Bamboo Flooring

[hk blues]

56 minutes ago, Jack Peterson said:

 The unions? and Not the Health & safety brigade 

Yes, the GMB who are concerned about the risks to the health of their members working with the material.  You would have thought the overly cautious (at times) HSE would have been on it i there was any serious issues but it seems not.

[bastonjock]

22 hours ago, hk blues said:

Not banned but I understand the Unions are pushing for it 

I spoke to my son and he tells me that you need catagory 3 ventilation and extraction when cutting mdf

Its been proven to be cancerous,  he mentioned that it has stuff like formaldehyde in its composition

Yes its not banned yet 

[Tommy T.]

3 minutes ago, bastonjock said:

I spoke to my son and he tells me that you need catagory 3 ventilation and extraction when cutting mdf

Its been proven to be cancerous,  he mentioned that it has stuff like formaldehyde in its composition

Yes its not banned yet 

Yup... Thanks Baston, for your input... won't be putting THAT in our house! Apparently there is formaldehyde AND VOC (whatever that is, but it's apparently also a nasty chemical) in the mdf and lesser amounts in the woven stranded. So I am seeking low or no content of either for our tiles. Even if not carcinogenic, those chemicals would cause allergies and irritation in our lungs - don't want that either...

 

[Mike J]

24 minutes ago, Tommy T. said:

AND VOC (whatever that is, but it's apparently also a nasty chemical)

Volatile organic compound.  And almost everyone, including me, loves that "new car smell" 

From Wikipedia

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are organic chemicals that have a high vapor pressure at ordinary room temperature. Their high vapor pressure results from a low boiling point, which causes large numbers of molecules to evaporate or sublimate from the liquid or solid form of the compound and enter the surrounding air, a trait known as volatility. For example, formaldehyde, which evaporates from paint and releases from materials like resin, has a boiling point of only –19 °C (–2 °F).

VOCs are numerous, varied, and ubiquitous. They include both human-made and naturally occurring chemical compounds. Most scents or odors are of VOCs. VOCs play an important role in communication between plants,[1] and messages from plants to animals. Some VOCs are dangerous to human health or cause harm to the environment. Anthropogenic VOCs are regulated by law, especially indoors, where concentrations are the highest. Harmful VOCs typically are not acutely toxic, but have compounding long-term health effects. Because the concentrations are usually low and the symptoms slow to develop, research into VOCs and their effects is difficult.

[Gary D]

27 minutes ago, Tommy T. said:

Yup... Thanks Baston, for your input... won't be putting THAT in our house! Apparently there is formaldehyde AND VOC (whatever that is, but it's apparently also a nasty chemical) in the mdf and lesser amounts in the woven stranded. So I am seeking low or no content of either for our tiles. Even if not carcinogenic, those chemicals would cause allergies and irritation in our lungs - don't want that either...

 

I suspect these chemicals only  become hazardous when worked.

[Tommy T.]

28 minutes ago, Mike J said:

Volatile organic compound.  And almost everyone, including me, loves that "new car smell" 

 

Thanks for the info... The wood tiles we have looked at that we prefer promise "reduced," or "minimal" formaldehyde but don't mention VOCs... So I guess we hope they will be okay...

I think the ones we like all come from China (and I don't necessarily trust Chinese products considering the lead and other things they adulterate their products with). The non-Chinese tiles are prohibitively expensive.

[Tommy T.]

33 minutes ago, Gary D said:

I suspect these chemicals only  become hazardous when worked.

I think that you are probably right, mostly. They will certainly be worse when worked and sending dust into the air. After that? ...

[bastonjock]

7 hours ago, Gary D said:

I suspect these chemicals only  become hazardous when worked.

Belive it or not so is asbestos,  when its found jn paint and other items like plaster board or artex , its only when you start drilling holes snd stuff it beccomes a problem

If i have to drill into paint obtaining asbestos , i need a mask rated fir asbestos and a second operative with a hepa filtered vaccume cleaner , alll bags masks etc are then put into special bags and disposes of at one of two approved  dumps in the uk 

[jimeve]

12 hours ago, bastonjock said:

Belive it or not so is asbestos,  when its found jn paint and other items like plaster board or artex , its only when you start drilling holes snd stuff it beccomes a problem

If i have to drill into paint obtaining asbestos , i need a mask rated fir asbestos and a second operative with a hepa filtered vaccume cleaner , alll bags masks etc are then put into special bags and disposes of at one of two approved  dumps in the uk 

I never knew some paint contained asbestos, 40 years in the trade and never got told about this. I suspect textured paint may contain asbestos.

[hk blues]

12 hours ago, bastonjock said:

Belive it or not so is asbestos,  when its found jn paint and other items like plaster board or artex , its only when you start drilling holes snd stuff it beccomes a problem

If i have to drill into paint obtaining asbestos , i need a mask rated fir asbestos and a second operative with a hepa filtered vaccume cleaner , alll bags masks etc are then put into special bags and disposes of at one of two approved  dumps in the uk 

I also wonder how many DIY experts have inadvertently drilled/cut into asbestos in older properties without knowing?  I for one would have no clue if asbestos was present.  That said, I'm not sure how much exposure would be needed to present any actual harm.