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A study from the Ecology Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan found that most vinyl flooring that they tested contained toxic phthalates. After concern from parents and the scientific community about the hazardous effect of phthalates, both Lowes and Home Depot, two of the world's largest home improvement centers say they will ban these toxic chemicals from vinyl flooring products.
Many of these toxins were banned from children's products in 2009. Nevertheless, phthalates are found in many other products at much higher levels than is banned the Consumer Product Safety Commission for children's products. While not classified as children's products, flooring is something that children interact with every day, so they are still exposed regularly to these banned chemicals.
According to the Ecology Center, "a growing body of credible scientific evidence has linked exposure to phthalates to serious threats to human health including asthma, harm to male reproductive organs, brain development, and the immune system." The Ecology Center researchers tested flooring for substances that have been linked to asthma, birth defects, learning disabilities, reproductive problems, liver toxicity, and cancer.
"Our study shows that hazardous plasticizers called phthalates are still too commonplace in vinyl tile flooring," said Jeff Gearhart, research director for HealthyStuff.org, the organization that conducted the product testing. "We also identified the beginnings of a market shift, with one-third of the products tested already using less hazardous plasticizers."
Phthalates can migrate out of flooring materials and get into the air and dust inside homes. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over 90 percent of Americans have measurable levels of phthalates in their bodies.
More than half of the flooring tiles tested contained phthalate plasticizers which are banned in the European Union.
Ace Hardware, build.com, Lowe's, Lumber Liquidators, and Menards were among the major retailers where the tiles were collected. The researchers also found that the Home Depot was far ahead of its competitors in creating and adopting policies to eliminate ortho-phthalates from vinyl flooring. Since 2014, Home Depot has been working with Safer Chemical Healthy Families to develop a policy to remove harmful chemicals from their product lines.
"We congratulate The Home Depot on this landmark initiative," said Andy Igrejas, director of Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families, "As the world's largest home improvement retailer, Home Depot's new policy sends a strong signal to the marketplace that retailers want healthier building materials free of harmful chemicals like phthalates." Less than one week after the Ecology Center released its report, Lowe's also agreed to follow Home Depot's lead and eliminate toxic phthalates in their flooring by the end of 2015.
Even better news? Most of these retailers sell non-vinyl and non-toxic alternatives for healthier flooring. Natural rubber or bio-based linoleum are both readily available, affordable, more durable, and non-toxic.
To find safer, healthier flooring choices as well as other products, you can check out www.HealthyStuff.org