Tue Aug 04 09:48:35 1998
turf@gelac.mar.lmco.com
Hi folks, Just read a fascinating article on toxic
carpets....it is pretty lengthy, so I will only include a few snippets
here. If you would like the whole article, I'd be happy to send it to you.
Gretchen ----------
The carpet under your feet may look harmless enough, but tell that to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) staffers who suffered breathing problems and flu-like symptoms after new carpet was stretched over the floors of their Washington, CD headquarters back in 1987. Some collapsed. Some were rushed to the hospital, dizzy and nauseous. The building was evacuated several times. A University of Arizona study, ironically tucked inside the EPA's file cabinets, suggested a possible cause: the new-carpet smell, caused by 4-phenylcyclohexene (4-PC) in the glue that holds carpet fibers together. Sure enough, those most affected worked in areas where 4-PC levels were highest. The EPA ripped out the carpet in 1989--and decided that future carpets would be 4-PC-free.
"My body hurt all over. It hurt to be touched. My lungs were on fire," Sands testified at a June 1993 congressional hearing on carpet health risks, one of two that have taken place so far. Eight years ago, the Sands family started getting headaches the day after a new carpet was installed in their Vermont home. The came dizziness, double vision, burning noses. Even after the carpet was removed, their three-year-old daughter was losing control of her bladder, their once energetic youngest son routinely fell asleep on the sofa after school, and all four children kept getting sick. Says Sands, "I never dreamed that 130 yards of carpet could cause so much damage."
"We found 40 different chemicals coming form one new carpet," said CPSC's Ken Giles. "We can't point to any one of these things" as the cause of people's watery eyes, coughing or sneezing. Even if 4-PC was the culprit, there's no readily available substitute, contends the Styrene Butadiene Latex Manufacturers Council. To protect your family from synthetic carpet's toxic dyes, formaldehyde seepage, and an estimated 10 million organisms (many benign) per square foot, start by unrolling new carpet and airing it outside before installation. Once it is installed, air the room for as long as you can still smell the carpet. Then ask visitors to park their shoes at the front door. This will Minimize the amount of toxic lead that gets ground into high-pile carpet and puts crawling babies at risk, says Joyce Schoemaker in Healthy Homes, Healthy Kids.
Using natural carpet cleaners will then help keep your carpet chemical-free. Cover oil stains with cornstarch for an hour, then vacuum, suggest Debra Lynn Dadd in her 1984 book Nontoxic & Natural. Deodorize by sprinkling several pounds of baking soda onto every 9' x 12' section of dry carpet. Leave overnight for stubborn odors, then vacuum. Wipe spills quickly before they stain, and bust the dust with a good vacuum cleaner. ------
The article also gave suggestions (and prices) for "green" alternative carpets and floor coverings. Pretty cool.