We're looking to install luxury vinyl flooring in our home and recently came across some claims that vinyl flooring significantly reduces air quality in the home and can release carcinogens in to the air as it is often manufactured with PVC along with other unsafe materials.
We still like the look and durability of luxury vinyl floors but have safety concerns for obvious reasons. Is there a way to filter out the non-eco-friendly / unsafe vinyl from the safe by looking at product specifications or choosing a specific brand? Have the safety of vinyl floors improved with time to the point these concerns are no longer warranted?
Or is all vinyl flooring unsafe by its very nature and should we stick to laminate if we're concerned about air quality and our safety?
Thanks in advance
Best Answer
Most building materials will off-gas for for various reasons: 1) what their made of, 2) what they use to “glue” material in place, 3) warring of surface material. A better explanation is here:
https://www.greenbuildingsupply.com/Learning-Center/Flooring-LC/Why-we-dont-sell-luxury-vinyl-tile
What this article omits is the adhesive used to secure the material to the floor.
Even “low VOC” material has a significant amount of material that will “off-gas”.
Government buildings now require the completed building to “run” the heating and air conditioning systems without anyone in the building for 14 days. We usually don’t do this for residential construction because there are larger quantities in governmental buildings.
Everyone has a different tolerance towards these materials. Not much can affect me, but my son would cough and gag after a few minutes when we stayed in a hotel on vacation that recently renovated their rooms. Your tolerance may be just as weak.