Question from andie

Just found out about the EOS mattress, and others (Essentials) from Naturepedic. My question is: do you think the organic cotton batting (which is normally very firm) would be ‘softened’ any, by the springs in the system? Their website is terrific and shows springs with a layer of cotton/batting, then more springs. Perhaps this would solve the problem of organic cotton feeling so darn hard ?? Or would wool and springs (no cotton) be better?

Thanks!

Debra’s Answer

These beds are very comfortable, like any innerspring mattress. The cotton is only a relatively thin layer over the boxsprings, rather than the entire mattress. So yes, it would solve the problem of organic cotton being “so darn hard.” And cotton IS hard! One of the first natural mattresses I had was a cotton futon on the floor and it was HARD.

Wool and springs wouldn’t be better than cotton and springs, but FYI a 1005 wool mattress on wood slats is very comfortable. I’ve been sleeping on one for more than fifteen years and I love it.

If you want an innerspring mattress, Naturepedic is an excellent choice.

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Question from Marshmallowcottage

I just got a partial bridge and made sure that it didn’t have BPA or PVC in it. I’ve had it for almost a week and just started with symptoms. My tongue underneath and my bottom inside gums are starting to burn. Also, my salivary glands under my tongue are swollen and painful.

I have MCS and this bridge is necessary for eating and chewing. What kind of other plastics, acrylics are used in a dental piece and is there any way to detoxify it so it doesn’t bother me.

Debra’s Answer

Readers, any experience with this? What did you do?

Marsha, did you get this from a biologic dentist or a regular dentist? If a regular dentist, I recommend you check with a biologic dentist who is familiar with safer materials.

International Academy of Biological Dentistry & Medicine

International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology

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Question from SVE

Hi Debra,
I sew a lot but haven’t bought buttons for a long time.

These are the two kinds of buttons I sent for. I know they aren’t green – polyester and nylon – but are the dyes non-toxic to the touch? Thanks!

1 – Jesse James & Co., Inc. – www.dressitup.com – “Our buttons are from nylon. They do not contain any phthalate. We hand dye our buttons on our premises and use Rit powdered dye to dye our buttons black. It is non-toxic and lead free.” Marsha Pangrass – Jesse James & Co., Inc. – Phone: 610-419-9880
Email: mpangrassjjco@gmail.com and mpangrass@rcn.com

2- Hill Creek Designs – “Our buttons are made from a polyester plastic. They are dyed with Aljo Dye so the color is not painted on and won’t flake off. Janice dyes them like you would dye a tie-dyed shirt, just color and hot water.” Janet – Info

Debra’s Answer

To the best of my knowledge, these would not be toxic to touch.

There are many buttons made of natural materials, including wood, shells, nuts, and other natural materials.

Here are a few websites

www.ecobutterfly.com/naturalbuttons/

www.fabric.com/notions-patterns-buttons-natural-material-buttons.aspx

www.lotsofbuttons.com/en/collections/natural-buttons

This website doesn’t sell buttons, but take a look. They are gorgeous and a material to become familiar with in case you see it in a store. www.corozobuttons.com/

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Question from Stacey

Hi Debra,

I’m looking for a safer garden hose for my children to use and to water my organic garden. I found a hose that is BPA -free, lead-free, and phalate-free, but it is still made of PVC (Gardener’s Supply Company). I also found a hose at William Sonoma that is also BPA, lead, and phalate-free, but is made of a polyurethane (also $20 more). Which hose would you recommend?

Debra’s Answer

We’ve had this question before and there are a number of posts already about garden hose. Just go to the icon that looks like a magnifying glass at the right end of the menu bar and type in “garden hose” to read them.

PVC is the most toxic plastic. The polyurethane hose would be fine (polyurethane itself is not toxic). There are also some made of polypropylene (also OK)

This is still my favorite page for PVC-Free Garden Hoses, though none are inexpensive (I want the purple one first on the list).

But there are now many PVC-free garden hoses available. Here’s a page of polyurethane garden hoses online.

You may be able to find some of these at local stores.

Seems some of those cute coil hoses are made from polyurethane.

This is more PVC-free hoses than I’ve seen in the past. It’s a trend in the right direction.

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Question from Bonnie Johnson

I was wondering if anyone has had a chance to try the Valspar Reserve zero VOC paint yet. I am away from home and we could not get Mystic where I live so the painter is using it in my bathroom. I had to have a plumbing job done for both floors.

I looked at the website and did not see a referral to the MSDS sheet.

Debra or anyone?

Debra’s Answer

Readers, have any of you tried this paint? Comments?

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Question from Hannah

Hi Debra… another odd question for you! I had an old work bench in my basement that I had taken apart and removed last year because it smelled strongly, an odor that I have now identified as a creosote/coal tar smell. It had a sticky glue binding it together, and I don’t know why that gooey glue would smell like creosote but it did. Above the bench attached to the wall is a wood pegboard, attached at the bottom to a piece of wood. That piece of wood also smells faintly of creosote, which I recently noticed. I can’t tell if maybe the wood was treated with creosote (not sure why that would ever be) or if the glue used to adhere it to the pegboard somehow smells like creosote. Any ideas?

It is my understanding that this smell would indicate the presence of PAHs and would be unhealthy to breathe in (though I have v=breathed it in some trying to figure out what it is!). Would covering the entire piece of wood with aluminum foil tape be the right approach to make it safe?

Thanks!

Debra’s Answer

If you can’t remove the piece of wood, yes, covering the entire piece of wood with aluminum foil tape would block any fumes from it.

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Question from Dori

Looking for a new front loading washing machine. I am told they now all use antimicrobial coating on the door gaskets.
What are the coatings made of? Do they leach into the environment or contaminate my clothing? What are the risks/safety for a person with MCS?

Thanks,

Dori

Debra’s Answer

This antimicrobial thing is getting ridiculous! The other day I went to buy a pair of scissors and all but one pair had antimicrobials!

There are a number of different types of antimicrobials with varying toxicity. If it says “Microban” on the label that’s triclosan and you want to stay away from that, but I don’t know what type of antimicrobial they use on washing machine gaskets and it may differ from manufacturer to manufacturer.

Ask the manufacturer what the antimicrobial is and let me know. Then I can better answer your question.

Debra 🙂

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Question from Sandy

I posted a question last week on sheetrock, but forgot to ask one of the the most important questions. Would green sheetrock be equally as safe as white sheetrock..which would you recommend?

Thanks

Sandy

Debra’s Answer

When I first looked at your question I thought of a piece of green sheetrock I saw years ago that was coated with a think green waxy substance that smelled terrible.

Today that seems to have been replaced with a product with this description:

Sheetrock UltraLight mold tough gypsum panels are lightweight gypsum wallboard panels and have a noncombustible, moisture resistant gypsum core encased in moisture- and mold-resistant. 100-percent recycled green face and brown back paper.

I called US Gypsum and got from them the MSDS for this product, to find out what the mold inhibitor is.

It turned out to be Sodium Pyrithione. Here is a statement from USG about why they use it.

Here is the data sheet from the manufacturer for Sodium Pyrithione

If you wanted to use green sheetrock, it’s unlikely you would have any exposure to the fungicide after it was painted. But it’s not meant to be water-resistant.

In my bathroom and kitchen, I tiled the walls up seven feet to have waterproof walls. My bathroom is sooooo waterproof.

If you are wanting to install tile, use cement backerboard. That will firmly hold the tile in place.

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Question from Craig

Hi, Debra. I have a question. What boxes of chocolate do you recommend for Mother’s Day? Thanks.

Craig

Debra’s Answer

If you want chocolates in a pretty gift box, I don’t know of any organic chocolates you can buy in a store, but you might be able to order online. I started to do a search and found some, but they didn’t list their ingredients, so I couldn’t evaluate the sweeteners etc.

But let me say this about gifts. The best gifts are gifts that will make the receiver happy. If a box of chocolates says “I love you” to your Mom, then you should give her a box of chocolates of the kind SHE likes. Having a special treat one day out of the year is fine.

Of the boxes of chocolates that are generally available, I would choose Godiva. Not organic, has sugar, but no artificial ingredients or additives. It’s “all natural” unless they’ve changed since I last looked at the label. I recommended Godiva Chocolates in my first book Nontoxic & Natural in 1984. There was no organic chocolate then, and these were the best because they were all natural.

They are delicious and a very special gift.

Also look for a local chocolatier where you live. You can go in the shop and ask about ingredients and they will fill a box of chocolates you choose, just for your mom.

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Question from KER

Hi, just saw a segment on a shopping channel, while channel-surfing. The Simmons BeautyRest company was hyping its foam inside the mattress – saying it containted no formaldehyde, no chlorofluorocarbons, no lead, no mercury. They talked about how other mattresses smell a lot when you take off the plastic wrapper; theirs to not, because there is no outgassing. I am SO skeptical, but oh, if only. Their website says nothing about this! Any comments? Thanks!

Debra’s Answer

Well, there is some information about this.

I found it on the website North Shore Bedding, which says

I also found it on a complaints about these mattresses to the Consumer Product Safety Commission:
www.saferproducts.gov/ViewIncident/1232160

And here’s a press release announcing these mattresses are certified by GREENGUARD because of the CertiPUR-US certified foam.

www.prweb.com/releases/2010/10/prweb4646034.htm

But here’s the thing. I researched this foam extensively. It’s polyurethane foam made with a whole list of toxic chemicals (which I will write about another day).

Notice that it says LOW emissions, not NO emissions.

Then it says it’s made without “prohibited phthalates.” Um hmmm. All the foams are made without prohibited phthalates. They are prohibited by law. So nothing different here.

No CFCs. Well, CFCs were banned in 1978, so, again, no polyurethane foam is made with them.

Typically mercury, lead and other heavy metals are also not used to make polyurethane foam.

Formaldehyde also is not part of the polyurethane foam formula.

And PBDE’s have been banned in the United States since 2004. Again, no foam would have them for this reason.

It’s great the mattress doesn’t contain any of these chemicals. But it does contain other chemicals.

In fact, this certified foam is no different than any other polyurethane foam. It’s just telling you that it doesn’t contain chemicals that wouldn’t be there in the first place.

It’s like putting a label on a can of pineapple that says “fat-free.” Well, yes, there is no fat in this can of pineapple, but neither to any other pineapples contain fat.

By contract, organic cotton, for example, has NO emissions. I don’t want to sleep on a LOW emission mattress. When you see that phrase “low emissions” it means there are emissions of toxic chemicals. Certainly there might be less toxic chemicals than other mattresses, but it’s more emissions than natural fibers.

I’ll stick with my organic wool mattress, thank you.

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