Question from Renee

Hi Debra,

I love your website, book, and all of your valuable info!

I was curious to know what you thought of the Cambria line of quartz countertops? www.cambriausa.com

Thanks!

Renee

Debra’s Answer

Totally fine with me. It’s natural stone. Mined in the USA too.

Cambria Environmental Statement

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Question from E.

Hi Debra,

I am looking at using a silicone keyboard cover to seal in VOCs on my (4-year-old) Apple keyboard. None of the covers I have found are described as food-grade. One company could not say for certain if their product was food-grade. Does this matter since I am not using this silicone for food? I will be typing on it daily.

Thanks

Debra’s Answer

I’m doing more research on silicone and apparently there are various types with various additives. I’m still sorting that out.

Just know that skin can easily absorb toxic chemicals if they are present.

Why do you think your Apple keyboard is emitting VOCs? I just called Apple and was told the keys are made of hard ABS plastic. My iMac is four years old too, and I’ve never experienced any outgassing that I’ve noticed. Hard plastics rarely outgass.

And why do you think silicone will block VOCs? I don’t think it will. It’s waterproof, but gas is a much smaller molecule. Silicone may be a vapor barrier, but that might be a speciality silicone for that purpose.

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from Debra Lynn Dadd

We’ve all heard that bees are dying off at an alarming rate, and this has been attributed in part to pesticides used in agriculture.

But a new study from Friends of the Earth and Pesticide Action Network found that bees are being killed by pesticides on plants in our own backyards…on plants that are being sold as “bee-friendly.”

The study shows that 36 out of 71 (51 percent) of garden plant samples purchased at top garden retailers in 18 cities in the United States and Canada contain neonicotinoid (neonic) pesticides — a key contributor to recent bee declines. Some of the flowers contained neonic levels high enough to kill bees outright assuming comparable concentrations are present in the flowers’ pollen and nectar. Further, 40 percent of the positive samples contained two or more neonics.

These toxic, long-lived insecticides not only harm bees, but can also harm butterflies, earthworms, birds and other beneficial animals in our gardens for months to years.

Of course, you could simply not buy these plants, but they aren’t generally labeled as to the type of pesticide used. And it’s not just bee-friendly plants. All plants in garden centers could have harmful pesticides on them.

You can also shop at an organic nursery if you have one in your area (I have two).

The real solution is to get them off the shelves.

Friends of the Earth: New tests find bee-killing pesticides in 51% of “bee-friendly” plants from garden centers across U.S. and Canada A short summary of the report

Friends of the Earth: Gardener’s Beware The full report

HealthyStuff.org Lend your voice to a campaign asking retailers to remove plants with bee-kiling pesticides from their shelves.

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Question from Helen Gray

I am curious if you know anything about Nuwave stainless steel pans that are induction ready that have a “Ceramic Non-stick Duralon Coating”? Are they safe? Thank you

Debra’s Answer

This description just doesn’t make sense.

Ceramic is clay-based and Duralon is nylon.

I’ve been looking at all these new “ceramic” nonstick pans that have been coming out and I just can’t recommend them. Even Green Gourmet that I used to recommend.

Two reasons.

One is that nobody is saying what is really in these finishes.

And, the finishes don’t last. Where do they go if they are no longer on the pan?

I was also told by a cookware rep that olive oil breaks down these ceramic finishes.

I’m sticking with my Xtrema cookware that is 100% safe ceramic through and through.

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Question from amie

Hi Debra

I am moving into a house that was refinsihed with polyurethane on the wood throughout the house. They did this last April so it has been 3 months. I was diagnosed with MCS six years ago. I tolerate more these days but am afraid that this will affect me. Besides heating the house do you recommend I use safecoat product to seal in offgasing or do you think this is enough time for it to cure. I did have a light reaction when I first got into house. They have since aired out and it felt better. Would love your advise

thank you

Debra’s Answer

Oil-based wood finishes and paints take a very long time to cure, many months.

Once I advised a client with oil-based paint to “bake” his house to remove the odor. This actually speeds up the outgassing process. He baked his house for two weeks and that totally handled it. Odor gone.

I can’t tell you how much heating it will take. But once it is completely outgassed it won’t be toxic. Polyurethane actually isn’t toxic. It’s all the solvents and additives that are in the finish. If you had a “light reaction” and felt better after it was aired out, it may be well on it’s way to being fine and you might only need a week or two of baking.

I don’t recommend that you put another finish on top. It’s better to cure this one to complete outgassing.

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Question from Mandy

I’m wondering about chemicals in wool yarn. I read in one of your previous posts that there have been tests that show that the chemicals in conventional cotton are removed during the milling and production process. I wondered if this might be the case with wool yarn? Or, if after an item has been knitted that the residual chemicals could be removed by regular washing? I was wondering if you might know if there is any information about this anywhere?

Thank you for your help!

Sincerely,

Mandy

Debra’s Answer

I would say that if there were chemicals on the wool yarn, they probably wouldn’t be removed in the processing. The process to make wool into yarn is much less than the process to make cotton into cloth.

Your best bet would be to buy certified organic yarns where the processing must be organic as well as the growing.

Take a look at the yarn page on Debra’s List.

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Question from Alonna

Hi,

How to block airplane noise? Has anyone tried custom-molded ear plugs for sleeping that would be ordered from an audiologist? The material options are silicone or vinyl. Do they have an odor or cause skin reactions? Thanks!

Debra’s Answer

Of these two options for materials, silicone would be safer by far over vinyl.

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Question from TA

I’m wondering if you have any suggestions for how to have access to pure water while away from home. On a road trip, I’d probably try to just bring as much water from home as possible, since we have the Pure Effect under-sink filter.

But even on a road trip, there is only so much space in the car and we’d need a good bit of water if we’ll be away for a week or so. And when traveling by plane, it doesn’t seem possible to bring any of our water from home, other than what can be consumed on the way to the airport, since we can’t take it on the plane. If traveling by airplane and staying at our destination (or several destinations) for several days to a week or more, what are the best options for getting pure water?

In the past I have used the Berkey sport bottles, but they require a fair amount of effort to get the water out of the bottle and don’t allow me to drink very much at a time. And they’re plastic and don’t get rid of fluoride. They’ve served their purpose on more than one occasion for me, but I’m looking for other options.

I’ve considered getting a small countertop filter (I think I saw one specifically for travel once), but when carrying that or a travel-size Berkey water filter, they do take up a fair amount of space in luggage.

I’ve seen pieces of charcoal/carbon that can be placed in water to absorb the toxins out of the water, but I don’t know if this is a great option or not. (Does it do a great job? Would it take longer than is feasible when we need water available throughout the day, etc?)

I saw this product, but it looks like it only filters chlorine and taste/odor issues, but there’s a whole lot more I’d like to remove from tap water besides chlorine.
www.everydropwater.com/product-details.html

So I’m wondering if you have any recommendations for accessing clean water away from home in a way that doesn’t take up half of a suitcase, and that filters as much as possible. I realize there probably aren’t any options that do the same quality job that our Pure Effect filter does, but what is the next best thing when away from home? And is there any travel-friendly option that removes fluoride? I’d rather not give my toddler fluoride at all.

On my last trip, I got some reverse osmosis water from one of those dispensing machines at a health food store. I believe we got a 2.5 gallon plastic jug and filled it up from the machine, and I added mineral drops to each glass. But the water didn’t taste great – I think because of the plastic jug. And I’m not sure that adding mineral drops is really enough to correct what is done to the water through the RO process.

We also bought some glass bottles of spring water on that trip, but that gets very expensive very quickly!

Debra’s Answer

Great, great, great question! And I wish I had a good answer.

The small filters you mention, such as the charcoal and everydropwater.com remove chlorine and maybe chloramines, but they are very limited. They are better than nothing, but no match for your Pure Effect filter.

Readers, what do you do for safe water when you travel?

I asked Igor Milevskiy at www.PureEffectFilters.com your question and here is his reply:

The travel size filters that I’m aware of on the market cannot be as effective as the Pure Effect system she has, this is due to the generally small size of the travel filters not allowing room for much of the necessary filtration medias required for thorough and wide range filtration.  Another problem with smaller / bottle style filters is that they tend to be more prone to bacteria and fouling issues, due to standing water and constant exposure to human contact and air.  Also, after the water is filtered, it sits in the plastic reservoir, where it can absorb plastic chemicals.

That being said, I can recommend she take our CLASSIC system with her into hotels or places where she can hook it up to a faucet.  This is our 2 chamber mid-size system that’s not as large for packing and taking with you as the ULTRA system.  Also, because it’s only a 2 chamber system, she would need to swap in whatever cartridge is most needed (e.g. Fluorsorb Cartridge if she’s going to a place that fluoridates water, or AntiRad-Plus cartridge where radiation is more of a concern, these are the two cartridges she can choose for that second chamber… the SuperBlock carbon block should always be in the first chamber).

Here is a link to the Classic system, it weights apx. 11 lbs, and may be easier to pack than other systems she mentioned, since it’s only 6″ thick/deep: 10″ (Width) x 12.5″ (Height) x 6″ (Depth):

www.pureeffectfilters.com/filter-units/the-pure-effect-classic.html

The “drop in” charcoal sticks or tablets (coconut shell derived carbon is best) can be good for short term situations like in an airplane, however, they can become fouled and grow bacteria sooner, and should be disposed of within a few days of usage.  Also, it’s important to know the source of the carbon, and it’s best if it’s NSF or WQA Certified.  I’ve seen some carbon sticks from Japan, and I’m not sure if they may have already absorbed any radiation from Fukushima (e.g. Iodine-131, which is absorbed well by activated carbon), or other impurities.

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Question from Carol

What do you think is the safest interior latex paint, oil-based primer, and oil-based paint to use for bedroom walls, baseboard, cabinetry, etc.? Thank you very much.

Debra’s Answer

There are many ways you can get the answer to this question on this website.

One would be to go to the Paint page of Debra’s List.

Another would be to search for “paint” using the search box at the top of the right hand column on every page.

Here are the search results for “paint.” This has a lot of Q&A about paint.

Without going into a full explanation of all the different kinds of paint, I just want to answer your specific question.

Commercial paint like you buy in a store might be latex paint or acrylic paint. Both are plastics. The key determining factor is VOCs. You want to choose a no VOC brand and even safer would be a brand where the colorants have no VOCs (those are volatile organic chemicals).

But even without the VOCs, you’re still putting plastic on your walls. If that’s OK with you, once it dries you’ll have a nice plastic wall. It will outgas for a while, but eventually will become inert.

I would say that the safest paint would be something like Old Fashioned Milk Paint , which is made from all natural ingredients. The last room I painted I used this paint and I will always now use it to paint walls. It is easy to use and gorgeous and all natural. Perfect.

Now, you also asked about oil-based primer and oil-based paint for baseboard, cabinetry etc. No. No oil-based paint period. It’s very toxic and takes a very long time to outgas. Here’s where you would use a no-VOC satin or semi-gloss paint.

There are natural paints from Germany that are made from plant resins, but I have used them and, though natural, the odors are very strong and take a long time to cure.

So my best answer to your question is milk paint with no-VOC satin or semi-gloss for the trim.

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