Question from guspvt

Hi Debra!

I bought a nebulizer for my son and the cups that I have to put the sodium chloride solution in are made of “non-toxic PVC” (as stated in the box). Is there any type of “non-toxic” PVC? Is this statement for real? For me all types of PVC (if there’s more than one) are toxic! Also, the hose that conects the equipment to to part that goes to the nose is also made of plastic (but I don’t know what type, as it doesn’t say on the box) and it smells a lot like plastic. Am I safe with that nebulizer? Do you know any nebulizer that is safe (or at least PVC free)?

Thanks!

Gustavo

Debra’s Answer

I’ve never heard of a “nontoxic PVC.”

If it smells a lot like plastic, it’s offgassing plastic.

I wouldn’t use this to create a mist that will be inhaled.

Readers, anyone know of a safe nebulizer?

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Question from HEG

We just had the internet provider come to reroute our internet cables away from our bed, and as a result they installed a new cable around the far side of the room to connect the cable connection to the modem (to avoid needing a wireless modem). The cable smells fairly strongly of plastic – most likely PVC. Anyone know how long it will offgas/smell for, and if there is anything we can do, other than running our air purifier in the room?

Debra’s Answer

Don’t know myself. Readers?

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Question from LINDAANN

I would like to try and roll my own beeswax candles, and i was wondering if you could recommend an online shop to purchase 100% pure beeswax sheets. There are a few sites that sell these sheets, but how can i know if they are really pure beeswax. Any help or advise as to what to look for would be great. Thanks

Debra’s Answer

I have a whole page of links to websites that sell beeswax candles at Debra’s List: Interior Decorating: Candles. I haven’t gotten around to bringing that page to the new server yet, so some of these sites may no longer be there, but all of them are for actual beekeepers who make and sell their candles. Some of them sell beeswax sheets. That would be the most reliable way, to be able to get the sheets directly from a beekeeper, but having purchased many sheets and rolled many beeswax candles, I have no reason to believe they are not 100% beeswax as stated on the label.

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Question from Mary Marston

I bought an office chair online. When I unpacked it I discovered the seat and back are memory foam. The man said it would have an odor but it would disappear in a few hours. It has been a week. It doesn’t smell as strong as it did, so I am making progress.

I haven’t decided whether to keep it or pack it up and return in. Since it is not large like a bed and I will not be sleeping on it it seems possible that I could keep it. However, it would eventuallly be in the living room, and this is a small apartment, so if the fumes are toxic, I will get a lot of exposure.

How many months might it take before it is safe to be around? Once the odor is gone, does that mean it is safe? I can store it until then in a spare room, although it will be an inconvenience. Or shall I just bite the bullet and return it?

Debra’s Answer

I would return it.

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Question from zebra

hi ,

I too have Mcs. I have searched your site and only found one reference to ecospec paint . was wondering about the quality and durability of it, and also if people were able to handle the odor.

we are painting steel metal ceiling beams and metal panels on the side of a staircase. we are having to use a primer for metal. we first used AFM’s metal primer paint that is specked for metal and want to let everyone know that it was terrible, caused rusting quickly. i spoke with another longtime distributor of AFM who also had the same result, rusting. FYI , this is for ferrous metal or steel which is tougher to paint . AFM’s site said their metal primer would work on ferrous metal but it clearly didnt.

we finally chose sherwin williams procryl universal primer for metal. has some ingredients i am not happy with but i couldnt find anything better in a water based metal primer. if anyone knows of anything else would be curious. the odor aired pretty quickly on my sample. we need to paint over the primer and am looking at mythic and or ecospec. does anyone know the differences between the 2 in how they hold up, spread etc. need to use a dark grey color .

Also just an aside . i had been a fan of AFM. i did a lot of research on paints and felt most comfortable with them for a latex paint. i have heard from other people that their paint is just not that great a quality and our contractor said it took 4 coats of the dark color to work, and several coats of the white as well. it also took them 3 weeks to get us our paint and then the color was wrong.

unfortunately all the latex paints out there have an array of chemicals that arent listed and we just dont know about. I wish at the least that AFM would improve their quality and responsibility.

Debra’s Answer

Readers?

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Last week, 145 scientists in 22 countries published the first-ever consensus statement documenting health hazards from flame retardant chemicals. Published in the open academic journal Environmental Health Perspectives the consensus of the article is that brominated and chlorinated flame retardants as classes of substances are a concern for persistence, bioaccumulation, long-range transport, and toxicity.

In addition, “there is a need to improve the availability of and access to infor­ mation on brominated and chlorinated flame retardants and other chemicals in products in the supply chain and throughout each product’s life cycle” because “consumers can play a role in the adoption of alternatives to harmful flame retardants if they are made aware of the presence of the substances, for example, through product labeling.”

Brominated and chlorinated flame retardants contain compounds that cause cancer, neurological damage and endocrine disruption. Once these chemicals come into contact with the human body, they accumulating in greater and greater concentration in the body.

Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2010/10/28/chemical-safety-scientists-come-out-against-chemical-flame-retardants-in-ordinary-products/#ixzz143h3YUIi

Read San Antonio Statement on Brominated and Chlorinated Flame Retardants: http://timewellness.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/image.pdf