Vinyl Flooring Health Hazards

Flooring this organization checks the health environmental and social impacts of all of the products used for all of these flooring types including materials sealants glue etc.

Vinyl flooring health hazards.

Most vinyl flooring contains chemicals called phthalates many of which have been banned from children s products over concerns of negative health effects. 100 of vinyl flooring sold by lumber liquidators. California is taking a. Vinyl floors last a long time especially durable vinyl floors with thick wear layers.

However the act of recycling vinyl to be re used in flooring uses a lot of energy and also means you are running the risks of introducing contaminants into your flooring. Vinyl and linoleum flooring. Researchers say vinyl flooring and sofas with flame retardants can present a health risk to children. Share on pinterest experts say linoleum is a safer alternative than vinyl flooring.

Because of their durability vinyl flooring can last 2 3 times as long as similar resilient flooring products. As well as potentially containing harmful contaminants recycled vinyl flooring breaks down sooner than 100 virgin vinyl and therefore needs replacing sooner. Fifty eight percent of vinyl flooring tiles tested contain phthalate plasticizers which are hazardous and are subject to a pending ban in the european union. But they re believed to be toxic and have been linked to a laundry list of ailments.

If a fire breaks out and the vinyl in your floor catches flame it will begin to emit noxious fumes which will fill the air with harmful toxins including dioxins. Moreover almost all 89 percent of vinyl flooring samples tested contained organic tin based stabilizers. Phthalates are used to soften plastic and vinyl and make them more flexible. Formaldehyde is more common in laminate flooring where it s found in the adhesive and resin.

The flooring giant lumber liquidators was accused of selling illegally sourced laminate wood with high levels of formaldehyde a known carcinogen. In the limited study conducted over the past year we sought to determine whether any wood based flooring could pose a formaldehyde hazard and if so how much of a hazard. This is true whether a large scale fire breaks out or just a small portion of the floor is burnt by accidentally dropping something. This means less flooring in landfills and ultimately lower impact on health and environmental concerns.