Synthetic chemical carpet cleaning products are not safe

Safe housing is a huge problem for people with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity. I received a distressing email from Ruth this evening. Ruth is one of our flock, who lives in an apartment building and earlier in the week was looking for alternative nontoxic air fresheners and carpet cleaning products to suggest to her landlady for use in the common areas. I wrote a post about it on Monday.

Ruth had been assured by her landlady that the commercial carpet cleaners, who were scheduled to come clean the carpets in the common areas, would not use fragrance in their products. But evidently that didn’t mean they were going to use eco-friendly nontoxic products. Ruth returned to her apartment building this evening to find the place a mess of toxic fumes from the products they used to clean the carpets. She felt sick and stressed, retiring to her apartment, which luckily is a safe place for her.

This is another story of how people just do not understand that the chemicals in commercial carpet cleaning products are highly toxic. It’s so hard for those of us with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity to be heard! And the fact is, while people who are not as sensitive as we are may not feel pronounced symptoms to exposure, they are in fact also being exposed to toxic chemicals.

Look at what CHEC Healthe House, a site dedicated to environmental health risks affecting children, has to say about carpet cleaners:

Like other cleaners, carpet cleaners may contain toxic ingredients, some of which are not listed on labels because they are considered “proprietary” or “trade secrets”.

Some carpet cleaners–especially spot removers–can be particularly dangerous, because they contain chemical solvents similar to those used by dry cleaners. These chemicals dissolve dirt without soap and water, but give off strong odors. Other potentially problematic ingredients in carpet cleaners include other compounds that produce lots of fumes (like formaldehyde), acids, pesticides, disinfectants, lye (sodium hydroxide), fragrances and many others.

Fabric and carpet stain repellents or “guards” may contain plastics and other potentially dangerous ingredients. The key ingredient in 3M’s popular Scotchgard® line of products, perfluoro-octane sulfonate (PFOS), was once portrayed as chemically inert, but recent research shows that it is a persistent organic pollutant (POP). PFOS, a suspected hormone disruptor, accumulates in the environment and the tissue of animals and humans. Despite ample evidence of PFOS’s persistence, 3M kept it on the market for 40 years. In spring 2000, 3M announced it would phase out PFOS products by the year 2002. The safety of another perfluorinated compound, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), the main ingredient in Teflon®, which is used to coat non-stick pans and in fabric protectors, is currently under investigation.

During application and while drying, the chemicals in carpet cleaners and protectors evaporate and may concentrate in the air, causing indoor air pollution. This is more likely if the room is not well ventilated, the weather is hot and humid or the room is damp. Indoor air pollution can cause headaches, irritation to eyes, nose and lungs, asthma attacks, congestion, sneezing, coughing, fatigue, nausea and other symptoms.

There is some speculation that there is a link between carpet cleaners and Kawasaki Disease, though there is limited evidence to support this. Long-term exposures may increase the risks for chronic diseases, such as heart disease and cancer, depending on the chemicals involved.

Carpet shampoos usually leave a sticky residue on carpet fibers. The residue is usually hard to see or feel–though it can make carpets feel rougher and you may be able to smell it. Not only does the residue attract and latch onto dirt, but children, who crawl and play on carpets, can inhale these residues and get them on their hands, which often go into their mouths.

Dry shampoos, powders and foams may also linger on carpet fibers. These products generally contain solvents and detergents that must be applied for a specific period of time, then vacuumed to remove the cleaning product. A residue may be left behind or the product may sink deep enough into carpets to avoid being pulled out by the vacuum cleaner. Powders or dusts are easily inhaled and may irritate airways and cause asthma attacks. In fact, anti-dust-mite carpet treatments sometimes contain tannic acid or benzyl benzoate, both of which are skin, eye and respiratory irritants. Deodorizing powders often contain fragrances that irritate asthmatic lungs as well.

To remove shampoo residue from your carpet, see How to Keep Carpets Clean without Dangerous Chemicals. CHEC recommends that children stay out of the house for at least four hours after carpets have been cleaned by any method. This can help reduce the risk of Kawasaki Disease, which may be linked to carpet cleaning.

Dangerous Chemicals Found in Some Carpet Cleaners

Solvents
Butoxyethanol and other glycol ethers
Tetrachloroethylene
Perchloroethylene

Acids and other corrosive chemicals
Hydroxyacetic acid
Hydrofluoric acid
Nitrilotriacetic acid
Sodium hydroxide
Sodium carbonate

Mildewcides and Disinfectants
Tributyl tin
Formaldehyde
Phenol

Other chemicals
Butane, propane and isobutanes (aerosol propellants)
Dibutyl phthalate
Nonylphenol ethoxylate (surfactant)
Octylphenol ethoxylate (surfactant)

You can find out if a carpet cleaning product you use or are considering contains any of these ingredients on the Household Products Database, produced by the National Institutes of Health. You can also search by ingredient.

Ruth, We all hope you are doing okay. Keep us posted. Aloha, Susie

Photo by Pomme Granny.