New carpets are a well-known cause of environmental illness.
Synthetic carpets release poisonous gassed for quite a while after they have been installed.
If you are considering the installation of new carpets, I advise against it.
If you are stuck with new carpets, here are some things you can try to reduce the damage.
I suggest you ventilate your home as much as possible – keep windows open as much as you can (weather permitting). If you have central heating/air conditioning, the system should have a fresh air intake. Make sure it is open to the max and leave the fan running 24/7.
If you have any extraction fans (eg from the bathroom or kitchen) that exhaust to the outside, leave them on 24/7. Note that many kitchen fans do not vent to the outside (crazy I know, but common – go figure) – so check this before bothering to leave it on all the time.
Get an activated carbon filter for your home. Hardware stores often sell HEPA filters with integrated activated carbon filters. The HEPA filter does nothing against the gasses, it is the carbon filter you are looking for.
Important Note: I don’t want to scare you but you have to know: new carpets can seriously destroy your health.
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{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
ALLERGY TO SYNTHETIC CARPETS
Hi
I think I might have taken allergy to all my synthetic carpets in my flat since I moved in over two years ago. It started a month after I moved in as it started off as a normal cold and then a cough which was very long-term like one year and a half then it calmed down for a few months before starting up again. It went away for a while again and now its back (October 2009).
I have had many tests done like chest x-rays, blood tests for diseases like anaemia, etc but they all came back negative. I even had blood tests to see for allergies but carpet fibres weren’t included. does anybody think i should go back to my GP and get that done? This is the only thing i can think of now that i am suffering from as it ruins my lifestyle – i can’t enjoy myself properly without coughing and spluttering.
Chemical sensitivity
Hi Sandra,
Sorry to hear about your health problems.
The problem with new carpets is usually the chemicals they release, not the fibers.
After two years, the chemicals should be long gone.
The problem could be that the chemicals you were originally exposed to have sensitized you to other substances, such as dust, mold, certain types of food etc.
Of course it is possible that your symptoms are not allergy-related, and it could be a coincidence that they started when you moved into your apartment.
If it is allergy-related, take extra care to keep the dust down and look for mold problems in potentially damp areas like in the bathroom and under the kitchen sink.
Also consider getting tested for a variety of food allergies.
Hope you’re able to sort things out.
Carpet allergy
We moved into an apartment two months ago which had new carpet installed. My wife has been experiencing itchy welts on her skin since we moved in. I would like to know if these may be caused by toxic chemicals in the carpet and if cleaning would solve this problem?
New carpets containing toxic chemicals
Hi Davie,
Sorry to hear about your wife’s problems.
It very likely could be caused by toxic chemicals in the new carpet. This is an all-too common occurrence.
Cleaning the carpet is likely to make things worse, not better. The toxic off-gassing will continue, and you’ll have added more toxic chemicals to your home with the cleaning agents.
You have three options:
1) Move out
2) Remove the carpet
3) Stay where you are and risk worse health problems.
This may sound stark and harsh. But that’s the reality (unless of course, your wife’s reaction is coincidental with moving, but many others have had their health destroyed by new carpets).
Good luck. Drop us a line and let us know how things go.
Make sure you use a vacuum
Make sure you use a vacuum cleaner with HEPA filtration. Lower your central heating thermostat.
HEPA for dust, not toxins
Chris,
Having a vacuum cleaner with a HEPA filter is important for dust, but will not help with new carpet toxins.
Lowering the heat may help a little bit.
I don’t think it will help enough to protect your health against new carpets.
The most important thing is to choose carpets that have low toxicity.
It is also important to make sure the building is very well ventilated.
My daughter had this same problem; putting large area rugs made of organic fibers in her room, the living room and runners in the hallway has helped quite a bit. I also got a charcoal filter to fit on my canister vacuum’s air out take, and raised her bed higher off the floor.
Thanks for sharing your solutions to this problem.
You might also consider a charcoal filter that runs continuously, filtering the air in a room. Examples that you can get from Amazon: Charcoal filter for central air or Honeywell 18155 SilentComfort Permanent, True HEPA Air Purifier. There are lots of other similar options available.
im feeleing very ill have breathing problems since laying new carpet now with onset of winter and us of warm air conditioning i feel generally unwell very tired most the time and feeling worse had heart check its ok chest xray its ok stress test its ok i told that chemicals can be used not only but on importing into country.
what is best way to see if its cause of sickness thankyou ljs
The best way is to live somewhere without new carpets.
If this is not practical, you can try putting plastic sheeting over the carpet to reduce chemical release, and keep the windows open a bit to get air circulation.
I don’t know of an easy way for you to find out or deal with the problem unfortunately.
What ever you do, do it soon!
Best of luck.
.. I moved into this appartment about 3 years ago… And a month after I moved here, at first a ton of my hair fell out all at once each day for a month… And I knoticed that my feet burnt and got sores from the carpet, so I kept my shoes on all the time.. Then would take them off again to see I f my feet got sore again and they did each time…. My hair seemed to come out less when my feet wasnt on carpet…. So I have kept shoes on for about 2 years, and been to the doctor about my hair falling out, and told the doctors that I felt it was due to the feet on carpet… Then last week we got new land lords here, so I told her about the carpet doing that to my feet and she said she needed doctors note saying I had complaned and that it was the carpet….. So I talked to the landlord again this week and told her all my stories about what it does to me, and she took my doctors note and said to do reserch on net about this, so I have been doing that the past few days…. I was amazed I found stores same as mine, burning feet , sores on feet, hair loss…..Sickness… I found this under a carpet called berber…. I didnt know what berber was so I type in berber carpet and … Omg it was what mine carpet looks like also…. This past few weeks I was found to have thirod problems , spots on them…. And I found that it talked about that being one of the things it causes….
Can anyone help me getting this tested… To know what is in this and more information on sickness of this…. Please..
I am 51 years old, has had brest cancer a few years back and many other surgerys.. I dont need to be sicker… Please help me so I can see what makes me sick on this kind of carpets chemical…..
I cant afford to move, or id be gone, I need more information so I can get the landlords to change it for me…..
This carpet was put in here new for me the week I moved in… I watched them put it down in the house….
And today found out it came from a (cardens) store… Where the get old carpet
Ty so much .. .. Missouri
Hi ,
I have moved in many different places over the yeare , as I am waiting for a office of housing property. The place where I’ve lived at all have the same carpet , including now. It’s a grey dull carpet thats not that smooth at all. Every so many monthes ,I come in a red raised up rash on my legs or knees , This is worse when my body natrually heats up , such cold night turning the heater on , or summer. How would I know I had a carpet allergy , and how could I find out about the carpet. Help would be appreciated as I am very worried. Thank you
Kathy
Hi Kathy,
It isn’t so much that people have a “carpet allergy”, so much as an allergy to what carpets are made of.
There are many types of carpets.
New carpets can release nasty chemicals. Reacting to the chemicals is a chemical sensitivity, not necessarily an allergy.
From what you are saying, it does not sound like the carpets are necessarily new.
A common allergy is to latex, frequently used for carpet backing. Old carpets release this as a powder, as old latex breaks down. Heat could make it worse and also cause the dust to get picked up in air currents caused by the heater.
You might want to look further into a latex allergy.
I just moved in to a new apartment 2 days ago. They put new carpet in for me because of my alllergies to pets. My first new night in my apartment I took took my shoe and socks off and went bare footed. Within 30 minutes my feet were extremely itchy. I told the landlord this morning of the problem and they had the carpet cleaned. I took off my shoes again and had the same problem. Now that I know the problem and after reading the other comments on this issue I need to see about getting out of my lease that I just signed, finding another apartment and moving all over again. Another problem is I’m asthmatic and I’m worried about the exposure to the chemicals on my lungs. What do you think? This is the first time I’ve every been aware of this sort of allergy or chemical sensitivity.
The chemicals from new carpets have been known to cause severe illnesses in people who were previously healthy.
Drag about moving but worth it for your health.