Healthy Flooring 411

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Sunday, October 31, 2010

A great place to begin "childproofing" your home is your carpets and floors. Since our children are naturally low to the ground, the floor becomes the primary play space for young children putting them at risk for many types of toxic exposures.

Here are a few potential risks:

Carpets and their pads are havens for pollutants, such as pesticides, dander, lead dust, and chemicals from cleaners and other household products, which sink into the fibers.
Synthetic carpeting and rugs can contain many chemicals in their adhesives, the underlay or rug pads, and additional chemical treatments from stain- to moth-proofing.
Vinyl flooring is made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), which may emit phthalates. Glues used to fix vinyl flooring may contain solvents, such as toluene and benzene. Subflooring under old vinyl floors may contain asbestos, a known carcinogen.
Hardwood and bamboo flooring may be manufactured with or treated with chemicals including formaldehyde – a known carcinogen.

Here’s the 411 on healthier flooring options, installation and maintenance:

FLOORING OPTIONS
Material	Selection Tips
Bamboo: Fast-growing grass that is a renewable resource.	Look for bamboo products that have no formaldehyde added and no risky finishes
Carpet/Rugs: Safer carpets and area rugs are those made from natural fibers (or with a high content of recycled synthetic fibers).	Look for The Carpet and Rug Institute's Green Label Plus certification which tests for indoor air quality impacts. Look for rugs with jute, latex, or other natural backings that are sewn on, rather than glued with toxic adhesives, and ask for a wool or other safer underpad, too.
Cork: Cork is a renewable resource made from the bark of the cork oak.	Look for products that have no formaldehyde added. Avoid cork-vinyl composites.
Linoleum: Same ingredients today as when it was invented almost 150 years ago -- linseed oil, cork dust, wood flour, tree resins, ground limestone and pigments, all pressed onto a jute backing.	Look for "natural linoleum." Vinyl flooring is sometimes generically called "linoleum." (The smell of new linoleum is irritating to some people – bring a sample home and watch for reactions).
Rubber: Virgin rubber is derived from rubber trees, a renewable resource; but recycled rubber is often made from discarded tires (not a safe option).	Almost all rubber, except virgin rubber, has a significant odor. Again, avoid recycled rubber.
Stone: Natural resource; durable material.	Look for stone that does not have to be sealed.
Tile: Durable material, often with recycled content.	Ceramic and recycled glass tiles, among others, are generally considered a very safe option. Just be sure the grout, sealer and any other installation materials are also safe.
Wood: Natural material; durable.	Look for Forest Stewardship Council-certified, salvaged or reclaimed wood. Ask for a chain-of-custody certification so you know where the wood comes from and what it might have been exposed to. When choosing a reclaimed wood manufacturer be sure to ask them about the binders and finishes that were used to produce the product. There are several ecologically safe binders and finishes which give off a very low emission within the German E1 class standard. Avoid laminated products with added formaldehyde.

Questions to ask when you’re shopping for flooring:

What’s the product made of?
Is it treated with any chemical finishes?
What’s necessary for installment? (e.g. adhesives, underlayments, grout, etc) Are there non-toxic alternatives?
Is the product third party certified? (e.g. Green Plus Label, FloorScore Label, GreenGuard, LEED, etc)
How can you safely care for it?
Can you bring home a sample to see if there’s any noticeable odor?

Installation Tips:

If you're getting new carpet, ask the installer to air it out first in a clean, well-ventilated area.
Have carpet tacked down, instead of glued.
Ventilate the room adequately during and after installation. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), the government agency that monitors products that may pose a health risk, you should open doors and windows, and keep the air circulating throughout your home with window fans and air conditioners. If you have an air-ventilation system -- usually ducts that exchange indoor for outdoor air -- keep it running for at least 48 hours after the flooring is installed (although airing out the house longer certainly won't hurt).

Maintenance Tips:

Remove your shoes at the door to minimize the amount of pesticides, lead dust, and other contaminants you bring inside (in addition to protecting the longevity of your flooring).
Invest in a vacuum cleaner with a HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) filter and vacuum at least twice weekly.
Clean carpets annually. Contact your carpet manufacturer about recommendations for cleaning without chemicals and to find out if there are certain cleaning requirements for maintaining your warranty. Always research what’s in the products you choose!
Regularly dust or mop hard flooring using non-toxic cleaners.
Make sure your home is well ventilated to minimize the effect of your flooring’s off-gassing.

Additional Resources:

The Green Home Guide Flooring Buying Guide
Good To Be Green- building products directory: Find flooring, paint, furnishings and more.
Greenspec- directory to green building products, renovation, and informational articles.
Greenguard - non-profit industry-independent guide to "low-emitting" products -- from electronics to flooring and bedding -- that don't release toxic chemical into the air.
Clean Carpets Without Dangerous Chemicals
Carpet America Recovery Effort – Carpet reclamation.

Recommended Products:

Bona (a vetted Healthy Child Trusted Partner) offers a full range of high performing, environmentally sound, healthy products. This covers everything needed to bring out the best in wooden floors: UV-coatings, sanding machines, dust care systems, abrasives, adhesives, finishes, and floor care products.

Mohawk (another vetted Healthy Child Trusted Partner) is one of the world's largest floor covering manufacturers and distributors and is a leading producer of yarn, ceramic tile, area rugs and more. For years, Mohawk has been an industry leader in actively seeking innovative ways to recycle, reduce, reuse and renew.

Other recommended products:

Other eco-friendly alternatives are available at environmentaldepot.com, greenbuildingsupply.com, ecobydesign.com or naturalhomesource.com.

Posted by Flooring on 07/05/2011 at 08:37 AM

Do you know if there is a big cost difference between cork and bamboo? I have been looking at both but I don’t know which one would be better for a kitchen area that my parents are remodeling.

Posted by Matt on 02/16/2011 at 08:39 AM

Consider hiring a professional hard surface floor restoration cleaning company who uses a truck mount system. This type of system cleans with high water pressure at high temperatures which will kill any bacteria in the porous grout.

Posted by Wood Flooring on 11/26/2010 at 05:20 AM

Thumbs up for the useful information. For the benefit of readers from the UK, in wood, a chain-of-custody certification will be called FSC accreditation. This covers chain-of-custody and source of the wood to ensure it was sourced from sustainable forests.

Posted by Sun on 10/31/2010 at 06:41 PM

are there any studies verifying this?

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