Question from april hendrik

We recently found bed bugs in our home. They are a serious problem! It is very difficult to eradicate them and then it is easy to be re-infested. We live in a city that is the worst for bed bugs, west of the Mississippi. Two libraries have had infestations recently. My daughter told me that a friend of hers, who lives in an apartment, has bed bug problems. Bed bugs can also hitchhike on clothing, shoes and purses when a person is out and about. Our daughter brought them into the house after travelling this summer.

So we’re treating the present problem and trying to make our home bed bug unfriendly for the future.

I would like to buy mattress encasements that are bed bug proof and non-toxic. They can bite through a “normal” encasement and can wriggle through the zippers. The ones that I have found that are bed bug proof, have polyester or vinyl in them and have “water-proof” on the label. I don’t think that cotton barrier cloth would do the trick. I do not want bed bugs hiding in my mattress and boxsprings and biting me at night!

Another thing that is recommended is large Ziploc bags for storage of bedding and clothing, also plastic storage containers, sealed with duct tape for longterm storage. There are other “bags” made of plastic or vinyl for putting in drawers. I haven’t heard of any nylon containers or bags that are bed bug proof.

I need to make my home bed bug “safer” but as non-toxic as possible. It has been very expensive to treat for them. We used thermal treatment for the house and yet even that is not foolproof, so we have an eye out for them. We threw away two couches because they were older and infested.

Do you have any suggestions for mattress encasements and bug proof storage of clothes, etc.? This is a very horrible situation we’re trying to deal with, without “plasticiizing” the whole house.

Debra’s Answer

If you need to encase things in plastic, polyethylene is the safest plastic. I don’t have any information on whether or not it would be bedbug proof.

Something that would probably be bedbug proof is Reflectix. It’s sold at Home Depot and Lowe’s. It’s made for insultation, but you can use it for anything. It is a sheet of foil sandwiched between two pieces of polyethylene. If you were to wrap your mattress in Relectix and hold it together with foil tape…I don’t see that a bed bug could get in or out.

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Question from housingsearch18

I have been looking for an apartment or house and found a place, and my major question has to do with the flooring.

I finally found hard flooring instead of carpet. However, it is pergo but it is 5-6 years old. Do you think that the pergo being 5-6 years old is probably okay for someone with MCS or how long does it generally take pergo to offgas? I know everyone is different but anyone have a guest on whether this is likely safe? I am told it was never sanded or refinished with toxic chemicals since it was installled.

I have been trying to get a month to month lease or some opportunity to sleep in the apartment prior to taking it but have not been successful. Does anyone know if this request could be a reasonable accomodation (assuming I pay any costs to stay there and extra costs incurred…) or not under the FHA?

Thanks,

Debra’s Answer

I can’t tell you definitively if 5-6 years is long enough for Pergo flooring to outgas. It would depend on the conditions. I would judge by how you felt being in the room or by having formaldehyde levels measured. It certainly would be less than new Pergo flooring.

I think it’s reasonable to be allowed to spend one night in the unit, especially if you pay for it, but I don’t know what your legal rights are.

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Question from KCribley

I recently read in a magazine a tip to help with odors and moisture: put some charcoal in a coffee can, attach the lid and punch holes in the coffee can, and place in a damp area.

My questions are: Is there a difference in the typical charcoal you can purchase? Is there a specific type one should use for this function? Is it effective? Is it safe (for children–no touching of course, but ok for breathing?)?

I’m wondering if anyone has any experience with using this as a desiccant in bathrooms.

Thanks for your help!

Debra’s Answer

Readers, any experience with this?

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Question from HOUSINGSEARCH18

I am searching for a chemically safe house for someone with MCS.  I found something that seemed perfect but 9 candles were present in the home from various companies such as Yankee Candle Company and Glade.  They were not the plug ins.  They were in different rooms in the home.  They were not lit when we toured it.  We did not notice any soot on the walls near them.  The flooring is mostly hardwood save one room.

Is this problem something that should cause us to walk away from the home?  Is there a way to get out the smell and chemicals from the house by airing out and wiping down walls and cleaning the ductts or is that not effective? 

Any thoughts?

Thanks

R

Debra’s Answer

Most people with MCS are very sensitive to synthetic fragrances and they are very difficult to remove. I would say pass on this one.

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Question from Arlene Ring

We are buying a new dishwasher and wondered if the Stainless Steel tub would leach nickel or other toxins on to the dishes(like stainless steel cookware does)? What would be better as far as toxins, Stainless Steel or Plastic tubs?

Debra’s Answer

Stainless steel would leach metals. I am not sure if they would stick to the dishes or not. Plastic would likely create fumes in the air.

I wash my dishes by hand. I don’t have a dishwasher and don’t plan to get one.

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Question from samsam

Hi Debra,You have mentioned that polyethylene plastic provides a good vapor barrier. I am confused. On the internet it says that polyester is the name the textile industry uses for polyethylene or PET. In that case, polyester fiberfill should have the same saftey as polyethylene plastic cover, no? also, does polyethylene not contain phthalates and antimony?

Thanks,

Sam

Debra’s Answer

Polyethylene is the most widely used plastic. It’s primary use is in packaging for plastic bags and films, although we are seeing other uses for it now due to it’s safety (Naturepedic, for example, uses polyethylene to make a waterproof layer on their organic cotton crib mattresses, as a replacement for the much more toxic vinyl covering used on most baby mattresses). Polyethylene is also now being used as a vapor barrier to block toxic fumes from mattresses.

The abbreviation for polyethylene is PE.

Polyethylene is classified into different categories. The most commonly used are:

You will see these on plastic recycling symbols.

UHMWPE is very tough. It is used for things like moving parts on machines, bulletproof vests, and parts for implants used for hip and knee replacements. Nothing we see as consumers.

HDPE is used in products and packaging such as milk jugs, detergent bottles, margarine tubs, garbage containers and water pipes. One third of all plastic toys are manufactured from HDPE (but most are made from the much more toxic polyvinyl chloride).

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Question from Sam

The teribly tragic disaster in Japan is still ongoing with recent reports of leaking still occuring.

http://www.beyondnuclear.org/nuclear-reactors-whatsnew/2011/8/18/reports-indicate-fukushima-nuclear-crisis-worsening-and-wide.html

With all this going on for so long and not likely to stop anytime soon, I’ve never seen any info about how safe Japanese products are. At the moment we are in need of buying a television and computer. Japan I believe makes alot of components that also are used in different companies. Knowing how secretlive the Japanese goverment has been with their own people, and how corporations are unlikely to be honest as well– has anyone seen anything about this? Can anyone recommend makers of tv’s, computers, cars and other electronics that would be safe?

Sad to say this is a reality we may be dealing with for some time to come. Safety of products need to be addressed.

Debra’s Answer

I haven’t seen anything on this.

The first thing that comes to mind is that there are probably a lot of products made in Japan already in the marketplace that were manufactured prior to the nuclear disaster.

And second, while I totally agree that safety of products needs to be addressed, in fact, we live in a world where they are not. Our best bet is to both do our best to choose the least toxic products AND make sure our bodies are in good shape to efficiently remove the toxic chemicals we are exposed to. This is my viewpoint in my new book Toxic Free, which gives a lot of information on how to do just this.

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A new report from Greenpeace called “Dirty Laundry 2″ reveals brands such as Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, and Ambercrombie & Fitch post postive for detergents that contain harmful nonylphenol ethoxylates. These form nonylphenol, which disrupts hormone functions and mimics female hormones.

Read more at:

Health Freedom Alliance: Toxins Found in Brand-Name Clothes (article)

Dirty Laundry 2: Hung Out to Dry (the original Greenpeace report)

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According to the Journal of Diabetes Care (August 4, 2011) exposure to persistent organic pollutants (POPs) has been associated with the prevalence of type 2 diabetes.

A study was done that found that the participants with the highest exposure to oxychlordane, trans-nonachlor, 1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis-(p-chlorophenyl)-ethylene (p,p’-DDE, and polychlorinated biphenyl 153, the risk of type 2 diabetes was 1.64-2.24 times higher than that among individuals with the lowest exposure (P(lin) = 0.003-0.050.

In another analysis, the associations between type 2 diabetes and oxychlordane and trans-nonachlor were strongest among the overweight participants. Exposure to 2,2′,4,4′-tetrabromodiphenyl ether (BDE 47) and 2,2′,4,4′,5,5′-hexabromodiphenyl ether (BDE 153) was not associated with type 2 diabetes.

The study concluded that there was an association between type 2 diabetes and adult-only exposure to organochlorine pesticides in a general urban population.

Association between type 2 diabetes and exposure to persistent organic pollutants