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PVC-freier Bodenbelag im Kinderzimmer: Wieso Sie Ihren aktuellen Bodenbelag unter die Lupe nehmen sollten
Requirements for floor coverings can be roughly divided into three areas:
- The flooring serves the well-being of the property:
Durability, life span etc. - The flooring serves the well-being of peopl
Haptics, energetic properties, slip resistance, etc. - The floor covering serves the feel-good factor:
Design, atmospheric aura, etc.
Point 2 has a special significance for children's rooms. Children are more susceptible to health risks and are not yet able to assess them properly. They deserve our protection.
To decide whether a floor covering is suitable in terms of the child's health, you should ask yourself two questions:
- What material is the covering made of?
- What are the health risks of the material - are they relevant?
For most floor coverings, these questions are easy to answer. With natural materials such as wood, rubber or stone, as well as ceramics, cork or linoleum, there are no concerns from the point of view of the material alone.
With plastics, regardless of whether they are combined with natural substances or not, the situation is quite different. In Germany, manufacturers, even of floor coverings, are not obliged to label the ingredients.
Plastic floors, design floors and PVC
If you have plastic flooring at home, very few of you will know what it contains and whether or how questionable the material is for your children's health. Unfortunately, you cannot draw any conclusions about the respective ingredients from the product name either. Terms like "design floor" are not legally protected.
After all, one plastic compound is known to be the biggest health problem in floor coverings: PVC (polyvinyl chloride).
PVC was the all-dominant synthetic floor covering for many decades. Linoleum was invented earlier, but it is comparatively more expensive and, among other things, more sensitive to moisture and humidity. This made it less attractive for bathrooms, kitchens, laundry rooms, etc. compared to PVC.
PVC or PVC-containing floors have been ubiquitous in German households for generations. Nevertheless, more thought should be given to replacing existing PVC floors in children's rooms.
PVC floor coverings contain hazardous plasticiser
Plasticisers are additives that are added to PVC during production. They ensure that the plastic later remains malleable and elastic. Pretty much every product with PVC that you know from your everyday life contains plasticisers. Not only in flooring, but also in cables, wall coverings, toys (also for pets), shoe soles, sports and leisure articles, medicines, rubber boots, crayons, prams, cosmetics such as shampoo, sun cream and nail varnish, as well as packaging and food packaging, etc.
There are several groups of plasticisers and by far the largest is phthalates. And again by far the most commonly used phthalates for PVC are: DINP (diisononyl phthalate), DEHP (diethylhexyl phthalate), DBP (dibutyl phthalate) and BBP (benzyl butyl phthalate). These (and others) are also classified by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection as "dangerous for the environment and health".
The content of phthalates in PVC products varies between about 8 and 30 percent, depending on the product group. Principle: The softer and more elastic the product, the more plasticisers it contains.
How relevant is the health hazard posed by plasticisers in PVC?
Plasticisers enter the body directly. They are not chemically bound to the plastic PVC. This means that they automatically exit the PVC-containing product in liquid or gaseous form right from the start.
This extraction can also be accelerated by direct contact. On the one hand, plasticisers such as phthalates readily combine with house dust, which is directly inhaled, and on the other hand, the plasticisers can be released from the product through simple contact, for example through fat in the skin, sweat or saliva. The amount per contact is irrelevant. What is relevant is that these contacts are permanent and unavoidable.
The dangers of these plasticisers for e.g. the liver, kidneys and testicles have been known for many years and have also been sufficiently proven by scientific studies. Just a few examples:
- Eine 2012 veröffentlichte, schwedische Studie legt nahe, dass Menschen mit Diabetes auffällig mit Phthalaten belastet sind.
- Das renommierte Wissenschaftsmagazin »Environmental Pollution« veröffentlichte Ende 2021 eine Studie, die feststellt, dass es bei Menschen zwischen 55 und 63 Jahren einen direkten Zusammenhang zwischen der Sterblichkeitsrate und der Menge an Phthalate gibt, die im Urin nachgewiesen wurde.
This connection was also proven in earlier studies in the USA. It is estimated that phthalates are directly responsible for 100,000 deaths per year in the USA. - Eine 2022 veröffentlichte Studie des Krebszentrums der Universität von Vermont weist darauf hin, dass Phthalate zur Entwicklung einiger Krebsarten bei Kindern beitragen können. Konkret:
- The risk of lymph node cancer increases twofold.
- The risk of bone cancer increases threefold.
Every now and then there are references to PVC being hardly toxic or not toxic at all. But the toxin content says nothing about whether something is carcinogenic or not.
How can consumers protect themselves?
Before buying a floor covering
Since, as already mentioned, manufacturers are not obliged to state the ingredients of their products - in this case floor coverings - you should first decide whether plastic flooring is an option for you in the children's room. Linoleum and cork are comparatively harmless in terms of their ingredients. Linoleum in particular even provides additional protection due to its antibacterial properties.
But plastic floors are not all fundamentally harmful to health. Not all plasticisers are dangerous either. A good example of plastic floors that are completely harmless not only to health but also to the environment can be found at CERAMIN.
CERAMIN - as tiles, planks or individual large surfaces - contains neither chlorine nor phthalates or other harmful plasticisers or stabilisers. In addition, CERAMIN products are 100 percent recyclable.
There are also some certified seals that can help you choose your flooring.
"Blauer Engel" (Blue Angel)
Der Blaue Engel ist das Umweltzeichen der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Damit gekennzeichnete Produkte sind frei von schädlichen Weichmachern und Lösemitteln. Der Blaue Engel kann grundsätzlich nicht an PVC-Produkte verliehen werden.
eco INSTITUT
Das eco-INSTITUT ist eines der erfahrensten deutschen Labore für Innenraumanalytik. Ein Schwerpunkt ist die Prüfung auf Emissionen (Ausgasungen) bei Produkten. Ebenso führt das eco-INSTITUT Geruchsprüfungen durch und untersucht Produkte auf schädliche Inhaltsstoffe wie Phthalate, Schwermetalle oder Pestizide.
Of course, all our CERAMIN floor coverings are certified with the Blue Angel and the eco-INSTITUT label.
Duty to provide information on demand
Another possibility arises from longer-term planning. Manufacturers are obliged, upon personal request, to provide information within 45 days at least about all ingredients in their products that are officially considered to be of concern. The plasticisers DINP, DEHP, DBD and BBP mentioned above are among them.
Have floor coverings retrospectively tested for harmful substances
There are Expert:ins you can hire to check floor coverings in your home. This concerns not only PVC and plasticisers, but also dioxins, furans, asbestos etc. and also includes the adhesives used. The relevant experts and specialist companies are listed here, among other places:
