Carpet. How It Affects Indoor Air Quality

Interesting video for healthcare practitioners to update them on the mounting evidence over the last 10 years that shows a strong correlation with hard flooring and rising allergy symptoms.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• allergy
• health
• carpet
• asthma
• breathing

[chemicalsoup2004]

This is what it all comes down to; do we really want to believe the information we recieve is true and conclusive when it is coming from someone with a vested interest in the products they are testing?

How can we rely on a report when it is based on money and not the well being of the people.....this is not just an issue for carpet but also food and drugs and cleaners and all types of consumer products.

[jcdc69]

The stats you list below are on lots of Alt Med sites. Bill Hirzy was the president of Union Local 2050 in the 90's the comments were from testimony to Senate Government Operations Committe on October 1, 1992. NYS Attorney General, Robert Abrams filed his petition & claims against carpet on April 11, 1991. The ASTM E981 test was developed in the 1960's for testing nerve gas and was used to test carpet in the 1990's. It has long since been replace by the ASTM D7339 test protocol among others.

[jcdc69]

With advancements in knowledge & science over the decades industries have matured. Today carpet manufacturers must submit to routine independent testing & many stringent levels of environmental certification. Eg; most manufacturers voluntarily submit for product certification by California's High Performance Schools (CHPS) program which can only be received from laboratories accredited for CHPS product certification. Very strict California State standards & regular re-certification is required.

[chemicalsoup2004]

I installed carpet 20 years and know first hand of the dangers and lies. Carpet does trap dust for sure but as you walk on this carpet it also sends it into the air as well as all the chemicals and pesticides you drag in from out doors. Think of that next you or your kids are lying on your beautiful carpet sucking in those chemicals and dusts.

The CRI and green label is a self governed system that consists of the carpet manufacturers and industry so you tell me how reliable the info is.

[jcdc69]

Thanks for commenting chemicalsoup. At the end of the day our overall cleaning routines and their effectiveness are obviously the primary issue in proper allergen abatement. Naturally whatever pollutants & allergens we produce within or track in to our modern, air tight homes all add to the overall indoor "load" regardless of flooring. Where they end up and how effectively we can capture and remove them and not just spread them around determines whether we can keep our exposure level low or not.

[chemicalsoup2004]

I am just pointing out the misleading information consumers get about how great carpet is. In reality there are many people becoming ill due to the chemicals in carpets new and old not the allergens.

Yes cleaning is essential but eliminating as many sources of toxicity is number one. I have met countless people who have been poisoned by carpets. There are many things that make us sick but sleeping in a carpeted room for 8 hrs then spending the rest of the day surrounded too.

[jcdc69]

I'm not sure what chemicals you deem are so unique to carpets as to make them worse than other building materials. As you may know the primary focus of IAQ and toxicity typically revolves around Volitile Organic Compounds (VOC) emissions. In reality carpet is one of the lowest VOC emmitters, significantly less than VCT, wood & ceramic floor adhesives (even low VOC types) and paint. In fact plasticizers, glues, urethanes and finishes on vinyl and wood floors are typically much harsher toxins.

[chemicalsoup2004]

"My sense is that EPA is avoiding the issue because they don't want

to participate in a financial massacre of industry," said Hirzy,

speaking as president of EPA Union Local 2050. "And there is a

certain amount of investment in reputation by peopel in EPA who early

on said carpet wasn't a problem. Industry won't publicly admit

there's a problem because of the liability. In the meantime, how

many lives have been and will be devastated?"

[chemicalsoup2004]

continued::"First of all, there are no such

recognized standards of safety. CRI has sets its own arbitrary

standards. Secondly, CRI's testing program is completely inadequate

because it measure only a small percentage of the chemicals emitted

from carpets. Finally, a manufacturer can get a green tag for an

entire product line simply by having one small piece of carpet tested

once a year."

[chemicalsoup2004]

"The carpet industry has mounted a massively deceptive merchandising

campaign that intentionally misleads the public by implying that all

carpets with the green tag have met safety standards," say New York

Attorney General Robert Abrams.

[chemicalsoup2004]

Partial Listing of Hazardous Chemicals Found in Carpet using ASTM E981: Acetone, Bis(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate, Benzene, Caprolactam, Diethylene glycol, p-Dichlorobenzene, Formaldehyde, Hexane, Styrene, Toluene, Vinylcyclohexene, Xylenes....these are just some of what is in there and if you research them on an individual basis they are terrible but then you have to figure we are ingesting them in a mixture and there is not any testing on the effects of these mixtures.

[chemicalsoup2004]

"There is no formaldehyde in carpet, it has not been

used in the manufacture of carpet in over ten years." Michael

Kronick, executive director of the Canadian Carpet Institute in

Ottawa, has gone on record stating that formaldehyde, benzene, and

toluene are not used in the manufacture of carpet. (22)

Yet, all three of these chemicals are emitted from carpet according

to a number of emissions tests run on new carpet samples fresh from

the mill