffering.
I strongly recommend to take out the wooden floors and replace them completely. Alternatively, use an encapsulation method where the dangerous vapors are firmly enclosed. If you go for the latter option, have an expert measure the air quality inside and confirm the container is safe to live in.
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