Question from Richard
Hi Debra,
Thank’s for keeping up the great website.
I have a question about carpet. I’m planning on renting some space in a commercial building. The custom is to use carpeting in the hallways and office spaces. It’s understood that the area of the building under consideration needs and will get new carpet but myself and one other practitioner see people with MCS and suffer from it ourselves. Do you have some any rug manufacturers to recommend?
There is something called The Carpet and Rug Institute which has a certification program called CRI Green Label Plus that identifies low VOC products. Do you know much about the value of that certification? I am aware some programs don’t really raise the bar very high.
I know we could go to Green Building Supply for wool but we really can’t go quite that high end for this office rental situation.
Any suggestions you may have for carpeting that isn’t too pricey would be appreciated.
Debra’s Answer
You’re welcome!
I can’t recommend any of the carpets on the Carpet and Rug Institute list. I haven’t researched them recently or individually, but last time I looked there were none I wanted to look at in more detail. The problem with “low-emitting” standards is they are not “no-emitting.” My floors don’t emit anything.
I had your same situation many years ago where the only office available to rent in the small village where I lived had a very smelly carpet that I was not allowed to remove.
My solution was to use AFM Carpet Seal. IT COMPLETELY BLOCKED THE FUMES TO UNDETECTABLE. At least to my nose.
I worked in that office for a month every weekday, with no reactions. It was a life saver to have Carpet Seal.
That said, I would still get the least toxic carpet you can afford. I haven’t had carpets in my home for more than 30 years, but if I had no choice but to live or work somewhere with carpet, I would immediately order Carpet Seal.
