My mid-70's parents have geothermal heating in their home. Sometime around Thanksgiving, the "pipes" going into the floor began leaking antifreeze. Around this same time, I noticed decreased mental capacities in both parents, as well as me getting headaches and feeling lightheaded when visiting their house for the day. A little while ago, I checked those same "pipes" and now I see antifreeze leaking from the tank and beginning to run across the floor of the furnace room.

Forgive me, I don't know anything about this stuff and certainly don't know the right terminology. Will try to attach some photos that I just took so that you have a better idea of what I'm talking about. I'm just wondering if the antifreeze fumes might be the cause of their mental decline and the cause of my headaches when visiting ???   It smells quite strong in the basement.

The contractor that did the installation 7 years ago has been called but, we're still waiting for him to get out here and fix it. Surely, breathing antifreeze fumes can't be good for a person.

Susan

And one more close up photo of the "pipes"...

Likely not much of a hazard. If it is "Environol", it is an ethanol based antifreeze. The concentration in the system should about 20% alcohol. What's on the floor looks to be about the equivalent of spilling two glasses of vodka tonic. If it is propylene glycol, that too is rather benign. PG is generally safe and often used in food production. In high enough concentrations, they may be an irritant, but it is likely that the odor would be more of a nuisance than the toxicity of either. Below are some links to various products and safety data.

http://www.eagle-mt.com/geomax/geothermal-propylene-glycol.pdf
http://www.sciencelab.com/msds.php?msdsId=9927239
http://www.libertylakewa.gov/DocumentCenter/View/1498

None of the antifreeze fluids used is know to cause decreased mental capacities or headaches from evaporation in the concentrations used, and especially in the amount shown in your pics. If you and your parents have those symptoms, there might be other reasons for that in the house, or the symptoms are coincidental.

Thanks guys. I appreciate the feedback.