Question from Janelle

Hi Debra,

My husband and I have recently become more concerned about all the plastic in our environment.

We are particularly concerned about the night guard that his dentist has him wear because he grinds his teeth at night. I’m wondering about the safety of the night guard.

I tried calling the office that they made it in, but they haven’t done any tests for leaching, he just assured me it was safe.

I did some research and it’s made from: Powder Component: Modified Ethyl Methacrylate Polymer Liquid Component: Modified Ethyl Methacrylate Monomer. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find information on if these substances are safe when mixed into plastic.

The company that makes the mouth guards is Astron and the material is called clearsplint.

Any help you can give me with this is much appreciated.

Thank you.

Debra’s Answer

It sounds to me like you mix the powder and liquid together to make the ClearSplint material. It isn’t added to plastic, it is the plastic.

The MSDS lists both of these materials as hazardous as well as ClearSplint itself.

What I don’t know is if they become less toxic when combined, or more toxic. Not enough data is available for this.

Regardless, it seems that ALL plastics leach to one degree or another. I wouldn’t let my child use this without having more evidence of safety than someone on the phone saying it’s safe.

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Question from Stacey

Hi Debra,

I am searching for a new leather handbag and wonder about the different leathers.

First, I wonder if a “quilted” leather bag contains a synthetic batting to make the quilted appearance.

I also discovered a type of leather called “saffiano leather” which is a textured leather with some sort of coating (not sure, but from what I have read, it is most often a wax). This saffiano leather is supposedly more durable, but I wonder if it is as safe to use as a regular leather.

Thanks so much!

Debra’s Answer

I think it’s highly likely that any padding used in an off-the-shelf handbag would be synthetic.

About the Saffiano leather…First, it’s leather, which has many toxic chemicals to begin with, and second a wax is added, probably paraffin. That’s just more petrochemicals.

Look on the Bags page of Debra’s List. I’ve been adding websites that use less toxic materials. Perhaps you can find something there.

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Question from Jennifer

Hi Debra,

I appreciate your work in the world so very much! I seem to remember a while back you addressed the benefits of fogging to remove mycotoxins. It was about the benefits of fogging with a formaldehyde gas mixture that did not leave any residue in the space treated.

I can’t seem to find any info on that at this point. Can you direct me to where I might find out more about this and/or share your thoughts about this technique for reclaiming spaces affected by these invisible toxins?

Debra’s Answer

I don’t recall addressing this and mold isn’t my field of expertise.

Readers, any information on this?

Here is a very simple and clear article about mycotoxins, what they are, how to remove them from indoor air.

What I can tell you about formaldehyde is that it DOES evaporate completely in a very short period of time. I remember in grade school a teacher left an open bottle of formaldehyde sitting on a counter and the whole bottle evaporated within an hour. The only reason formaldehyde is a long-term problem in particleboard and permanent press finishes is that it is bonded to resins to make it time release. But free formaldehyde evaporates very quickly.

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Question from TM

Hi Debra,

I was using a stainless steel lunchbox containers for my young kid, however, I read stainless steel may leach, although I’m not sure if only when heated?

Glass is not an option right now as he is too young and can break.

Would you go with these made of polypropylene #5 plastic instead of stainless steel? Thanks so much!!

Debra’s Answer

All lunchbox container materials leach something to some degree, so the question is, would you rather be eating plastic or metals? Even, glass, we are now finding, leaches lead and other metals.

There’s a lot more we need to know before I can make a definitive recommendation between these materials. For the moment all I can say is in my kitchen stainless steel is gone except for one pot, but I still have some polypropylene. It’s one of the least toxic plastics.

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Question from Cecelia

Hi Debra,

I purchased two futons (latex/wool) because I read California had TB117 – the flame retardant in all its furniture (this was about 3 years ago).

Now, I find that you can get furniture without flame retardants!

The only question is, is it worth getting a foam couch w/o flame retardants as the foam has it’s own problems. we can’t afford a 3-4 thousand dollar couch (EKLA home) and although our futons are ugly, and I’d love to have something stylish, I’m afraid the latex/wool is better than anything we can get. Any suggestions?

Debra’s Answer

I agree your latex/wool futons are better than anything you can get in a sofa in that price range.

There are many now without fire retardant, which is a good first step, but they still contain many other chemicals I wouldn’t want to breathe.

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Question from Jen

Hi Debra,

Really appreciate the work that you do.

I have a simple question that I can’t seem to find an answer to: How long generally does it take to outgas phthalates? Do products continually outgas them? Thank you!

Debra’s Answer

First I want to be clear that “phthalates” is not a material, but rather a group of chemicals added primarily to polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic, to make the PVC more flexible and harder to break.

So technically, I think you question is, “How long does it take for phthalates to outgas out of PVC so it is no longer outgassing?”

I don’t have actual numbers for this, but here’s the thing. Phthalates are added to PVC to keep it soft. As along as it’s soft, there are phthalates in the PVC that can outgas. When the PVC finally outgassed all the phthalates, it becomes brittle and rips or breaks. So we’re talking years here, not days or months.

Yes, products that contain phthalates continually outgas them.

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A few weeks ago, I published a question from a reader wanting to know about Toxins of Dawn Dish Detergent.

I answered her question by giving her a link to the ingredients of Dawn provided by Proctor & Gamble, which included a list of fragrance ingredients from the International Fragrance Association.

She commented

When clicking on the perfume link, hundreds of possible ingredients are listed, with this as part of the intro :

“Our perfumes are formulated with the greatest care and utmost attention to safety. Whenever a perfume is developed or enhanced, our safety scientists evaluate the detailed composition of the perfume to ensure that the product is safe to use. Perfumes are formulated taking into account our stringent internal safety standards for every ingredient, as well as the safety standards set by the International Fragrance Association (IFRA). We adhere to the IFRA Code of Practice and the IFRA Standards. For more information about IFRA go to www.ifraorg.org.”

Can this be true? I thought all perfumes (not including organic essential oils) contain toxic chemicals.

Well, it turns out that Women’s Voices For the Earth has been asking this question for almost ten years, and just recently release a report on the subject.

Here are some links to help you find everything.

Especially see the last link, which shows which chemicals on the IFRA list are known to be toxic by other organizations.

Kudos to Women’s Voices for the Earth for doing this work.

EcoWatch: Are Toxic Fragrances Making You Sick?

Women’s Voices For the Earth Report Overview

THE REPORT: Unpacking the Fragrance Industry: Policy Failures, the Trade Secret Myth and Public Health

More information on fragrance ingredients from Women’s Voices for the Earth

Fragrance Chemicals of Concern Present on the IFRA List 2015
Take a look at this if you want to see what chemicals in fragrances are considered toxic by organizations outside of the fragrance industry.

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Question from Michael

Hi Debra,

Do you know anything about the insecticide they have to put in wool carpet in NZ? Is it toxic? Any health concerns? Here it is:

is potentially carcinogenic: Bifenthrin. Bifenthrin is a Pyrethroid compound.

Debra’s Answer

Hmmm. Some conflicting information on this.

First, here are a few links with health effects of this pesticide.

www.toxipedia.org/display/toxipedia/Bifenthrin

npic.orst.edu/factsheets/bifgen.html

pmep.cce.cornell.edu/profiles/extoxnet/24d-captan/bifenthrin-ext.html

I found a comment on a post that said, “wool carpets are treated with a pesticide called bifenthrin which is added into the dye process.” If this is the case, then an undyed carpet would not have it. Also this source didn’t specify New Zealand.

But here is an industry document that describes the use of mothproofing, which says “it must be applied at dying, or later.”

Now Karastan says:

New Zealand wool is the purest, whitest wool in the world, offering excellent dyeing characteristics that create long-lasting colors.

New Zealand wool is raised with little impact on the natural landscape. It is a renewable and biodegradable fiber that is one of the world’s most environmentally friendly products.

New Zealand wool is produced on land mostly unsuitable for other agricultural purposes and does not compete with food production.

No internationally banned pesticides are used on New Zealand farms, making New Zealand’s sheep industry one of the world’s greenest animal production systems.

The Wools of New Zealand brand is your guarantee of the highest quality New Zealand wool. It is the indication that New Zealand wool is a superb natural product derived in an environmentally responsible way through sustainable land use.

I went to the Wools of New Zealand website and couldn’t find any statement about insecticides. So I can’t tell if New Zealand wool is mothproofed with a chemical pesticide or not.

Well, after all that, here is the document you want to read:

admin.woolsnz.com/uploadGallery/documents/insectresist%20.pdf

It’s the technical document for making Wools of New Zealand insect resistant. It does mention Bifenthrin and states it’s not approved for the USA.

Personally I wouldn’t get a carpet with this pesticide applied.

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Question from nclynn

Hi Debra,

Your books were my main teachers when i really committed to going green in the 90s. so wonderful!

i am on a thread right now where someone recommended a dishwasher detergent of borax, baking soda (1/2 cup each), 1/8 cup citric acid and 25 drops of ‘essential oil’.

Someone chimed in and said they used this and it ate up their enamelware. the rest of the thread is opinions about what was the culprit and they have ALL been named!!! lol.

The latest was a mom who has a chemist son. son said “borax will ruin your glassware (depending on the make-up) when added to hot water and can make it taste like play-doh – forever! “

I told them i had heard in the 90s (from you?) to use plain borax in the dishwasher. i used it once at a friend’s and it was fine but i’ve never had my own dishwasher.

Do you have any thoughts on that original recipe…good, bad, indifferent?

Thanks for all you do!

Debra’s Answer

I looked up my original recipe for dishwasher detergent and found mix baking soda and borax half-and-half and then put 4 tablespoons in your dishwasher. But I got that from a book somewhere and never actually used it.

I haven’t had a dishwasher since 1985.

So, readers, what are your thoughts or experience with this formula, and what do YOU use in your dishwasher?

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Question from Bonnie Johnson

Hi Debra,

Does anyone have any experience using one of these? They are supposed to purify the air in your home.

Especially did it help a sinus condition?

Debra’s Answer

I had a Himalayan Salt Lamp in my bedroom for a while, but I had to remove it because I couldn’t sleep. I finally just gave it away.

As beautiful as they are, I wouldn’t use one as an air filter.

Salt lamps are natural source of negative ions.

At any given time, there are both positive and negative ions in the air. Negative ions are often found in nature, often created by lightening storms, sunlight, waterfalls, ocean waves and other natural processes. A salt lamp produces negative ions during the evaporation of water attracted to the lamp by the salt.

Positive ions are often created by electronic devices like computers, TVs, microwaves, and vacuum cleaners. They are known to contribute to problems like allergies, stress and sleep trouble.

Negative ions can neutralize positive ions by bonding with them.

Since air pollutants such as airborne mold, bacteria, and allergens often carry a positive charge, they can be neutralized by negative ions.

But that’s the limitation of a salt lamp as an air purifier.

For air purifiers that work to remove a broad spectrum of particles and chemical pollutants, visit the Air Filters page of Debra’s List.

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