RE: OT: PCBs: Banned toxin found in wood floor finishes - 50 years after the floors were installed

January 18, 2008

I thought that hardwood floors would be a more healthy alternative to

carpet, but I could be wrong. Does anyone have any thoughts on this, or

know where I can find info about this? The last thing any of us want to do

is expose our kids to MORE toxins!!!

At 06:23 PM 1/18/2008 -0600, you wrote:

>Does anyone have any idea how to test for this? I searched online, but I

>couldn't find anything. I am planning to move and have been looking at

>some older condos with hardwood floors (one building was built in 1957; the

>other one in 1936). I've already had them tested for lead paint with

>lead-paint testing kits from Wal-Mart. Neither unit contained any lead.

>

>In general, is it safer to move into something built in 1978, or thereafter?

>

>Thanks in advance for any info! :-)

>

>At 06:19 AM 1/18/2008 -0700, you wrote:

>

> >PCB exposure from wood polish

> >Environmental Health 2008, 7:2

> ><<http://www.ehjournal.net/content/7/1/2>http://www.ehjournal.net/content

> /7/1/2>http://www.ehjournal.net/content/7/1/2

> >

> >Concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in air, dust and

> >serum were persistently elevated in two homes. PCB-containing wood

> >polishes used in the 1950s and 1960s (identified in these homes) may

> >cause significant exposure.

> >

> >- - - -

> >

> >Banned toxin found in wood floor finishes

> >

> >Wed Jan 16, 2008 7:10pm EST

> ><<http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN1665067220080117>http:

>

//www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN1665067220080117>http://www.reuters.\

com/article/domesticNews/idUSN1665067220080117

> >

> >WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A wood floor finish popular in the 1950s and

> >1960s may be a significant source of the banned, disease-causing

> >pollutants known as PCBs, U.S. researchers reported on Wednesday.

> >

> >They did a case study in the homes of older women and found that those

> >with a PCB-containing wood floor finish sold under the brand name

> >Fabulon had very high indoor air, dust and blood levels of PCBs -- 50

> >years after the floors were installed.

> >

> > " Use of a commercially available PCB-containing wood floor finish in

> >residences during the 1950s and 1960s is an overlooked but potentially

> >important source of current PCB exposure in the general population, "

> >Ruthann Rudel of the Silent Spring Institute near Boston and colleagues

> >wrote in their report.

> >

> >Many buildings, including schools, may still harbor PCB-containing floor

> >finishes or other products, they wrote in the BioMed Central journal

> >Environmental Health.

> >

> >Rudel and colleagues tested the bodies and homes of 120 women living on

> >Cape Cod in Massachusetts who had been taking part in a breast cancer study.

> >

> > " Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are persistent pollutants identified

> >worldwide as human blood and breast milk contaminants, " they wrote.

> >

> >They accumulate in body fat over time.

> >

> > " In an earlier study, we detected PCBs in indoor air in 31 percent of

> >120 homes on Cape Cod, " they wrote.

> >

> >More testing showed the residents had very high blood levels of PCBs --

> >above the 95th percentile for the U.S. population. The women lived for

> >10 years or longer in homes where Fabulon had been used.

> >

> > " Serum concentrations in residents and air and dust concentrations were

> >especially high in a home where a resident reported use of

> >PCB-containing floor finish in the past, and where the floor of one room

> >was sanded and refinished just prior to sample collection, " the

> >researchers wrote.

> >

> >Production and use of PCBs was banned in the United States in 1977, with

> >a very few exceptions, after studies showed they could damage the

> >immune, reproductive, nervous, and endocrine systems, as well as cause

> >breast cancer.

> >

> >(Reporting by Maggie Fox, editing by Will Dunham)

> >

> >The material in this post is distributed without

> >profit to those who have expressed a prior interest

> >in receiving the included information for research

> >and educational purposes.For more information go to:

> ><<http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html>http://www4.law.cornell.

> edu/uscode/17/107.html>http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html

> ><http://oregon.uoregon.edu/~csundt/documents.htm>http://oregon.uoregon.ed

> u/~csundt/documents.htm

> >If you wish to use copyrighted material from this

> >email for purposes that go beyond 'fair use', you

> >must obtain permission from the copyright owner*.*

> >

January 20, 2008

, hardwood floors have less toxins than carpet. There's a great book

called Detoxify or Die that talks in general about all the toxins in the

World and what they cause and how to try and detox. In that book, they

explain how carpets have dozens of toxins. The research below refers to wood

floor finishes from 50 yrs ago. However, there are many kinds of wood floors

and some have more toxins than others, but as far as I am aware, none have

as many toxins as carpets. The purest of floors of course would be 100%

natural wood like Abe Lincoln had, but society had to go and put finishes on

everything. The 3/4 inch solid wood with minimal finish is fine. A lot of

people purchase wood laminates these days because they are low cost and easy

to install, but you need to be careful when choosing these because some do

contain more chemicals (like the anti-mositure spray that some have on

them). Just google wood floor finishes and you will see a lot. L

Re: OT: PCBs: Banned toxin found in wood floor

finishes - 50 years after the floors were installed

I thought that hardwood floors would be a more healthy alternative to

carpet, but I could be wrong. Does anyone have any thoughts on this, or

know where I can find info about this? The last thing any of us want to do

is expose our kids to MORE toxins!!!

At 06:23 PM 1/18/2008 -0600, you wrote:

>Does anyone have any idea how to test for this? I searched online, but I

>couldn't find anything. I am planning to move and have been looking at

>some older condos with hardwood floors (one building was built in 1957; the

>other one in 1936). I've already had them tested for lead paint with

>lead-paint testing kits from Wal-Mart. Neither unit contained any lead.

>

>In general, is it safer to move into something built in 1978, or

thereafter?

>

>Thanks in advance for any info! :-)

>

>At 06:19 AM 1/18/2008 -0700, you wrote:

>

> >PCB exposure from wood polish

> >Environmental Health 2008, 7:2

> ><<http://www.ehjourna <http://www.ehjournal.net/content/7/1/2>

l.net/content/7/1/2>http://www.ehjourna <http://www.ehjournal.net/content>

l.net/content

> /7/1/2>http://www.ehjourna <http://www.ehjournal.net/content/7/1/2>

l.net/content/7/1/2

> >

> >Concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in air, dust and

> >serum were persistently elevated in two homes. PCB-containing wood

> >polishes used in the 1950s and 1960s (identified in these homes) may

> >cause significant exposure.

> >

> >- - - -

> >

> >Banned toxin found in wood floor finishes

> >

> >Wed Jan 16, 2008 7:10pm EST

> ><<http://www.reuters.

<http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN1665067220080117>

com/article/domesticNews/idUSN1665067220080117>http:

>

//www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN1665067220080117>http://www.reut

ers. <http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN1665067220080117>