Is Mannington Adura phthalates free?

[FloorKiwi]

Hello,

Does anyone know if Mannington Adura is phthalates free? I have emailed Mannington and not received an answer yet. Thanks

 

[Jon]

We do have an expert here from Mannington USA who checks in
I have PMed him
He is probably asleep

 

[Commercial Floor Rep]

Yes. All of Mannington’s floors are ortho phthalate free and have been for several years.

Nope, happened to be awake.

 

[highup]

Yes. All of Mannington’s floors are ortho phthalate free and have been for several years.

Nope, happened to be awake.

Jon knows and trusts his sources.
I just learned a new word to forget. It won't take long.

 

[Jon]

Yes. All of Mannington’s floors are ortho phthalate free and have been for several years.

Nope, happened to be awake. alanf

Yes. All of Mannington’s floors are ortho phthalate free and have been for several years.

Nope, happened to be awake.

Thanks for that as I could not find much in New Zealand
I have seen rolls of vinyl with the words phthalate written on the back but cant remember if it says there is none or it has that phthalate in it
I just lay it and go home

 

[Commercial Floor Rep]

Mannington stopped allowing them in products in 2015.

They don’t put a lot of information out on phthalates in their products because there is a lot of misunderstanding regarding the term. Phthalates as a general term refers to a group of chemicals that are used in resilient flooring to give the product flexibility. These chemicals are esthers or oils. There are many types of phthalates but it is specifically the ortho phthalates that can cause health concerns. And there in lies the confusion. In other words not all phthalates are “bad”. Without phthalates we wouldn’t have vinyl that would bend. Things like IV bags or PVC tubing wouldn’t exist.

Not to diminish the concerns because there have been studies that show the health risks of exposure to ortho phthalates can cause problems specifically with the body’s endocrine system. However exposure to ortho phthalates is only achieved through ingesting them so unless you’re licking your floor and it would contain an ortho phthalates your chances of a problem are pretty much nil. But if you have small children crawling around or animals then that could be a concern if a floor had an ortho phthalate in it.

 

[Commercial Floor Rep]

Thanks for that as I could not find much in New Zealand
I have seen rolls of vinyl with the words phthalate written on the back but cant remember if it says there is none or it has that phthalate in it
I just lay it and go home

Phthalates became a big buzz word about 8-10 years ago when it was found that there were some children’s toys that were being imported into the U.S. from China and other Asian countries that contained ortho phthalates. Since toddlers immediately put everything you give them into their mouths it set off concerns and was hyped in the media for awhile causing a lot of alarm. Anybody who made anything out of plastic immediately wanted to show their concern to the consumer and started putting “phthalate free” on all their marketing information.

Despite there being little to no chance of exposure at any type of health risk levels from flooring, the industry followed suit and made a move away from phthalate and towards other types of oils rather than risk misunderstanding. Interestingly enough, one type of flooring that can still contain phthalates is recycled flooring as the recycled materials can be from older material that contains ortho phthalates. However the levels would be at such small amounts it would be next to impossible to pose a health risk.

Me personally, I’d be more worried about the cheaper third tier flooring coming out of China with recycled material that has been found to contain trace amounts of heavy metals such as lead and cadmium. If it’s not floorscore certified or there’s no EDS I would be concerned. That’s not to say that all flooring coming from China is suspect. In fact a lot of it is of very high quality but there is also a lot of junk too.

 

[Jon]

I presume FloorKiwi is from NZ seeing he mentioned Kiwi in his name?
We have pretty tough rules regarding what can be used in products

 

[Commercial Floor Rep]

Yep, that’s what I guessed too. The U.S, has very little common sense when it comes to such things. We go to both extremes depending on the situation and whether it’s in the media or political.

Asbestos is a good example. Attorneys got involved and made it into a lawsuit lottery. I’m not suggesting anyone not follow the recommend safety and health guidelines regarding the handling and removal of asbestos flooring or adhesive but in my opinion the amount of friable asbestos that was ever in flooring is so minute it’s negligible. The asbestos is encapsulated in plastic. It would be nearly impossible to free it to the point of causing a problem. Now there is a huge industry in many states that charges ridiculous amounts of money to remove flooring when it tests positive for asbestos. They come and remove it like it’s nuclear waste. Yet in other States, there are nearly no regulations other than minimal OSHA guidelines regulating removal and disposal. The problems that came from asbestos came from where it was used “in the raw” like insulation and fireproofing. But have a job at a school and even mention the word and all hell breaks loose.

Again, I would be much more concerned about the health risks caused by mold and mildew but there are virtually little to no regulations regarding them. How many times have you seen wood sit on a job site during framing exposed to the elements for weeks or months or seen construction schedules so tight that it doesn’t allow for proper curing of the concrete or air handling equipment not being used during construction because the GC doesn’t want to have to pay to clean it prior to turning it over to the owner?

 

[Jon]

CMP we have much the same hassles here
You can imagine the changes I have seen over the 54 years I have been in flooring
When I started nobody knew what concrete dust does to the lungs, Imagine how many concrete floors I have swept, nobody knew what a mask was. The sanders used to sand the asbestos backing off. Nobody knew what a vacuum cleaner was let alone all the stinky flooring products we have used wrecking our brain cells

 

[highup]

Phthalates became a big buzz word about 8-10 years ago when it was found that there were some children’s toys that were being imported into the U.S. from China and other Asian countries that contained ortho phthalates. Since toddlers immediately put everything you give them into their mouths it set off concerns and was hyped in the media for awhile causing a lot of alarm. Anybody who made anything out of plastic immediately wanted to show their concern to the consumer and started putting “phthalate free” on all their marketing information.

Despite there being little to no chance of exposure at any type of health risk levels from flooring, the industry followed suit and made a move away from phthalate and towards other types of oils rather than risk misunderstanding. Interestingly enough, one type of flooring that can still contain phthalates is recycled flooring as the recycled materials can be from older material that contains ortho phthalates. However the levels would be at such small amounts it would be next to impossible to pose a health risk.

Me personally, I’d be more worried about the cheaper third tier flooring coming out of China with recycled material that has been found to contain trace amounts of heavy metals such as lead and cadmium. If it’s not floorscore certified or there’s no EDS I would be concerned. That’s not to say that all flooring coming from China is suspect. In fact a lot of it is of very high quality but there is also a lot of junk too.

.....but are current vinyl flooring products gluten free? It's not even mentioned in the SDS data.

 

[Commercial Floor Rep]

I’m not at liberty to say.

 

[Jon]

I remember I took some photos of the backing of a roll vinyl as I felt the backing was not smooth, lumps in the backing which showed through when glued to the floor

 

[highup]

I’m not at liberty to say.

Peanuts?