UV cured floor coatings
user-831496
| Posted in Green Products and Materials on
I am in the process of buying FSC hardwood floors for my home. I would like to have them finished outside of the home because of chemical sensitivity. The company I contacted uses a product called Opticure. When I look at the MSDS sheet I am horrified. I was told that once cured, these chemicals pose no hazard. I am wondering how that can be? I am guessing this is not an environmentally sound choice but I am running out of options. Is this something that should be avoided at all costs?
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What aspect of the MSDS sheet caused you to react with horror?
There is a lot of misunderstanding surrounding the question of whether certain consumer products pose hazards. When hazards are identified -- one of the best known examples is the lead that used to be included in paint -- momentum builds to have the product banned. If you have identified a known hazard in a consumer product, please identify the name of the product.
If i look at the ingredients listed individually on Pharos I saw that none were red flagged but when I read section 8 Toxicological properties under chronic effects on humans it is classified 4 for carcinogenic effects. There is ethyl benzene in the photo initiator for the uv curing. i did call the chemical company itself and the chemist assured me that once cured there is no exposure danger. I am hoping this is true.
As far as I can tell, the long term effects of plastics on humans remain largely unknown. Plastics are manufactured and sold almost entirely without regulation. Manufacturers don't have to get any sort of approval to make or sell a product. In some cases, the market regulates by refusing to buy certain products (like drink containers with bisphenol A) but in most cases I doubt that ANYONE knows what the long term effects are really going to be.
David,
Where did you get your wooden keyboard -- the one you must have used to type that message?
He must have bought the one Tom Robbins wrote "still life with woodpecker' on.....but maybe that was a typewriter....mushroom keys....something like that
Arlene,
The thing you need to make a decision about is whether you are more comfortable with products that might be more organic, maybe, and dry and thus outgas a little bit pretty much forever, and products that set which are horrible nasty polyolyblah and epoxy aminegobbldyhoo which outgass only for a period of hours. There are things in the middle like enamels that use a carrier that evaporates but which when they fully set up do not outgas
The stuff that they paint car bodies with[an isocyanate] would probably put you in the hospital as unmixed parts, but once it is out in the world it is inert.
2 part processes[things that set] tend to be tougher, meaning it will be longer before you have to have it redone, which is an issue
In the end, I think the process they are proposing is safe, but who the hell am I ?
Perhaps you should have a couple of pieces finished, stored out of the finishers building and away from you for a week or two, and then you can handle it and maybe make a decision.
No one but you knows what you will be sensitive to
Some things that are natural are dangerous, and somethings that are 'man made' are safe.
Martin, the keyboard and in fact the entire computer were manufactured from algae-based resins that were organically grown and sustainably harvested, then fabricated in a zero-landfill plant using entirely renewable energy. I suppose you're sitting there using a Chinese plastic computer, eh?
All I was trying to say to the OP is that I would be hesitant to trust almost anyone on the issue of long-term problems from exposure to petro-chemicals, least of all a manufacturer's rep or engineer. Do you think enough is really known about this topic? IMO what we currently know is the tip of the iceberg. In spite of that, I installed wood flooring with a UV-cured finish at my place. I haven't gotten sick from it... yet... as far as I know!
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What were you doing in my office??