Formaldehyde Poisoning the Cosmetic and Textiles Industry

Many products within the textiles and cosmetic industry may contain a toxic chemical, which in high doses can cause severe health implications and potentially increase your chances of developing cancer. Formaldehyde is a strong smelling flammable chemical that is used in a wide range of products. Formaldehyde can be found in any of the following cosmetic products and can release the toxic vapour when being used or when in contact with a user’s skin:

• hair products
• lotions
• makeup
• mouth wash
• nail polish
• hand cream
• bath products
• mascara
• cuticle softeners
• nail creams
• personal deodorants
• shaving cream

Formaldehyde is used within the textiles industry as a flame-retardant, as well as a chemical to prevent the wrinkling and creasing of clothing (dressing). The higher the levels of chemicals used to prevent creasing and wrinkles the higher the amounts of formaldehyde that can be released when worn by an individual. New clothing, when initially removed from packaging, can often have a strong distinctive smell which is commonly formaldehyde vapours being released.

Some people are more sensitive to the health implications of formaldehyde than others and symptoms depend upon the level of exposure. Common reactions to low exposure levels include eye, nose, throat and skin irritations, as well as increases in asthma and allergies. Higher levels of exposure result in more severe reactions such as sudden weight loss, gastrointestinal ulcers, damage to the liver and kidney and skin disorders such as eczema and dermatitis. Some evidence also suggests that prolonged exposure to formaldehyde can increase an individual’s risk of developing cancer.

For those wishing to minimise the risk of any health implications from exposure to formaldehyde it is recommended that they:

• avoid products that contain formaldehyde;
• contact the manufacturer to determine any presence of formaldehyde in the product;
• wash new clothes before wearing them;
• if strong smelling odour is present upon opening products, wash and air product immediately in a well ventilated area;
• if using nail polish that contains formaldehyde use in a well ventilated room or outdoors;
• remove any products that contain formaldehyde from the family home.

Explore more about the product ranges that have been eco-certified and listed by Ecospecifier, by using the Product Search Engine on Ecospecifier Global: http://www.ecospecifier.com.au

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The In’s and Out’s of Carpet

Nothing compares to the soft, luxurious feeling of carpet under your feet. Carpeting provides a safe, comfortable spot for kids to play and may even reduce the risk of injury during a fall. Sure, carpet requires a bit of extra maintenance compared to vinyl or tile, but there’s simply no substitute in terms of sound absorption, warmth and overall comfort.

If you prefer carpet, low pile is thought by many to be better than high pile as low pile is easier to clean and maintain. Carpets should be vacuumed at least once a week, preferably by someone who is not allergic to the house dust mite because unless you vacuum with HEPA quality filtration equipment onboard, vacuuming can increase the amount of the house dust mite allergen in the air for up to 20 minutes. When considering the cost of carpet, factor into your budget the price of underlay, too. It absorbs sounds and provides insulation. Plus, it can help rectify any unevenness in your floor.

Fortunately, there are more choices than ever when it comes to shopping for an eco-friendly carpet and adhesives. You can find carpets made from all kinds of renewable sources like wool, goat, alpaca, jute, coir and seagrass. Look for ones that have independently certified as healthy by programs such as Global GreenTag^CertTM as these will not have been treated with any pesticides, fungicides or stain repellents that can be hazardous to your health.

You also want to make sure that rugs cleaned using water dry in just a few hours to prevent mould from growing in the carpets or underlay. Mould is a common cause of allergies and asthma attacks, and if it gets into your carpet, it’s hard to remove.

Carpet often ends up being a repository for dust mites, which cannot be completely removed by vacuuming and may need supplementary treatment and because we spend a lot of time in our bedrooms, it’s best to keep pets out, even if you let them in the rest of the house. This is especially important if the floor is carpeted, because carpet tends to trap animal hair and allergens. Simple knowledge and regular maintenance can reduce the effects of allergens and prolongs the life of your carpet.

You can find a number of eco-friendly, healthy carpets, carpet cleaners and cleaning products on www.ecospecifier.com.au that will make your carpet selection and cleaning product decisions a lot easier.

Explore more about the product ranges that have been eco-certified and listed by Ecospecifier, by using the Product Search Engine on Ecospecifier Global: http://www.ecospecifier.com.au

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Is Your Home Toxic?

Ever noticed a ‘sweet’ smell when you open your empty kitchen or bathroom cupboard? That’s formaldehyde you’re smelling. What’s that? Read on to find out how this sweet smell is poison to your family.

Many building products, particularly wood products, may contain a toxic, cancer producing chemical called formaldehyde. Formaldehyde is a colourless, flammable gas that has a very distinct smell. It is commonly used in the manufacturing of resins during the production of pressed wood products. Exposure to formaldehyde may occur through either inhalation or skin contact, but most commonly through inhalation.

Formaldehyde affects people differently, as some are more sensitive to it than others, but the most common health implications include eye, nose, throat and skin irritation, as well as asthma and allergies. In severe cases, resulting from prolonged exposure to high levels of formaldehyde a person may experience decreased body weight, gastrointestinal ulcers, liver and kidney damage and dermatitis. Prolonged exposure to high levels of formaldehyde have been shown in Europe to increase an individual’s chance of developing cancer.

Formaldehyde may be present within a range of composite and liquid products including:

 

Manufacturing materials	Building materials	Timber materials
plastics foam insulation fungicides mirrors insecticides resins	sheet vinyl flooring doors decking panelling particleboard fibreboard carpets carpet backings some insulation products paints	plywood laminated timber wall lining coverings and wall paper

Whilst low levels of formaldehyde may not result in any health impacts for some individuals, others may find that they are highly sensitive to the chemical. For those wishing to minimise the presence of formaldehyde in the building products used within the family home it is recommended that they:

• choose products from the wide range of verified and certified products on the Ecospecifier website (ecospecifier.com.au) that have all passed a detailed human and eco-toxicity analysis.
• choose products that contain phenolic-based formaldehyde resins, compared to urea formaldehyde resins, as they emit much less formaldehyde, typically rated at E0 (on a E00, E0, E1, E2 scale where E2 is the highest and should, along with unrated composite wood products, be avoided at all costs). These include plywood, panelling, particleboard and fibreboard.
• choosing higher quality exterior-grade pressed-wood building products even for internal use, as they are likely to be E0 rated (very low emission);
• ensure that rooms have efficient ventilation and low humidity levels, can be achieved through the use of air conditioning and dehumidifiers, particularly after installing a new carpet;
• minimise using products that contain formaldehyde and if possible eliminate any presence of formaldehyde.

Explore more about the product ranges that have been eco-certified and listed by Ecospecifier, by using the Product Search Engine on Ecospecifier Global: http://www.ecospecifier.com.au

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Is Your Home Toxic

Ever noticed a ‘sweet’ smell when you open your empty kitchen or bathroom cupboard? That’s formaldehyde you’re smelling. What’s that? Read on to find out how this sweet smell is poison to your family.

Many building products, particularly wood products, may contain a toxic, cancer producing chemical called formaldehyde. Formaldehyde is a colourless, flammable gas that has a very distinct smell. It is commonly used in the manufacturing of resins during the production of pressed wood products. Exposure to formaldehyde may occur through either inhalation or skin contact, but most commonly through inhalation.

Formaldehyde affects people differently, as some are more sensitive to it than others, but the most common health implications include eye, nose, throat and skin irritation, as well as asthma and allergies. In severe cases, resulting from prolonged exposure to high levels of formaldehyde a person may experience decreased body weight, gastrointestinal ulcers, liver and kidney damage and dermatitis. Prolonged exposure to high levels of formaldehyde have been shown in Europe to increase an individual’s chance of developing cancer.

Formaldehyde may be present within a range of composite and liquid products including:

 

Manufacturing materials	Building materials	Timber materials
plastics foam insulation fungicides mirrors insecticides resins	sheet vinyl flooring doors decking panelling particleboard fibreboard carpets carpet backings some insulation products  paints	plywood laminated timber wall lining coverings and wall paper

 

Whilst low levels of formaldehyde may not result in any health impacts for some individuals, others may find that they are highly sensitive to the chemical. For those wishing to minimise the presence of formaldehyde in the building products used within the family home it is recommended that they:

• choose products from the wide range of verified and certified products on the Ecospecifier website (ecospecifier.com.au) that have all passed a detailed human and eco-toxicity analysis.
• choose products that contain phenolic-based formaldehyde resins, compared to urea formaldehyde resins, as they emit much less formaldehyde, typically rated at E0 (on a E00, E0, E1, E2 scale where E2 is the highest and should, along with unrated composite wood products, be avoided at all costs). These include plywood, panelling, particleboard and fibreboard.
• choosing higher quality exterior-grade pressed-wood building products even for internal use, as they are likely to be E0 rated (very low emission);
• ensure that rooms have efficient ventilation and low humidity levels, can be achieved through the use of air conditioning and dehumidifiers, particularly after installing a new carpet;
• minimise using products that contain formaldehyde and if possible eliminate any presence of formaldehyde.

Explore more about the product ranges that have been eco-certified and listed by Ecospecifier, by using the Product Search Engine on Ecospecifier Global: http://www.ecospecifier.com.au

Join us in more conversations about green products and sustainability issues on our social media pages:

Follow Ecospecifier on Facebook

Follow Ecospecifier on Twitter

Follow Ecospecifier on LinkedIn

Join our Social Media Honour Roll – support the switch to green products

Like, Comment and Share our blogs and posts on your social media pages …  and we will send your name out to more than 15,000 subscribers via our monthly Ecospecifier Global Newsletter.

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VOC’s in Carpet

Carpet is an almost omnipresent feature in many homes and while it has its benefits, many ordinary carpets also have some issues. Health and environmental concerns associated with many carpets include indoor air quality (IAQ), chemical emissions from manufacturing and disposal operations, short lifespan of broadloom carpets particularly in rental properties and solid waste impacts due to their difficulty in recycling and most ending up in landfill at the end of their lives.

As far as IAQ is concerned, a variety of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) can be emitted from some carpet materials, typically in the backing. Remember that ‘new carpet smell’? That’s them! Although VOC emissions from new carpet seem to fall to low levels within a few weeks after installation when accompanied by good ventilation, this doesn’t mean they are gone, just that you can’t smell them, as they are emitted for quite long periods at progressively lower levels, that can nonetheless keep having an impact on your families health, particularly sensitive children..

Carpet can have a purifying impact on indoor air quality by absorbing and trapping particulates present in indoor air, but then you have to make sure they get removed completely when cleaned, because it can be difficult to get all particulates back out of carpet.

Tretford have a GreenTag^Cert™ LCARate Silver, GreenRate Level A Certified with low VOC, it is heavy contract cord carpet range with pile made predominantly from goat hair, which is a renewable, durable, low lanolin, inherently anti-static fibre. To achieve a Silver rating the product must not trigger any ‘Red light’ warnings A Silver award indicates a Very Good product in its market category.

Tips for installing new carpet:

• Buy only carpets that have been certified low VOC by systems like Global GreenTag (all levels and tiers), Cetec, GreenGuard or GreenLabel;
• The area should be ventilated with fresh air during installation with air-conditioning off to avoid recirculation of air.
• Vacuum the floor after the old carpet and underlay have been removed
• Where possible keep ventilating the space for a minimum of 72 hours after installation
• If carpet adhesives are used, demand a low VOC water-based adhesive
• If you are sensitive to VOC emissions, leave the premises during and immediately after carpet installation.

 

Explore more about the product ranges that have been eco-certified and listed by Ecospecifier, by using the Product Search Engine on Ecospecifier Global: www.ecospecifier.com.au

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Carpets Role In Allergies

Carpet is a common feature in many homes, is soft underfoot, provides acoustic benefits and keeps homes warm in cold climates. They are also but often perceived as associated with creating allergic reaction in sensitive individuals.

However, this perception is a result of not understanding how carpets interact with the environment and the people in the home.

For allergy and asthma sufferers, the critical issue is the amount of dust and allergens present in the air they breathe. This has less to do with the carpet itself and more about the difficulty in being able to fully maintain and keep carpets, because most people don’t or can’t keep them properly clean.

Modern carpet is overwhelmingly made from synthetic fibres, such as nylon, olefins, and polyester, which in turn are derived from petroleum. The fibres are attached to backing (made mainly of polypropylene) using synthetic rubber, polyurethane, polyvinyl chloride, or ethylene vinyl acetate, and they are usually dyed using one or more of the thousands of synthetic dyes made from bituminous coal tars (aromatic hydrocarbons).

After installation, some carpets release noxious fumes in the form of volatile organic compounds or VOCs from adhesives and seam sealants used in the construction and installations of the carpet, or synthetic carpet underlay. They offer a perpetual easy harbour for many allergens. Even most traditional broadloom modern natural fibre carpets such as wool and alpaca still use this kind of construction type and therefore many suffer the same issues.

Even if you keep your house spotless, it is virtually guaranteed that some allergens will still make their way inside. Once those allergens (including; dust, pollen, dander, mould and other microorganisms) find their way in, air disperses them and gravity pulls most of them to the floor. There, they can become trapped in and around carpet fibres and backing interface. Carpet provides many benefits for many different people, including those with allergies.

So before you spend a lot of money taking out your home’s carpet, remember why you chose it in the first place.

Carpet provides softness under foot, acoustic isolation between floors and reduces transmission between rooms.

Carpet also keeps homes warm in cooler climates. Yet, in warmer climates where homes have concrete floors, it also isolates the living space from the cooling mass of the floor and sometimes more importantly, the earth beneath and so makes homes in these climates, hotter.

To find low VOC and easy care carpets, a reliable, first place to visit is the Ecospecifier website, which is an extensive, free database and a rich knowledge base to locate floor coverings that meet stringent environmental standards and the requirements for your home.

GreenTagCertTM GreenRate Level A Certified flooring by The Andrews Group, for example, is a tightly woven resilient floor carpet alternative providing a product with easy maintenance, especially in terms of dirt and dust removal.

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Explore more about floor coverings and the product ranges that have been certified and listed by Ecospecifier, by using the Product Search Engine on Ecospecifier Global: www.ecospecifier.com.au

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Drop us a line at the office, we look forward to hearing from you … 

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