One of my friends just told me she and her husband have been sick since a fire in her microwave oven a few weeks ago. A plastic dish melted in the fire. She has thrown out the microwave and cleaned her carpeting and furniture, but still gets sick within minutes of walking into her home. Her husband’s asthma is much worse now. Many nights they can’t even sleep there. She’s had someone out to test the air, but they didn’t find anything. She’s getting headaches, burning in her throat and eyes, and nausea. Any suggestions?
I don’t know that much about the subject, but I do recall hearing that toxins that leach out of plastics can stick around.
After a quick search, I found something similar being discussed here: http://plasticisrubbish.com/2008/06/02/dioxins-why-you-dont-want-to-be-burning-plastic/
"The World Health Organization said
“Once dioxins have entered the environment or body, they are there to stay due to their uncanny ability to dissolve in fats and to their rock-solid chemical stability.”
"
That would be the worst possible scenario. There’s nothing they can do because the toxins are in their bodies. But it has to be somewhere in the house, as they feel better when they leave the house.
I suggested painting the walls and tearing out the carpet.
If the toxins have entered the environment, maybe it would make sense to get some sort of professional clean-up that specializes in that sort of thing? I could have sworn I read somewhere that services like that exist. They don’t want to miss something and then continue living with it.
If they “get sick within minutes of walking into” the house, it could be a strong psychological reaction to the leftover smell that can stick around for a long time. Otherwise, if the cause was “toxins in their bodies,” they would be sick all the time. Smells can trigger headaches and nausea. I am not surprised.
^^^Just to clarify, I wasn’t referring to the toxins in their bodies part, but the toxins in the environment part.
Wow, I have never heard of this before ! I am not a fan of putting plastics in the microwave. I use mine for either thawing foods or reheating leftovers…or heating water to melt wax out of jar candles. Scary stuff there !
acollegestudent, the article you linked talks about burning massive amounts of trash in third world countries. Burning one microwave-safe dish in a microwave is not the reasn to panic and to declare the OP’s friends’ house a Superfund cleanup site.
http://www.m.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/mixing-plastic-food-urban-legend
Please do not propagate urban legends.
We had a dryer fire here not too long ago. The electrical smell was really bad. It took over a week just to get the smell out of the house. We have asthma and had to use our inhalers a lot more than usual. I opened every window in the house even the back door after taking out all the screens and I ran the air. I think if I hadn’t done that the smell would have taken a lot longer to leave. Has your friend tried leaving the windows open and running fans to get rid of the smell?
When we had backblow in our furnace our house smelled like there had been a fire. The fire department set up a really powerful exhaust fan and cleared out the smell in no time at all. Maybe then could try something similar with window exhaust fans. Smells definitely can linger. I once burned a bunch of bones on a stove. Weeks later people were asking me what was burning.
I know she’s had her windows and doors open as much as possible, but I’m not sure if she’s used fans. She is trying to contact people she knows in the fire department for advice.
I think servepro are the people who do this type of clean up. In the mean time I would open all the windows, buy fans to get the air moving and turn on the AC. Hope they find a solution promptly.
Not all servpros are equal. Get a recommendation for the servpro who specializes in fire damage. They should be able to help them. I would say call your insurance agent but maybe they should ask anonymously lol! Don’t want to even hint at a claim 
I agree with deb922…Servepro had a bad name in our area , post Sandy ( but many of them came in droves from out of state )
We had a small fire about 10 years ago when a contractor cut into a wire and didn’t realize a spark ignited a tarp. Small fire was extinguished quickly , but not before burning some stuffed animals , linens and when the burning tarp was thrown into our fiberglass tub , burned that a bit too…our insurance company sent a team ( and I actually think it was serve pro) with big fans to get the smell out
I agree with the Servpro recommendation.
They have industrial strength fans that suck the entire volume of air out of a house in minutes. Or they can seal a home and cleanse the air with reverse osmosis- that usually takes at least 24 hrs.
If there is carpeting in the house, they may want to get the carpers and upholstery steam cleaned, that can help a great deal. It also isn’t a bad idea to think of repainting, that might help since the smell can permeate the walls.
However, the best suggestion might be to get places that specialize in recovery to get involved. Homeowners insurance will pay for it, and if for anything, it might give the couple a piece of mind that they have done everything they can. It can be very difficult to get rid of bad smells, I had a car that got invaded by rodents and it was gross, it took a lot to get that car to where we could drive it and not have problems from the vent system.