Question from Ethel

I found a shower/tub hose that I would like to purchase but am questioning the materials its made of.

Each hose is vinyl and has a styrene head and a rubber connector. Are these materials safe? Would chemicals leach into the water when using this product? Also I am would want to use it only for the purpose of rinsing off the tub after cleaning but am also concerned about offgasing while its tucked away in my cabinet when not in use.

Debra’s Answer

Thanks for finding out the type of plastic used before posting your question.

I had a similar question last year at Q&A: Plastic Shower Hoses, but we didn’t know the plastics used.

Vinyl is toxic and causes cancer and styrene is also a toxic plastic (think styrofoam cups and food service containers). It is known to leach into foods and beverages.

The vinyl will outgass a small amount in use and when not in use. This is a very small exposure but pretty toxic plastics.

Last time around with this question, a reader suggested getting a stainless steel hose. They carry them at plumbing supply stores.

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Question from Mary G.

Hello Debra,

Someone please tell me…What is Imitation Crab Meat (what is it made from)???

Thank you!Mary G.

Debra’s Answer

Here is an answer from Ask Yahoo!.

Just eat the fish itself. We don’t need more sugar, sorbitol, wheat, soybean oil, and artificial flavorings. If you want crab, eat the real thing.

You know, it’s not just the unhealthy additives. Manufacturing these kinds of food products also uses a tremendous amount of energy and water that are not necessary for us to receive nourishment.

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Question from Jane

Could you advise me about finishes for wood floors? Our home has hardwood flooring throughout, so we’re having old wall-to-wall carpeting removed. Trouble is, our workman, who is reliable, skilled and good-natured, has told me we’ll need to “apply three coats of polyurethane finish” after the wood is sanded and smoothed. The maple color of the wood is fine and the floors do not need any staining.

I’ve said that with three coats of polyurethane I won’t have a wood floor, I’ll have a plastic floor! And of course, I’m also concerned about offgassing. About that I was told, “This product dries fast, probably in less than four hours, so there won’t be any smell.”

But it isn’t the smell I’m concerned about; it’s the continued offgassing even after the product has dried.

As a side issue, I’m also thinking that if a floor is covered with three coats of a plastic product, that floor will be dangerously slippery! As to that, I’m advised to use a carpet runner with a section of carpet underlay to prevent slipping.

This all sounds like preventable trouble to me! Are there safe wood finishing products available? We could use good old-fashioned Butchers’ Wax, but our workman says, “You’d have to reapply that every three months.”

Maybe it would be better to buff up the floor with wax rather than coating it with plastic!

Debra’s Answer

It would take pages for me to write everything to know about wood finishes, so I am going to respond to your comments and give you some tips.

First, if you want to use wax and reapply every three months, go for it.

It’s my opinion that you need to have some kind of protection on a wood floor. Without a finish, dirt gets dug in, and you can’t wash the wood because it is very porous. Any wood floor you have would need to have some kind of finish.

Now there are options for finishes that range from polyurethane to natural oils.

There are low-VOC polyurethane products that will evaporate out fairly quickly, within a few hours, and once they are dry, they will not outgas over time. At the moment I’m sitting at an oak desk my husband sanded and finished with Flecto Diamond Finish, which you can get at Home Depot or Lowe’s. Completely inert. I sit here all day every day with no odor at all. If I put my water glass on it and condensation gets on the finish, I wipe it right up.

I have another desk in this room that I finished with an all-natural plant-based finish. It looks beautiful, but it had a strong natural odor of the oils and resins and took about a year to dry. And it still spots if I get water on it.

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Question from JG

Do you know anything about the plastic dentists use to seal kids teeth?

I heard that some dentists are using BPA free sealants. Are the others safe?

Debra’s Answer

Oh this is smart…just paint plastic on your kid’s teeth to prevent cavities.

No.

BPA or no BPA, it’s still liquid plastic going in a kid’s mouth. I wouldn’t do it.

It didn’t take more than five minutes to find this medical article about the toxicity of dental sealants: Dental Sealant Toxicity: Neurocutaneous Syndrome (NCS), a dermatological and neurological disorder by Dr. Omar M. Amin, PhD

Abstract: Neurocutaneous syndrome (NCS), a newly discovered toxicity disorder, is described in light of our new understanding of its relationships with the causative agents included in the dental liners used in afflicted patients. NCS is characterized by neurological sensations, pain, depleted energy and memory loss as well as itchy cutaneous lesions that may invite various opportunistic infections. Components in the calcium hydroxide dental sealants Dycal, Life and Sealapex have been identified as sources of the observed symptoms considered compatible with classical sulfa toxicity. Sulfonamide and neurological toxicity issues are discussed, three case histories are presented and an outline of management protocol is proposed. Additional notes on zinc oxide, Fynal, IRM and Sultan U/P sealants are also included.

Brush and floss…I’ve never had one cavity.

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Question from Sandy

I am having difficulty finding a safe automobile. The new ones are offgasing too much and make me sick. Used ones at dealers have been detailed and whatever cleaner they use cause me breathing problems. Used ones for sale by private parties all have fragrances in them. I am at a loss for what to do. I will need something soon. I have used the ratings at Healthycar.org and even the lowest rated vehicles are no good for me. Any suggestions?

Debra’s Answer

Readers?

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Question from Suzanne

I purchased several Marvin Fiberglass windows and had them installed two and one-half weeks ago. Right after installation we smelled a strong acrylic odor throughout the house, which has only abated a little bit.

After two weeks of research I discovered that the fiberglass is actually coated with something called “acrylic capstock”. I have searched everywhere and cannot find out how harmful this odor is and when it will stop outgassing.

I have respiratory problems if I am in the house longer than a couple hours. Fiberglass is being touted as environmentally friendly and safe for sensitive individuals, but they don’t ever mention the acrylic outgassing.

Does anyone know anything about this product and how I can find out how harmful it is to have my children sleeping in these rooms. Marvin says they have never heard of anyone complaining about the smell of these windows, which is hard to imagine because everyone who comes into my home smells them. It is getting colder and colder in Minnesota and I won’t be able to have the windows all wide open much longer.

Debra’s Answer

I didn’t know wha “acrylic capstock” was either, so I looked it up.

I found a reference that said, “acrylic resin family of products for capstocks”. While I couldn’t find a definition of capstock, from reading it in many contexts it appears to be a kind of protective coating that is applied to various materials, to provide exceptional durability and performance characteristics, including UV weathering resistance.

Acrylic is made from acrylonitrile, a special group of vinyl compounds. In my book Home Safe Home I noted that acrylonitrile is included on the Environmental Protection Agency’s list of sixty-five “priority pollutants” recognized as being hazardous to human health. Scorecard: Chemical Profiles: Acrylonitrile notes that it is a carcinogen. Acrylic is also known to cause breathing difficulties, vomiting, diarrhea, nausea, weakness, headache and fatigue.

Marvin should be able to tell you the brand name of this capstock and from there you should be able to get an MSDS from the manufacturer.

If the smell is bothering you and you are having symptoms from it, then you need to do something to protect yourself and your children. Opening windows is great, an air filter would help, and you may even need to remove the windows or apply some kind of vapor barrier finish over the fiberglass parts.

There is a possibility that these windows are faulty in some way. Perhaps the acrylic resin was not completely cured or there is some other manufacturing defect.

Question from Jennifer

Hi,

Given that fresh, local and organically grown veggies should be my number one choice and usually are, when I have to choose between canned or frozen in a plastic bag, wouldn’t the frozen be healther due to less exposure to the plastic of the bag(leaching BPA and possibly phthalates, etc)?

Since the veggies in a can are in liquid and touch the entire can and can be heated quite a bit in transport and storage it would seem that the frozen which does not have constant contact to the sides of the bag and is kept frozen (hence avoiding heat induced leaching) would be healthier?

What do you think? Thanks!

Jennifer

Debra’s Answer

You are correct. Frozen is healthier.

I personally eat frozen vegetables and fruits in addition to fresh because it widens the choice of organic foods I have to choose from.

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Question from APril

Hi Debra,

Do you know of anything “safe” to give children for sinus, coughing, snotty noses, sore throat, ear infections, etc? I don’t know if my son has allergies or a cold right now but he’s super snotty and I don’t want it to turn into an ear infection. I know that breastmilk in the sinus cavities has been known to heal infections (thankfully, I am lactating right now) but I am looking for additional info on treating head/chest colds/allergies in both adults and children. I also thought this would be a good topic to start up with winter just around the corner.

Debra’s Answer

I’m going to ask mothers reading this to answer, since I don’t have children myself.

I do know that this symptom is often related to food allergies, could be something in the air, could be a cold. My husband, for example, gets nasal congestion when he eats wheat.

My best advice is to try to track down what is causing it so you can take the right steps to correct it. A cold remedy is not going to solve a food allergy.

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Question from cal

1. Many long lived women swear by the effectiveness of Fels Naptha, which some online sources indicate contains solvents and/or petroleum distillates.

Can you confirm or expand on this? I am committed to using cleaners that biodegrade fully, timely and non-harmfully and that are sourced from readily renewable ingredients. I don’t use anything with petroleum or synthetics. Sometimes though, it is hard to know what I am using. Disclosure is not the industries strong point.

2. Is Mrs. Stewart’s as non-toxic & environmentally benign as it implies on the website? It too is a ‘long lived ladies’ sanctioned product, but a dark blue liquid that ‘whitens and brightens’ is questionable for non-toxicity. What do you say?

Thank you

Debra’s Answer

Q&A: Fels Naptha Soap

Mrs. Stewart’s Bluing is a brand of fabric bluing agent. Used during laundering, a bluing agent adds a trace of blue dye to the fabric to make them appear whiter.

Mrs. Stewart’s Bluing uses an iron-based compound called ferric hexacyanoferrate, also known as Prussian Blue.

asically, bluing is made of a very fine blue iron powder suspended in water ( a “colloidal suspension”). We add a nontoxic amount of a pH balancer and a biocide to prevent the buildup of algae and bacteria. (This may be why Mrs. Stewart’s Bluing is loved by farmers who tell us they use it in the water troughs of their farm animals and by owners of lily and fish ponds.)

Mrs. Stewart’s Bluing is nontoxic, biodegradable, non-hazardous and environmentally friendly.

The manufacturer does provide an MSDS for Mrs. Stewart’s Bluing on the website, which you can always check for toxic chemicals. I found two chemcials there I looked up. Each chemical has a CAS#, so you can always look that up even if the chemical is identified by a generic term.

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Question from Jennifer

Hi,

I am upgrading my cookware and have bought some anodized aluminum pans. The set came with black nylon spoons, spatulas etc. and I am wondering how safe it is to cook with those utensils. I have another set of these types of tools from Caphalon. While I would love to upgrade everything to bamboo and silicone utensils, that will take time—but I am concerned about the safety of the nylon utensils.

I am assuming that I should use a non-scratching utensil with the anodized aluminum pans (although some anodized pans on the Bed, Bath and Beyond website say you can use metal) because my pans came with the nylon utensils and did not say I could use metal utensils.

Do the nylon utensils pose a negative health risk?
Thanks so much!

Debra’s Answer

Nylon is a plastic, but it is practically inert. While I prefer wooden utensils, as they are made from a natural, renewable material, I don’t know of a health risk from using nylon cooking utensils.

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