Ah, the merits of carpeting. It’s plush. It makes a floor feel comfy. Certain carpets can hide the appearance of dirt.
Once you look past the comfortable advantages, though, carpet can be downright unhealthy:
- Many new carpets are made with toxins and carcinogens like benzene, formaldehyde, p-Dichlorobenzene, 4-PC, and xylene that offgas in your home for years. (Those definitely aren’t the kinds of chemicals I want to keep inhaling on a daily basis.) Keep in mind that the carpet fiber itself isn’t the sole polluter – it’s also the padding, backing, glue, and finishing processes like antimicrobial treatments, fire retardants, and stain resistance. Simply put, you’re covering your floor with a synthetic surface filled with carcinogenic chemicals.
- New carpet isn’t the only problem. Old carpet is also pretty nasty. Some older carpets and padding are made with toxic chemicals that have been banned. Carpet also has an excellent way of harboring mold, dust, smoke, and pet odors – all can aggravate a person’s respiratory system.
- Regardless of the age of carpet, every kind traps volatile organic compounds (VOCs) like toxic lawn chemicals that are brought indoors on shoes. And VOCs add to a person’s body burden.
- In an attempt to make carpet cleaner, often steam cleaning or carpet shampoo is used. Unfortunately, using a wet kind of cleaning can exacerbate mold and mildew problems.
Recently Prince Charming and I opted for new carpet in our home – as much as we wanted to replace the dirty old carpet with hardwood, we couldn’t afford it. So, we went with environmentally friendly carpet, instead. I’ll explain more about our green choice on Wednesday.
In the meantime, you can keep all the floors in your home a little cleaner by taking off your shoes when you come in from outside. It’s one simple – and totally free – way to help reduce the amounts of dangerous VOCs in your home. Also, vacuum regularly to reduce VOCs.
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