The Canary Report

Your new shower curtain’s smell is hazardous air pollutant

Posted on Jun 13, 2008 by Susie Collins in Blog, Healthy Living, Products, Research, Susie Collins

The LA Times reports today that researchers at the Center for Health, Environment & Justice discovered vinyl shower curtains sold at major retailers across the country emit toxic chemicals that have been linked to serious health problems. The stinky curtains contain high concentrations of chemicals linked to liver damage & damage to the central nervous, respiratory and reproductive systems.

The Nose Knows: New vinyl shower curtains smell so badly to me that I hang them outside on the line for a couple of weeks before bringing inside to hang. (I tried a hemp curtain once, but it rotted too quickly.) Hanging the vinyl curtains outside gets rid of the smell; I also put them through the washer a couple of times with fragrance free laundry soap.

Now the research is catching up with The Nose.

Researchers tested the chemical composition of five unopened polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, plastic shower curtains bought from Bed Bath & Beyond, Kmart, Sears, Target and Wal-Mart. One of the curtains was then tested to determine the chemicals it released into the air.

The study found that PVC shower curtains contained high concentrations of phthalates, which have been linked to reproductive effects, and varying concentrations of organotins, which are compounds based on tin and hydrocarbons. One of the curtains tested released measurable quantities of as many as 108 volatile organic compounds into the air, some of which persisted for nearly a month.

Seven of these chemicals — toluene, ethylbenzene, phenol, methyl isobutyl ketone, xylene, acetophenone and cumene — have been identified by the Environmental Protection Agency as hazardous air pollutants, said Stephen Lester, the center’s science director and a coauthor of the report.

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Here’s an alternative choice: EnviroCurtain.

Our 100% Recycled Polyester Shower Curtains are custom manufactured and represent a quality in environmentally sensitive shower curtains unavailable until now. The Recycled Polyester fabric was custom woven and treated/finished to provide superior performance compared to natural fiber shower curtains such as those made from Cotton or Hemp.

I think I’ll buy one of these next time.

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Tags: Air, Chemicals, Health, Healthy Living, Home, Indoor Pollution, Research, Stink