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 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 Gigi

I am hoping that I can find Non-toxic wooden Floor Vents, Light switches and electrical outlets that are prefinished Brazilian Cherry and hopefully not too expensive.

Otherwise, we need non-toxic non-treated unfinished wood products that we can stain and finish ourselves.

Anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks!

Debra’s Answer

Readers?

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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 charlene Gormley

I don’t ever buy soda but when we go to family or other events my daughter often gets her hands on some soda. I haven recently seen organic and all-natural sodas at health food stores. I’m wondering what Debra and the readers think of these products. My thought is that although they aren’t a product I’d want my daughter to drink everyday, they seem like a really great alternative to the conventional sodas.

Debra’s Answer

In addition to sweeteners (often high fructose corn syrup), conventional sodas contain artificial flavorings, preservatives, caffeine, and phosphoric acid (linked to bone loss).

Organic sodas contain none of these, but are basically just sugar water. There’s no nutritional value.

Rather than buy organic or natural soda, it would be better to mix some fresh fruit juice with sparkling water.

If your daughter drinks these sodas at a picnic, it’s better than drinking a regular soda. My only concern is the amount of sugar, but at least it’s usually evaporated cane juice, which is a whole food. But it’s a lot of sugar.

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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 Colleen

Has anyone had any success in using non-toxic means to get rid of a yellow jackets nest in the ground? Also does anyone know how long it takes for them to bee killed off once the cold weather sets in? What temperature does it have to be and how many days of low temps that it takes? We’ve already had two days below 32 degrees and they are still there and I haven’t noticed a dwindling in the bee population. I’ve read to pour boiling water down the hole but haven’t tried anything yet. We have dogs so I don’t want them to get into any type of poison and I have MCS. Thank you for sharing! Sincerely, Colleen

Debra’s Answer

Readers?

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Question from charlene Gormley

Is the Pure Latex Bliss mattress actually made from safe, non-toxic ingredients? I can’t find any hard facts about this. Thanks.

Debra’s Answer

I couldn’t find a manufacturer’s website for this, only resellers…

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Question from EMG

I know that cotton batting doesn’t usually have the pesticide residues removed in the final processing. I am looking into a quilt for my son’s bed and emailed the company to ask about the cotton batting used in the quilt (non-organic). Here is the company’s response:

“The cotton batting is referred to as non–sterilized surgical cotton. This is basically fresh cotton in which the impurities are removed with bleaching and processing.”

Is this type of batting safe or does it still contain the pesticide residue? I couln’t find any info online about “non–sterilized surgical cotton.”

Thanks!

Debra’s Answer

This is a very good question. I couldn’t find anything either.

Readers, any info on this?

Here’s what I think it is. I think it is a grade of cotton that is used to make cotton balls, cotton swabs, etc, that has all the debris remove and it is bleached. Whether or not that removes the pesticides, I don’t know.

I will keep looking for an answer to this.

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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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