Jun 12, 2008 6:58 pm US/Eastern
Industry Watchdog Sounds Alarm On 'Toxic' Curtains
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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A health industry watchdog group is sounding the alarm over a toxic item in our bathrooms. It's all about shower curtains and the chemicals they contain, and the study is quite disconcerting.
CBS
There have been recent safety concerns over baby bottles, plastic water bottles and several other types of plastics. Now, another industry watchdog group is sounding the alarm over a toxic item in our bathrooms.
It's all about shower curtains and the chemicals they contain, and the study is quite disconcerting.
You know that new shower curtain smell? It's toxic, charges the Environmental Protection Agency.
"A vinyl shower curtain can release chemicals for at least 28 days after it's unwrapped," said a spokesperson for the Center for Health, Environment and Justice.
After hanging PVC or poly vinyl chloride shower curtains in their bathrooms, consumers complain of strong chemical smells that permeat the bathroom, causing nausea and headaches.
The findings after scientific testing of these PVC curtains found as many as 108 volatile chemicals released into the air. Sold at major retail chains like Target, Wal-Mart and Bed Bath and Beyond, some of these stores are voluntarily pulling out of the PVC curtain business.
"You can't control what's outside of your home but you can control what comes into your home," said Tanya Fields.
The Environmental Protection Agency's own tests 5 years ago found some vinyl shower curtains release hazardous chemicals responsible for damage to the liver, central nervous system and respiratory systems.
"These chemicals are linked to genital birth defects, impaired reproductive development and other serious health effects. These chemicals are really toxic at even very low levels of exposure," said Michael Schade.
IKEA pulled the curtains a decade ago. Europe bans some of the chemicals, as do the states of California and Washington in kids' toys. But when the Consumer Product Safety Commission was asked to issue a federal recall of PVC shower curtains, they scoffed at the science behind the study, saying in part, "the claims being made of shower curtains is phantasmagorical. In our busy lives there are so many things that we should be focused on for improving our personal safety, a shower curtain is not one of them."
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