his Q&A blog is open for all to participate. Feel free to ask your own questions and answer questions posted by others. I know all of you have a wealth of information and experience on healthy living and you are welcome to share it here. 
Office
Office chair
First, I can't wait for your new book! I've already purchased it. I search your site before buying everything now...I wish I had discovered your site sooner.
I am looking for a non-toxic, affordable office chair. Pottery Barn has some wooden chairs, and "Herman Miller" chairs.
I browsed the Herman Miller website, and it seems his products are Greenguard certified. The cheaper "caper" chair is made of "Flexnet" which I assume to be a plastic, but not sure. Have you heard of Herman Miller?
If something is Greenguard certified, is it most likely the best choice? What would you recommend? Thanks!
I would go with an unfinished wooden chair myself. Something like this: Hawthorne Wood Office Chair.
Or go down to your local unfinished furniture store and find a chair you like. You can then finish it with any wood finish you like.
About Greenguard...I think the important thing to note here is that Greenguard is a business, they need to make money, and so they need to set standards that products can meet. There are many Greenguard certified products that I personally wouldn't use, so I can't say use any Greenguard certified product. Are Greenguard certified products less toxic than others? Yes, but even within the certified products some are much less toxic than others, but they all meet the same standard.
My advice is to always evaluate for yourself, regardless of certification.
Under Wood typewriter ribbon
Hi Debra, Are there any non-toxic typewriter ribbons out there? Because my husband has an old UnderWood typewriter and the ribbon needs replacing. Thank you very much for the help.
It's been so long since I used a typewriter I don't know about the current availability of typewriter ribbons. As for toxicity, a ribbon for an old typewriter for an Underwood (I wrote my first book in 1982 on an old Underwood) would be among the most toxic because the ribbon is exposed to air so it needs solvents to keep the ink wet.
Readers, any typewriter ribbon experience?
Apple's Green Computers
Ten days ago I had one of those crisis/opportunity moments when I turned on my computer and there was gibberish all over the screen. My heart stopped for a moment, until I realized it probably wasn't the hard drive and I wasn't going to lose all my data (although it was a wakeup call that I really need a backup drive--and I'm getting one today). But it was the mother board, so I needed to buy a new computer. I actually have been needing a new computer for some time. Mine was about five years old-- outdated but serviceable, so I just kept using it.
I've been a happy Mac girl since their second model (MacPlus in the mid 1980's) so there was no question I would get another Mac. I went to my local Apple Store after finding out at Best Buy that the only place I could get my data transferred from a dead Apple computer was at the Apple Store. I thought the computers would be priced higher there, but the price was exactly the same, and I got much much much better service. Incredible service, in fact.
I chose the 27-inch iMac. What a difference a big screen makes in my speed of production! OMG! Scrolling down the page time has been cut by about 90%. Wait time cut by about 80%, since this computer is so much faster. I can put pages side by side on the screen instead of clicking back and forth. It really has made an immense difference for me. Working on the computer is now easy. Like I spend a fair amount of time choosing photos on pages that didn't fit into my old screen, so I was always clicking to a page, then scrolling, then clicking to the next page. Now it's just click-click-click.
Anyway, the point I am wanting to make here is that this computer has all the new environmental benefits. And they've got some great webpages that explain what they are doing--model webpages, I would say. Check this out: http://www.apple.com/imac/environment.html and then click through to http://www.apple.com/environment/ to see their very cool lifecycle analysis. They also have an Environmental Report for each model that tells about energy use, packaging, recycling, hazardous substances, and more.
My iMac is made with an aluminum case instead of plastic, with a mercury-free backlit display with arsenic-free glass. There are no brominated flame retardants or PVC cables or power cords. The keyboard is aluminum too.
When I first took it out of the box, it did smell of plastic pretty strongly (I think from the packaging, but my husband said that probably there was some outgassing of the internal parts). I just opened the window, Now, the odor is very slight and I expect it to dissipate entirely very soon.
I also checked out the EMFs with my gaussmeter. There was no increase near the computer. This is an all-in-one computer that has all the guts behind the screen. It's just a screen and a keyboard and a mouse.
It comes with a wireless keyboard and very cool wireless mouse, but I got the wired keyboard with the number keypad and am using my old wired mouse.
I'm really thrilled with my new Apple computer and am very pleased with Apple's green improvements and the way they communicate them.
CD sleeves
Hi Debra,
I first bought a box of CD sleeves, by Memorex that has a so-called plastic sheet see-thru window and it has a flap to close. I noticed that it has a plastic smell to it, I am gathering its because of the plastic sheet see-thru window. Then I thought, let me see if they have some CD sleeves without the see-thru window. Well, they do and they are called CD File Folders. The box says a third-cut assorted tabs for labeling, maximizes capacity of any CD storage device and sturdy card stock. The name brand of this one is Vaultz. And it says under that LOCK IT UP. Oh, and it does not have a flap to close. This kind had a smell like perfume at first, but after airing out for a while, now it smells like plastic.
What is up with the smell on these two different ones? Is one better than the other! Or is there a different one out there I can get that won't have a smell?
By the way, both of these boxes were bought at Office Depot.
I have a box of "CD/DVD Envelopes" made by Fellowes that have the plastic window. To me, they don't smell at all, but they might smell to you. I've had these for a while and they are probably aired out.
I don't know why a plain paper envelope would smell like plastic.
I think you should just air them out before using. I would probably choose the ones without the plastic window. I purchased the ones with the window because I didn't know the others were available.
Green Team
Hello, Are there any books or online resources that are helpful to others wanting to create a Green Team in their workplace? Thanks!
Readers?
Memory foam in ergonomic office chairs
Hi Debra,
I have a dilemma. I have an insurance company that will be purchasing an ergonomic office chair for me that, I am told, has memory foam. I have chemical sensitivities and can't go into any store selling office chairs with memory foam without it making it difficult for me to breathe and my leaving immediately. I have asked that I get a used chair to avoid off-gassing of the fumes of the polyurethane foam. I am also allergic to latex so I can't use natural latex in seating or beds. Is there any way to seal off the material with some other material to block the off-gassing of the memory foam? Or...is there an ergonomic office chair that has a memory foam made from safe materials for someone with chemical sensitivies? Any information from you or your readers would be much appreciated.
Thank you,
Lyn
I don't know of an office chair with safe memory foam, and I doubt there is one.
If your only option is to have this chair, I would devise some kind of cover that would block the fumes. The first thing that comes to mind is an aluminum "space blanket", which would certainly block the fumes. You would need to wrap it around the chair in such a way to cover all the memory foam, and use foil tape to make a good seal.
Once you've done this, you can make a decorative cover of any material that pleases you.
Readers, any other suggestions?
low EMF & nontoxic computers
Marie from Pennsylvania wrote that she knows of a chemically and EMF safe computer from a company in Florida called Technology Alternatives. Does anyone have their phone number, address, and email address? I am looking for low EMF products. I have the www.lessEMF.com catalog which does have some products...
Thanks for your help,
Nancy from Michigan
Technology Alternatives is at www.safelevel.com. They "offer computer monitors, desktops and laptops that have been degassed and out gassed in a special ozone atmosphere chamber, so that the equipment is neutralized and does not create reactions or exacerbate previous symptoms." They don't sell low-emf products that I can find on their site.
I just want to take the opportunity to say something here about the toxicity of televisions and computers.
I've long been aware of the outgassing of plastic from computers, but didn't know that they are also prime sources of exposure to the flame retardant PBDE.
A study reported by Environmental Working Group in May 2004--High Levels of Toxic Fire Retardants Contaminate American Homes--says they "found unexpectedly high levels of these neurotoxic chemicals in every home sampled. The average level of brominated fire retardants measured in dust from nine homes was more than 4,600 parts per billion (ppb). A tenth sample, collected in a home where products with fire retardants were recently removed, contained more than 41,000 ppb of brominated fire retardants."
Another study released in June 2004--Brominated Flame Retardants in Dust on Computers has quite a lot of detail on the range of fire retardant emissions from computers (some very low and some quite high) as well as the health and environmental effects of flame retardants.
In What Fate for Brominated Fire Retardants?, I found this statement:
PBDEs are currently used in plastic components of computers and televisions, circuit boards, seats of cars and buses, and textiles. It is important to distinguish between additive and reactive uses. Reactive fire retardants such as TBBPA, are covalently bonded to the plastic itself, while additives, such as PBDEs, are only dissolved in the material. This means that reactive flame retardants are less likely to leach out or volatilize, whereas additives are more easily released.
Additive flame retardants are incorporated as components of plastic mixtures either before, during, or, more frequently, following polymerization. They are sometimes volatile and can tend to bleed, so flame retardancy may be gradually lost. High molecular-weight, plastic products, developed to enable plastics to be made more permanently fire retardant, use the additive method for fire-retardant protection. The most widely used brominated flame retardant additives are PBDEs.
This was written in 2000.
There is good news. In 2003, the EU passed the Restriction on Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive, they banned all PBDEs, including deca-BDE). Since American companies sell to European countries, they had to comply. NEC uses a biobased plastic that meets the highest flame resistance standards without the use of any potentially toxic chemicals that persist in our bodies or the environment. Dell, Sony, and Hewlett Packard all offer Deca-free products.
A 2006 report DecaBDE and BFR Substitution in the Electronics Industry: Leading Manufacturers are Moving Away from Bromine Chemistry in Computers and Televisions shows which computers have removed bromated flame retardants as of 2006. There may be more now.
Here's a good article about PBDE's and their health effects: Burned by Flame Retardants?
Our bodies are accumulating chemicals from sofas, computers, and television sets
Another article about widespread use of PBDE's in consumer products: Chemicals used as fire retardants could be harmful, researchers say.
PBDEs are already, unfortunately, ubiquitous in our environment. However, I do believe that any personal exposure you can remove is beneficial. Less exposure to any toxic substance is always better. I think it's worth finding out about flame retardants that may be present in any computer you are planning to purchase.
office chair
Hello,
I'm looking for an office chair. Any suggestions for a non-toxic or less toxic one? I specifically need a chair in which the height can be adjusted. Thanks!
In the past I have used various "old-fashioned" wood office chairs that I bought at used office supply stores. These old styles are now available in modern reproductions, and also I've seen adjustable office chairs at unfinished furniture stores (just one example is at www.unfinishedfurnitureexpo.com/deskchairs.html). Search on "wood office chair" or "unfinished wood office chair". I then made my own pillow from natural materials for the seat.
I then started spending so many hours at my desk that I needed a chair with more padding. I currently have a wood frame padded office chair I bought at Home Depot (they no longer sell this particular model). It has a synthetic cover and padding on a wood frame. The plan was to rip off all the synthetic material and have it reupholstered with natural materials, but that hasn't happened yet. I do have a piece of cotton upholstery fabric thrown over it so I'm not sitting right on the synthetic fabric.
Readers, your suggestions?
Laptop worries
Hi Debra,
I am a student, so like most students of my generation I live on my laptop. Literally, all my professors communicate with us through email, our assignments are papers and involve typing or looking things up on the internet etc. I know that the emf radiation from the laptop can’t be good, but it is not possible for me to avoid being on the computer for most of the day. Any suggestions? As this is a concern of mine that done the road my generation will have a lot more cancer from all the laptop radiation! Thanks!
Jill
I'm not worried about your being on your laptop all day. I sit in front of my flat-screen computer all day.
I've noticed that there is a huge difference between the level emf's that come off my flat-screen desktop and my laptop computers in comparison to the old VDTs. I've even had the emfs measured from my LCD-screen computers and they were very low. My cordless phone (which I have since disposed of) had many many times more emfs than my computers.
You can test your computer yourself if you want with a gaussmeter.
I would recommend, however, that you take some breaks and go outside and get some sunshine and fresh air. Our bodies can tolerate a lot more technology if we take good care of them.
duplicate checks
I'd like to order duplicate checks. Does anyone know of a brand that doesn't smell a lot? It's a pain to have to air them out before using them. Thanks.
I don't recommend using duplicate checks for the same reason I don't recommend carbonless carbons. They are made with toxic chemicals that outgas. Though duplicate checks may be more convenient, they are more toxic. I don't think any exist that smell less, as they are all made with the same technology.
I've also discovered that all checks are not alike. The ones with pictures on them use a different ink than the plain checks, and they have a much stronger odor.
I've been using checks from Check Gallery, which are printed on recycled paper with soy-based ink. I've been happy with them.
