Do you recognize any of these? µg/m³, CARE, EPA, PCH, OEHHA, CREL, VOC, GLP, IAQ, VOCE. That first one looks like a typo. I might recognize four, but all of these were mentioned in one "negative" article about carpet. How about "Caprolactam?" I never heard of it but it was mentioned, too. A bureaucrat must have found out about Caprolactam because a whole new bureau seems to have been born to defend against it.
California, the land of fruits and nuts, is proposing reductions in Caprolactam emissions from new carpet. Just when you think they're finished assaulting our industry, here they come again. I asked a friend in Dalton to explain it to me. He reminded me of the old adage, "No good deed goes unpunished." When industry tries to get a leg up on competition by helping bureaucrats, it is always bitten in that proverbial spot where the sun doesn't shine.
Caprolactam is employed in making Nylon 6, the fiber used in about 30% of carpet made. He likened it to Formaldehyde which hasn't been used in carpet production for 40 years. It occurs naturally in many products and in very small levels when carpet is tested. Carpet actually tests much lower than other types of flooring and building materials, but carpet is always mentioned in negative articles, not the others.
What I do understand is that carpet has been under attack ever since it became the floor covering of choice. That made it a prime target of other floor covering manufacturers, not to mention every "Greenie" and political affiliate who use junk science to achieve their devious goals. Remember the lab mice that died? It's been non-stop ever since.
©Bane-Clene® Corporation 2011 Reprinting or electronically publishing this article is strictly prohibited without permission from Bane-Clene Corp.
I'd like to hear your comments on this article.
Please e-mail me at wfbane@baneclene.com.
