Should I Listen to the Vinyl Bashers?
July 6th, 2012Indoor Air Quality Certifications offer some, but not complete, assurance about vinyl flooring
Q. While I am intrigued by natural, linoleum products, my budget is more inclined toward the Naturcor vinyl flooring I am looking at buying from my local Buddy’s Flooring America store. I also am concerned about buying a product that does not emit excessive chemicals, and I have been warned about dioxin, which is a carcinogen, by another blogger.
Still, I have seen some vinyl brands advertise that they are green. What is the truth about vinyl?
A. The truth about vinyl – or polyvinyl chloride (PVC) – is that it isn’t the preferred product of environmentalists or most green product enthusiasts. But dioxin is an end-of-product life or house fire issue, because it is released when PVC is incinerated.
Naturcor, made exclusively for Flooring America by IVC, in addition to a long list of other brands, has achieved FloorScore® Indoor Air Quality Certification. Because this and other indoor air quality certifications only measure chemicals that are classified as VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds), dioxin is not assessed.
Another criticism of PVC focuses on phthalates, which are thought to affect endocrine functioning. Phthalates also are not classified as VOCs, and are not measured by FloorScore,® according to Scientific Certification Systems (SCS), which conducts the testing.
PVC floors will emit phthalates, or phthalate esters – chemical softeners used in PVC to increase flexibility. But it is thought that drinking out of plastic containers or children mouthing plastic toys is the most common means of exposure from household items and furnishings. Phthalates also are used in a large variety of products, from coating of pharmaceutical pills to food products and textiles. Other types of non chlorinated vinyl, such as PVA, PVB and EVA, pose fewer questions about toxicity.
As for VOC’s that can be emitted by vinyl floors, FloorScore® sets limits for 38 compounds and is based upon California specification 01350. SCS lists certified products on its website. The US EPA also has posted some helpful information about phthalates and dioxins, specific to children’s health.
Some vinyl manufacturers, like Flexco, also are making improved environmental strides by documenting the amount of recycled content in their products, in addition to getting FloorScore® Indoor Air Quality certification. Natural Interiors® member Wanke Cascade distributes Flexco on the northwest US coast. Contact them for a retailer in that area. ©
– Nancy Kibbee is editor at www.naturalinteriors.com
7 Responses to “Should I Listen to the Vinyl Bashers?”
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As a critic of vinyl, I couldn’t resist weighing in.
Thanks for your thoughtful and well done summary, which highlights some of the key concerns with vinyl. Though it’s sadly not just about the dioxin and phthalates, but other concerns remain as well.
PVC flooring is manufactured with many other toxic chemicals of high concern that are harmful to workers and the public, like the known human carcinogen vinyl chloride, not to mention ethylene dichloride and chlorine gas. PVC plants are typically located in low-income and communities of color, making the production an issue of environmental justice and racism. Entire communities have been demolished due to pollution from the PVC industry.
In China, where a lot of PVC is made, the vinyl industry is one of the largest users of mercury in the entire world. See: http://www.unep.org/hazardoussubstances/Mercury/PrioritiesforAction/VinylChlorideMonomerProduction/tabid/4523/Default.aspx
Dioxins are released during not just the disposal, but also during the production of vinyl, helping to make the vinyl industry a major dioxin source. Dioxins are toxic at extremely low levels and widely considered some of the most toxic chemicals on the planet – which is why they’ve been targeted for international phase-out by over 100 nations across the world.
Phthalates are a particular concern in flooring as they’ve been found to off-gas from vinyl flooring. They cling to dust and eventually make their way into our bodies. They’ve been linked to asthma, learning disablities, birth defects, and many other serious developmental and reproductive health problems. A brand new study released just a few weeks ago found an association between vinyl flooring and phthalates in the bodies of infants. Two studies published since then have found links between phthalates and obesity and eczema in children. Testing by the federal government has documented that children have some of the highest levels of phthalates in their bodies.
In addition to VOCs and phthalates, flooring has also been found to contain, and therefore likely release, lead and organotin stabilizers: http://www.healthystuff.org/findings.101910.flooringwallpaper.php
We have summarized some of these and other key concerns with vinyl on our website:
http://chej.org/campaigns/pvc/projects/pvc-free-schools/
Thank you.
Mike,
Also, as it relates to your comments about VOCs, and reminding you that the post was about indoor air quality, here it the list of VOCs that FloorScore sets limits for and tests. As you have a great deal of expertise, please reply as to where you feel this is inadequate in regulating indoor air quality with vinyl flooring, which is what the original blog post was limited to. SCS also has asked the Resilient Floor Covering Institute to reply to your comment, but I thought I would post this in the meantime:
1 Acetaldehyde 75-07-0 70
2 Benzene 71-43-2 30
3 Carbon disulfide 75-15-0 400
4 Carbon tetrachloride 56-23-5 20
5 Chlorobenzene 108-90-7 500
6 Chloroform 67-66-3 150
7 Dichlorobenzene (1,4-) 106-46-7 400
8 Dichloroethylene (1,1) 75-35-4 35
9 Dimethylformamide (N,N-) 68-12-2 40
10 Dioxane (1,4-) 123-91-1 1,500
11 Epichlorohydrin 106-89-8 1.5
12 Ethylbenzene 100-41-4 1,000
13 Ethylene glycol 107-21-1 200
14 Ethylene glycol monoethyl ether 110-80-5 35
15 Ethylene glycol monoethyl ether acetate 111-15-9 150
16 Ethylene glycol monomethyl ether 109-86-4 30
17 Ethylene glycol monomethyl ether acetate 110-49-6 45
18 Formaldehyde 50-00-0 16.5 b
19 Hexane (n-) 110-54-3 3,500
20 Isophorone 78-59-1 1,000
21 Isopropanol 67-63-0 3,500
22 Methyl chloroform 71-55-6 500
23 Methylene chloride 75-09-2 200
24 Methyl t-butyl ether 1634-04-4 4,000
25 Naphthalene 91-20-3 4.5
26 Phenol 108-95-2 100
27 Propylene glycol monomethyl ether 107-98-2 3,500
28 Styrene 100-42-5 450
29 Tetrachloroethylene 127-18-4 17.5
30 Toluene 108-88-3 150
31 Trichloroethylene 79-01-6 300
32 Vinyl acetate 108-05-4 100
33-35 Xylenes, technical mixture
(m-, o-, p-xylene combined)
108-38-3,
95-47-6,
106-42-3
350
GREENGUARD Environmental Institute, since we began blogging about this issue, also stated that FloorScore criteria did not included appropriate chemicals for resilient flooring. You can see on their website that they have certified two brands of vinyl flooring. They, however, did not respond to requests for comments for the post you are talking about. In their absence, our visitors could greatly benefit from your review of the FloorScore VOC criteria, already posted here. We look forward to it. Thanks very much.
Thanks Nancy.
FloorScore is a useful tool for evaluating VOC emissions from flooring material.
However it’s not just VOCs that we’re concerned about, especially when it comes to vinyl flooring.
FloorScore does not address semi-volatile chemicals, in particular phthalates like DEHP, which are commonly found in vinyl flooring, can be released into the indoor environment, and have been linked to serious health problems at very low levels of exposure.
According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, “EPA is concerned about phthalates because of their toxicity and the evidence of pervasive human and environmental exposure to these chemicals… Adverse effects on the development of the reproductive system in male laboratory animals are the most sensitive health outcomes from phthalate exposure. Several studies have shown associations between phthalate exposures and human health, although no causal link has been established. Recent scientific attention has focused on whether the cumulative effect of several phthalates may multiply the reproductive effects in the organism exposed.”
EPA’s chemical action plan for phthalates go’s on to state, “Phthalate exposures are a potential concern for children’s health. In animal studies, exposure to phthalates during fetal development results in adverse effects on the male reproductive system. The timing of exposure is critical to the severity of effects. The fetus is the most sensitive life stage for male reproductive effects, and pubertal animals show effects at lower doses than those showing effects in adult animals. Given the well-characterized health effects of phthalate exposure in animals in conjunction with the demonstrated widespread phthalate exposure in children, EPA believes that the cumulative health risks of phthalates should be assessed to determine what actions are warranted to insure protection of children’s health from this group of chemicals.”
In response to the growing concern about the health hazards of phthalates, the US Green Building Council has adopted pilot credits that provide incentives for architects and designers to avoid phthalate-laden vinyl building materials. In addition, the Living Building Challenge also requires buildings to avoid phthalates, vinyl, and other priority chemicals of concern.
A useful report that compares the pros and cons of various resilient flooring materials was published by the Healthy Building Network a few years ago:
http://www.healthybuilding.net/docs/HBN-ResilientFlooring&ChemicalHazards-Report.pdf
Thank you.
Mike,
Thanks again. The GREENGUARD Environmental Institute — which also certifies vinyl flooring products — was not able to respond in time for my posting deadline, but I have heard from them now: “Because our certification focuses on volatile organic compounds (and not semi-volatile organic compounds, or SVOCs), neither phthalates nor most dioxins are captured in our sum of total VOCs, as they are SVOCs and fall outside the TVOC range.”
But their most stringent certification — GREENGUARD Children & Schools — does specifically test for phthalates.
As you have noted, however, there are many issues to consider.
Yes you should because it is the worst choice among popular flooring approaches.
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