Question from Kristen Conn

Hi Debra,

I’m wondering about the ingredient Polyvinyl Alcohol Film that is in many dishwasher detergent tabs. (Grab Green, Nellies, If You Care) Labels say it is completely biodegradable but the word “Polyvinyl” leaves me wondering if its going to leave something behind!

Debra’s Answer

Good question.

The thing that’s difficult about plastics is they are named in a way that can be confusing.

Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is very toxic, but polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) is not. It is generally considered nontoxic and I see no information that would make me question that.

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Question from Karen Ann

Hi Debra,

A friend told me that you have a steel door on your house. All the ones i can find have polyurethane foam inside, or are solid steel (prohibitively expensive). Is yours a foam interior door, and do you know what kind of foam it has? have you ever had any problems with it out-gassing? Thank you so much for your help, in advance!

Debra’s Answer

Well, I don’t know if it has polyurethane foam inside or not. I’ve had it more than five years and there wasn’t anything on the label regarding this at the time.

The door is completely sealed. I can’t get inside to check without cutting the door open.

If it’s there, there is no exposure at all.

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Question from Catherine Triplettt

Hi Debra,

Hello, I have followed your advice for years-thank you!

I recently (one year ago) bought a nice Amish dining set as I have slowly replaced all my questionable furniture and toys with wood and domestic products.

My husband bought some felt furniture pads with the adhesive on them so the set wouldn’t scratch our 100 year old wood floors. They are the type bought at ace or home depot made oversees in China. It seemed a shame to stick these cheap pads with adhesive I am unfamiliar with on my furniture, but we did and they have been on for about six months.. He said he could find no other alternatives. I too have searched for a safe alternate. Do you think they are safe? I smell nothing, but I am afraid of the adhesive as I do not know what it is. Any suggestions would be great!

Debra’s Answer

I’ve used those too and smell nothing. I can’t evaluate them because I can’t get information on the actual materials. If I can’t get information, I go by if I can’t smell it and I feel fine when I’m around it, I use it. It’s not a perfect system, but it’s all I can do at the moment.

The only other thing would be to not use any product you can’t 100% verify.

It’s your choice.

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7 September 2015

Four months later…Chipotle is being sued in a class action suit claiming that Chipotle has been using GMOs in their food despite advertising that is is GMO-free.

Eater: Chipotle Sued for Using GMOs After Declaring It’s Food GMO-Free

Last week the fast food Mexican restaurant Chipotle announced that they were “the first to cook only with non-GMO ingredients.” They did a great job educating their customers about GMOs at www.chipotle.com/gmo. They even said, in a big headline, “CHIPOTLE SHOULD BE A PLACE WHERE PEOPLE CAN EAT FOOD MADE WITH NON-GMO INGREDIENTS.”

But is it so?

First I want to say that I love Chipotle. The food tastes great and the ingredients are a lot better than other fast food restaurant chains. www.chipotle.com/food-with-integrity

And they have done a lot to remove GMOs from their food.

But no, you can’t walk into Chipotle and choose anything off the menu and have it be GMO-free.

About their GMO Ingredients they say:

The meat and dairy products we buy come from animals that are not genetically modified. But it is important to note that most animal feed in the U.S. is genetically modified, which means that the meat and dairy served at Chipotle are likely to come from animals given at least some GMO feed. We are working hard on this challenge, and have made substantial progress: for example, the 100% grass-fed beef served in many Chipotle restaurants was not fed GMO grain—or any grain, for that matter. www.chipotle.com/ingredient-statement

And then there are the sodas, made with GMO corn syrup.

Kudos to Chipotle for reducing their GMOs, and kudos for disclosure, but it’s deceptive to advertise they are gmo-free when they are not. And the disclosure was on a completely different page from the GMO claim.

As a consumer, I would have preferred a headline like “Chipotle Takes Another Big Step Toward GMO-Free” and then state what they did and what they are still working on.

Thanks to Max Goldberg for this consumer alert: Don’t Believe the Hype: Chipotle is NOT 100% GMO-Free.

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Question from M Carter

Hi Debra,

I use hermetic glass jars with glass lids to store dry goods in the pantry. The seal on these is vulcanized rubber. Is there anything to be concerned about with the vulcanized rubber—it doesn’t actually touch the food, but I have to touch it to open and close it, and I also wasn’t sure about offgassing. I was also looking at some shoes with vulcanized rubber soles, and wondering if that would be a safe shoe material. Thank you!

Debra’s Answer

Vulcanized rubber is natural latex rubber heated with sulfur. It’s used to make everything from seals on glass jars to rubber bands to automobile tires.

Here’s an article from the Centers for Disease Control about the health effects of vulcanized rubber:
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/93-106/

I don’t use products made out of recycled rubber tires, but I do use glass jars with seals and rubber bands and don’t consider those to be major sources of toxic exposure.

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Question from Tania

Hi Debra,

Hi Debra! I had a quick question for you. We want to buy an affordable bed frame for my son’s mattress. What do you think about this one from Ikea? Many thanks!!

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S29011673/#/S99019576

Debra’s Answer

I actually love IKEA because they have so many great products with simple designs made from natural materials. But you have to look for them carefully.

Fortunately, they give you all the materials used.

Here is the Product Description for the one you chose:

Bed frame:
Solid pine, Stain, Clear acrylic lacquer
Slatted bed base:
Bed base slats: Beech veneer, Birch veneer, Foil
Ribbon: 100 % polypropylene
Slat holders: Synthetic rubber
Bed base: Beech plywood, Birch plywood, Solid beech or birch

It has a finish and synthetic rubber

Here’s another bed base called Tarva

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/70261268/

It’s Product Description says: Solid pine. That’s it. Solid pine.

So check the Product Descriptions and choose one that is as plain as possible.

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Question from Shelly Pollard

Hi Debra,

Hi Debra. I’m wondering if you are familiar with S’well bottles. They are made in China although their site claims to be responsibly made there, out of “non-leaching, non-toxic, 18/8 stainless steel” and claim to be able to keep liquids hot for 12 hours and cold for 24 hours.

They appear to be a good company but my main question is around the stainless steel – can it really be non-leaching?

Many, many thanks for your help with this.

Debra’s Answer

To the best of my knowledge at the moment, it doesn’t make sense to me that some stainless steel leaches and some doesn’t.

Resolving this question is on my ongoing list of research questions.

I personally don’t use stainless steel for food or beverage storage. I can taste the metal.

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Question from Stacey Santoro

Hi Debra,

So I was just washing some new sweatpants for my son, and I saw that both pockets have zippers. I only buy 100% cotton clothing for him, but it never occurred to me that other parts (buttons, zippers) could be an issue. Could the zippers and/or buttons be a problem?

This may really be a stretch, but could zippers (metal) conduct EMF’s? I think I read not to purchase a bed with metal coils, so should we avoid metal zippers on our body? Am I crazy?

The 100% clothing items I buy for my son are also Oeko-tex certified. Does this make the zippers/buttons okay?

Thanks so much!

Debra’s Answer

Well first, it turns out that metal mattress springs don’t conduct EMFs and I doubt zippers would either.

As for the Oeko-tex certification, it’s for textiles. Find out if the certification is for the fabric or the garment. If for the fabric, the accessories wouldn’t be certified. If for the garment, they would.

I don’t know if Oeko-Tex does garment certification. It’s more than a five minute search to find out.

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Question from Lauren Carter

Hi Debra,

I am a big fan of your site and have come here for lots of valuable information on many occasions.

I am looking for a dish rack and would prefer to find one that is plastic-free or mostly plastic-free—I have seen stainless steel ones, but they all say they are rust-resistant. I don’t want the item to rust but I am concerned about what they did to make it rust-resistant.

I also am having trouble finding a wood dish rack that is unfinished (so I can finish it myself with an organic oil) and I am concerned about bamboo because of the potential formaldehyde I have read it could contain. Do you have any suggestions that might work? Thanks so much!

Debra’s Answer

I personally use a wood rack. Mine appears to be unfinished. I think the last one I bought was from IKEA.

I don’t think there is formaldehyde in natural bamboo. There may be formaldehyde in bamboo flooring from glues and resins used, but I’m pretty sure you are not going to have formaldehyde in unfinised bamboo.

Readers, any suggestions?

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Question from Stacey Santoro

Hi Debra,

I am looking to find a better neighborhood for my family. I love our house, but our street is right off of a 4 lane, busy, fast moving street.

Our house was built in 1985, and it’s a pretty well built home. I also like that the bedrooms have no ceiling lights so I assume this means less wiring or lower EMF’s (but I really have no idea if I’m correct about that). Unfortunately we do have oil heat, and abut a private golf course, but other than that, I’m happy with the house.

When looking at other homes, does the age of the home matter? I found one that is the ideal location, however, it is 2 years older than my house (1983) and I wonder if I should not look at homes older than mine. Do I need to worry about pipes, older fixtures, etc., with older homes (possibly more lead, etc.)? I also worry about maintenance costs.

I thought homes built in the 1980s would be safe from lead paint at least, but I mostly see, “lead paint: unknown,” on the homes’ MLS/listing sheets even for my home and others built in the 1980’s. I also found another home in a lovely neighborhood that was built in 1994, which clearly states there is no lead paint. This home also has gas heat. So, what is important when looking at houses?

Of course my father states that older homes are better because they are built with better materials…I don’t know! I just want the safest house for my small children!

Thanks so much, again!

Debra’s Answer

This is a tough question because there are pros and cons regarding toxics in both older and newer homes.

I generally opt for the older home because they are better built and the problems are easier to fix. The hours I have lived in for the past 14 years was built in 1940.

The main problems with older homes are lead paint and gas heat, and sometimes mold. The benefits are good construction, it’s been around for a long time so materials are aired out, real hardwood floors, wood or old plywood cabinets in kitchen and bath.

In my current house, gas heat is not an issue because I live in Florida. We have a unit with an air conditioner and heat pump. There is a small amount of lead paint on the exterior window frames. But I would rather fix a lead paint problem than the problems of new houses.

New houses are just very poorly built. The contain a lot of particleboard in hidden places that reek formaldehyde. It’s in cabinets, subflooring, inside doors…to fix a particleboard house means ripping out almost the entire interior.

When I lived in California, my ideal time period for a house was the 1960’s. These houses still had hardwood floors, but had electric heat instead of gas. I don’t know if that holds true elsewhere.

If you don’t want gas heat, you can always remove it and install whatever you want. It’s just a lot more difficult to remove all the particleboard.

Old houses can require more repair than newer ones, but once you’ve made the repair you have a home that will last. Newer constrution is just not well built.

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