Are the plasticizers used to make floors containing vinyl a health issue?
Independent scientists, international governmental bodies and phthalate producers have conducted extensive studies on the safety of phthalates – the plasticizers used to make vinyl flexible. In more than 40 years of study and use, phthalates have never been shown to cause harm to humans from their normal, intended use. Phthalates are tightly bound in the structure of the vinyl and have very low volatility, which means that they do not tend to evaporate. Thus, they would be an unlikely contributor to “sick building syndrome.” Asthma is a growing concern today, and extensive research is being conducted on its possible causes. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academy of Sciences has reviewed the research on possible sources (including phthalates), and phthalate plasticizers are not on IOM’s list of more than a dozen chemical and biological agents to which exposure was found to be associated with asthma. EPA does not list phthalates as persistent,bioaccumulative and toxic ma
