Question from HEG

I just moved into a new apartment and noticed that my refrigerator has a warning sticker on it saying that it contains CFC-12. Is this something I should be concerned about – should I get a new one?

Thank you

Debra’s Answer

CFC-12 is a refrigerant that is inside the refrigerator. You are not exposed to it. However, it depletes the ozone layer and contributes to global warming, so it is important that it be disposed of properly.

The EPA has established a Global Warming Potential (GWP)– a number that refers to the amount of global warming caused by a substance. The GWP is the ratio of the warming caused by a substance to the warming caused by a similar mass of carbon dioxide. The GWP of CO2 is defined to be 1.0. By comparison, CFC-12 has a GWP of 8,500. So it is of high concern.

There are other CFCs and HCFCs with much lower GWPs. If you were buying a new refrigerator it would be a good idea to consider the GWP of the refrigerant. However, I don’t see the need to buy another refrigerator and dispose of this one. Might as well get the use out of it.

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Question from Karen

I would love some input from anyone who has had a similar experience or who has a suggestion.

I am scheduled for gyne surgury the end of this month. I am very chemically sensitive to chemicals, especially petrochemicals. I’ve been told that the sutures need to be absorbable. The surgeon’s office stafff said they typically POLYSORB, PDS or MAXON sutures.

My surgeon is under the impression (from the manufacture) that anything the FDA has approved is fine and that even though the materials are made from chemicals, they are all inert.

I have previous surgeries resulting in systemic and local reactions that continue to be troublesome. In looking at my surgerical reports, I see that the sutures contained Vicryl, Copolymer lactic and glycolic acid,and/or a Polyester-polymer, and possibly formaldehyde in the manufacturing process. I also have had titanium staples from a surgery which my body rejected and had a titanium pin put in my arm and finally removed due to a painful reaction. Doctors are taught that titanium is 100% fine for all patients which is not accurate.

I would love to have the surgeon use something like silk, but the suture needs to be absorbable.

I asked the surgeon’s office if they have an example of each type of suture so I could “test” taping it to my skin (with paper tape)for 24 hours and see if my body reacts. “They” said that they don’t have any samples in the office. I can tell that they already think I am over the top.

Debra’s Answer

Readers?

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Question from Traci

Dear Debra,

I am curious what your thoughts are concerning my recent reactions. I must say I was so relieved to find your website after feeling doomed to only increasing reactions to everyday toxins. Reading your story was very encouraging!

After having chemical sensitivities for about 5-6 years, I have recently had a change in my symptoms. I went from having one-sided facial/headaches to mostly chest pain. The chest pain is result of toxins from my home after recent renovation. I must say the Austin Healthmate was a blessing to find. Thanks for the link on your site, and suggestions from readers. After using it a couple of days, I was able to return home and very hopeful. However, the varnish used it still releasing fumes, and not cured. So, if I am in the kitchen baking for awhile, I end up with chest pain.

I am curious as to what your experience is on the chest pain (or feeling of sickness in chest). I also went through a few days of reacting to everything after that. Then, after few days of relief, was able to tolerate normal everyday things.

I already had my home as non-toxic as possile (except the terrible varnish used by cabinetmaker). Also have been using non-toxic health/beauty products and as much as organic food as possible. (Thanks for the tip on spring water.)

Am I putting my health at risk by staying in my home for months while the fumes finish off-gasing? I want to live in my home with my family, but don’t know how long I should have reactions.

Debra’s Answer

Please, please, please, everyone reading this, if you are having symptoms, leave your house. Air filters can help, but the first thing to do is remove the toxic exposure, and if you can’t do that, remove your body from the toxic exposure.

Nobody should be around toxic varnish that is not yet cured. It should not have been used in the first place. There are plenty of water-based wood finishes that could be used.

If the vanish is on a built-in cabinet that cannot be removed, stay someplace else and use heat to speed up the curing of the varnish. Or have it removed.

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Question from Tina

Hi Debra,

What would you personally recommend from Lumber Liquidators for a person with severe MCS? Or have you tested any wood from there? Obviously something that wont off-gas and that is non toxic. I looking to do a bedroom. I did try to search on your blog but didnt find any info.

Thanks

Debra’s Answer

I can’t recommend a specific floor from Lumber Liquidators. I went to the store a few years ago and looked at all the flooring they had at that time and found they all seemed to be acceptable–none had odors I would avoid.

I’ve found in general that prefinished hardwood flooring is acceptable. I’ve never seen a sample of prefinished hardwood flooring that I thought was problematic. Lumber Liquidators has a very good price.

If you want me to evaluate a particular flooring, you can send me a sample and I can research it through a paid consultation.

My long-term plans for my house include replacing the flooring in my office with prefinished hardwood and my first choice is a flooring from Lumber Liquidators.

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Question from Erin

Hi there – I have found Nature Clean moisturizing lotion at my local grocery store but I am not sure if it is a good lotion. My knowledge of harmful ingredients is limited, so I don’t know if it’s okay or not. Here’s the product info…

Made with Vitamin E and the extracts of cocoa butter and ginger root, this 99.7% natural Moisturizing Lotion nourishes and protects skin without leaving behind a greasy film.

The formula is unscented and exceptionally mild therefore it’s perfect for all skin types, including those with allergies or chemical sensitivities. Ideal for everyday use to nourish, protect and help maintain your skin’s natural moisture balance.

Both formulas have been created without any Petroleum Ingredients, SLS & SLES, PEG, Cocamide DEA, dyes, perfumes or any suspected carcinogens. It’s a Vegan product and has been pH-balanced.

Ingredients: WATER, GLYCERIN, CAPRYLIC/CAPRIC TRIGLYCERIDE, GLYCERYL SYEARATE, CETEARYL ALCOHOL, SODIUM STEAROYL LACTYLATE, SQUALANE, COCOGLYCERIDES, CETYL ALCOHOL, ZEA MAYS (CORN) STARCH, THEOBROMA CACAO (COCOA) SEED BUTTER, ZINGIBER OFFICINALE (GINGER) ROOT EXTRACT, HYDROXYETHYL CELLULOSE, TOCOPHERYL (VITAMIN E) ACETATE, PANTHENOL, BISABOLOL, ALLANTOIN, FOENICULUM VULGARE (FENNEL) FRUIT EXTRACT, HUMULUS LUPULUS (HOPS) EXTRACT, ACHILLEA MILLEFOLIUM EXTRACT, MELISSA OFFICINALIS LEAF EXTRACT, VISCUM ALBUM (MISTLETOE) FRUIT EXTRACT, PHENOXYETHANOL (PRESERVATIVE), ETHYLHEXYLGLYCERIN.

Any insight would be helpful. Thanks!

Debra’s Answer

Whether or not this is a good alternative depends on what you are looking for. If you are primarily looking for an unscented lotion, then this is probably fine.

However, when I look at this list of ingredients, I first of all am seeing that none of the ingredients are organically-grown, and to me using organic skin care products is as important as eating organic food, as skin care products go right through your skin and into your body.

There are also a lot of ingredients with chemical names rather than natural names, like “glyceryl stearate,” rather than “coconut oil.” These ingredients may originate in plants, but they are not in their natural state.

Here’s a little analysis of the ingredients.

WATER – could be any water with any pollutants, probably tap water

GLYCERIN – a byproduct of soap manufacture

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Question from Angelique

Debra — You wrote on your website that you used Sherwin Williams Harmony paint in your office, and that you were able to use your office as soon as the paint dried.

How long did it take the paint to dry, and did you super-heat the room to facilitate the drying and off-gassing?

I just had my office painted with Harmony. Like you, I have an intense color (mine is bright yellow) but unlike you I used a semi-gloss.

It’s relatively cold here in Arizona (40s – 70s). The room’s doors are open to the outside and there is a high-speed ceiling fan going.

I tried closing up and super-heating the room when it was first painted a few days ago, but I have no idea if it did anything except let me get hit with a wave of intense paint when I opened the door. The smell has gone from much of our house but it’s certainly there strongly in the office and it would travel around the house if I turned on the heat, even though I have the vents in that room blocked as well as I can. (The door is taped shut.)

Debra’s Answer

It was no more than a few days, and yes, we heated it for one day, I think. This was almost eight years ago, the summer of 2002. By the way, it still looks like new.

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Question from HEG

I went to Target looking for alternatives to vinyl shower curtains and I found both EVA and PEVA ones. What is the difference and is there one that is less toxic than the other?

Thank you

Debra’s Answer

PEVA is a nontoxic vinyl (it doesn’t have the chlorine molecule that makes PVC toxic). I used a PEVA shower curtain in a rented apartment for three months. It worked great and doesn’t smell at all.

EVA is Ethylene vinyl acetate, a copolymer of ethylene and vinyl acetate.

Both of these are plastics made from petrochemicals, but they have very low toxicity.

Either a PEVA or an EVA shower curtain would be better than a PVC shower curtain.

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Question from Brenda

Hi Debra,

I had a bad reaction to Mohawk Smartstrand carpet after it was installed. They said it was green carpet plus and met the CRI guidelines. The adhesive in the backing of the carpet had a bitter odor to it. So we had it removed after having it for two weeks. My MSC is flared up big time. Then to add insult to injury my husband moped the plywood floor with vinger and water and that cut loose some more chemical problems for the last two weeks and I have been even more flared up. I have the windows open 24/7 to figure out what to do with this problem. It is cold outside too with snow. I did go to Menards and found what I thougt was a good prefinished oak wood floor by Great Lakes. It was Appalachian hardwood with a 50 year aluminum oxide finish warranty verfied sustanable based on data from US Forest Service. I thought that would solve the problem. I bought a bundle and took it out of the box to air out over night in a heated room. The next morning I woke up to a glue like smell odor in the wood and it make me very ill. This has been quite the ordeal going on since August.

Are there better prefinished woods than others. I had one of my friends who has severe MCS and she noticed the odor too. That was with just one bundle and I needed 13 more bundles to complete the flooring job if I were to have had it done. I talked with the floor layer and he said it was in the prefinish. He said when the company bakes on the prefinsih wood they pack it up immediately and doesn’t give much time to offgas. Now I don’t know what to do with this floor problem in my living room and my physical reaction to it. This is a dilema. If a person has a problem with prefinished floors what would be another option to consider? Thank-you.

Debra’s Answer

It’s been my experience that when you first open a box of prefinished hardwood flooring there can be an odor from the finish that is not 100% dried. Your installer is correct in that regard.

My experience has been that if I leave the flooring sitting outside in the sun for a day, it finishes drying and after that there is no problem. Heating the flooring also works.

It sounds to me like your body got really oversensitive with the other exposures. With enough heat to bake the finish, I feel confident the prefinish hardwood flooring will become nontoxic. In your current supersensitive state, you may still react to it.

I wouldn’t discard the idea of prefinished hardwood floors. I would suggest going someplace safe and letting your body calm down for a bit before making a final decision about this.

You could always use ceramic or porcelain tile floors, or stone, which would be even safer.

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Question from Denise

Hello I am replacing carpet in the upstairs bedrooms. I have MCS and I am real sensitive. It seems as months go by I am getting more and more sensitive. Anyway I am not sure on which wood flooring to choose. I am looking at solid unfinished wood flooring that I will nail down. But theres a few to choose from. If anyone has any experience in wood flooring that would be great. I have a few choices from oak, red oak, maple, souhtern yellow pine, new england white pine, and hickory. I am so sensitive I am just afraid the wood might smell.

Thanks

Debra’s Answer

We’ve already discussed wood flooring a lot on this blog, but i see you are asking specifically about the type of wood, not the type of flooring.

If you are MCS, you’ll want to choose a wood that has fewer resins, thus less odor. Like you wouldn’t want trees known for their scent, such as pine, cedar, etc. Oak is generally fine.

Readers, what is your experience with different woods you like?

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Question from Marie

We’re looking for a used car that my teenager with severe electro-sensitivity and MCS can tolerate. One had been sprayed with Armour All, we think, so he wouldn’t enter the car. Can this be easily removed? I would clean it with vinegar and water or baking soda. Or should I steer clear?

Also, we haven’t bought a car air filter to help with traffic exhaust, wood smoke, etc. afraid of the EMFs. Any thoughts, recommendations?

Many thanks.

Debra’s Answer

Readers, any recommendations on these questions?

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