Toward greener carpets.

The carpet under your feet may look harmless enough, but tell that to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) staffers who suffered breathing problems and flu-like symptoms after new carpet was stretched over the floors of their Washington, DC headquarters back in 1987. Some collapsed. Some were rushed to the hospital, dizzy and nauseous. The building was evacuated several times. A University of Arizona study, ironically tucked inside the EPAs file cabinets, suggested a possible cause: the new-carpet smell, caused by 4-phenylcyclohexene (4-PC) in the glue that holds carpet fibers together. Sure enough, those most affected worked in areas where 4-PC levels were highest. The EPA ripped out the carpet in 1989 - and decided that future carpets would be 4-PC-free.

But five years later, the agency hasn't taken the same steps to protect consumers. This peeves Mike Synar, U.S. Representative from Oklahoma. "We've got to get to the bottom of this," Synar says. Reported carpet-related health problems are mounting nationally, prompting the attorneys general of 26 states to petition the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to slap health warnings on new carpets.

Such warnings seem warranted. Georgia's carpet workers are four times more likely to die from lymphocytic leukemia than the general public. From October 1992 to June 1993, 6,150 consumers called CPSC's hot line to get information on carpets - and 116 filed complaints. Consumer Linda Sands took her case even higher - to Congress.

"My body hurt all over. It hurt to be touched. My lungs were on fire," Sands testified at a June 1993 congressional hearing on carpet health risks, one of two that have taken place so far. Eight years ago, the Sands family started getting headaches the day after a new carpet was installed in their Vermont home. Then came dizziness, double vision, burning noses. Even after the carpet was removed, their three-year-old daughter was losing control of her bladder, their once-energetic youngest son routinely fell asleep on the sofa after school, and all four children kept getting sick. Says Sands, "I never dreamed that 130 yards of carpet could cause so much damage."

The industry contends that it can't. "Millions of square yards have been in use for over 40 years," says Kathryn Wise, of Georgia's Carpet and Rug Institute, with few if any health complaints until recently.

Sick Mice, Sick People

Studies fueling the current debate might indicate otherwise. Many mice died within four hours of inhaling carpet fumes or "outgases" at Anderson Laboratories in Dedham, Massachusetts, an independent testing facility. Some of the nearly 500 carpet samples they've tested since 1992 came straight from mills and stores; consumers who wanted their "bad" carpets tested brought them others. Air was blown over carpet samples placed in an insulated chamber and heated by heating pads on top and bottom. Restrained mice in an adjacent chamber breathed the pumped-in air for an hour.

The effects were sometimes severe - loss of righting reflex, disorientation, inability to walk, and bizarre behavior such as circling continuously," reported lab president Dr. Rosalind Anderson, adding that a quarter of the brand-new carpets tested were harmful.

Lest anyone presume that these results don't apply to humans, University of Pittsburgh professor Yves Alarie, the scientist hired by the Carpet and Rug Institute to test carpets, testified at the June 1993 hearing that, whenever scientists find sensory and pulmonary irritation in mice, "humans will complain of eye, nose and throat irritation and have difficulty breathing." Even though neurotoxic effects are more difficult to extrapolate, he added, "the severity of such effects ... would dictate from a public health prevention approach that effects observed in mice be considered to also occur in humans."

Still, the federal government hasn't exactly waged a campaign to inform consumers. That's because an EPA team couldn't duplicate the mouse test results back at government laboratories. Anderson explains: "The EPA humidified the air, making it like a |rainforest,' before sending it on to the mice, thus protecting the mice from neurological problems; then they called the results inconclusive." So, the testing continues.

"We found 40 different chemicals coming from one new carpet," said CPSC's Ken Giles. "We can't point to any one of these things" as the cause of people's watery eyes, coughing or sneezing. Even if 4-PC was the culprit, there's no readily available substitute, contends the Styrene Butadiene Latex Manufacturers Council.

Meanwhile, six years have passed since the EPA began looking into this issue. "I don't care what it takes for the EPA to repeat these studies ... We've got to do this," said a frustrated Synar at last June's hearing. "Whatever the obstacles are, crawl over them and get this job done."

The Carpet and Rug Institute has taken some voluntary preliminary steps, hiring a lab in Atlanta to test one sample from a line of carpet each year. If it doesn't give off excessive levels of four chemicals, the line gets a |green' label.

But, "that doesn't mean the carpet is completely safe," warns Giles. Even different pieces of the same carpet can bring different test results because carpet is not uniform, Alarie testified. In fact, one carpet that passed the "green tag" test is blamed for costing Charles and Marie Fitzgerald of Maryland thousands of dollars. Nosebleeds, irritability, fatigue and short-term memory loss affected employees at their Baltimore lighting showroom in 1992, before they finally moved. Anderson Labs proved their carpet toxic.

Sometime in 1994, carpet buyers may start seeing information on potential hazards included on carpet labels. The industry is currently working on the wording.

Buying a New Carpet, Defanging

Your Old One

So, what's a person to do? If you're considering alternative carpets, you'll find some don't come cheap! The broad-loom wools in 48 colors from Carousel Carpet Mills start at $75 per square yard. Dellinger's plush cotton carpets are about $70 per square yard. Sturdy 100 percent wool Helios Carpets range from the high $30s to $50s per square yard. New Zealand wool carpeting - chosen by the National Audubon Society for its recently renovated New York City headquarters - comes in teal, rose and other muted colors, and runs from $50 per square yard. Wool and cotton carpets are free of the 4-PC, formaldehyde and phenols found in synthetics.

Green flooring doesn't mean sacrificing beauty. Environmental issues aside, sisals and jutes are all the rage in California, says Susan Bahl-Hendricksen of Hendricksen Naturlich. Vibrant, soft jutes, made from Asian fiber plants, last about 20 years and cost $35 per square yard. Prickly, woven sisals, made from the leaves of a Mexican plant, run $19 to $30 per square yard.

Non-staining seagrass flooring is only $17.50 per square yard. Traditional-looking Image Carpets, made from recycled soda bottles, go for a moderate $10 to $30 per square yard. Greenpeace went back to the future for its headquarters' flooring - linoleum made of cork, ground-up rock and linseed oil. And don't forget the joys of tile, wood and machine-washable throw rugs.

But maybe you like your old synthetic carpet. You're not alone: Nylon accounts for two-thirds of the 2.7 billion pounds of "face fibers" - the plush carpet yarns alone, without the backing - consumed each year just for carpets. Wool? One-half percent, reports the Carpet and Rug Institute.

To protect your family from synthetic carpet's toxic dyes, formaldehyde seepage, and an estimated 10 million organisms (many benign) per square foot, start by unrolling new carpet and airing it outside before installation. Once it is installed, air the room for as long as you can still smell the carpet. Then ask visitors to park their shoes at the front door. This will minimize the amount of toxic lead that gets ground into high-pile carpet and puts crawling babies at risk, says Joyce Schoemaker in Healthy Homes, Healthy Kids.

Using natural carpet cleaners will then help keep your carpet chemical-free. Cover oily stains with cornstarch for an hour, then vacuum, suggests Debra Lynn Dadd in her 1984 book Nontoxic & Natural. Deodorize by sprinkling several pounds of baking soda onto every 9' x 12' section of dry carpet. Leave overnight for stubborn odors, then vacuum. Wipe spills quickly before they stain, and bust the dust with a good vacuum cleaner.

Such precautions could prevent what happened to the Sands family, who finally moved from the home they built and lived in for 12 years, and got detoxification treatment. An occupational health specialist suggested these actions to escape the lingering effects of the toxic carpet. Reflects Sands: "Like any parent, I used to worry about accidents-not carpets. Now I know better."

Helpful Resources:

* Anderson Laboratories (tests carpets), 30 River Street, Dedham, MA 02026/ [phone].

* Carousel Carpets, I Carousel Lane, Ukiah, CA 95482/[phone].

* Healthy Homes, Healthy Kids, by Joyce Schoemaker and Charity Vitale. $17.20 postpaid from: Island Press, P.O. Box 7, Covelo, CA 95428/[phone].

* Dellinger, 1943 North Broad, Rome, GA 30161/[phone].

* EPA (fields complaints, questions), TS-799, 401 M Street SW, Washington, DC 20460/[phone]. For the brochure "Indoor Air Quality and New Carpet: What You Should Know," call [phone].

* Hendricksen Naturlich, 8031 Mill Station Road, Sebastapol, CA 95472/[phone].

* Helios Carpet, 1755 The Exchange, Atlanta, GA 30339/[phone].

* Image Carpets, Highway 140, Box 5555, Armuchee, GA 30105/[phone].

* Interior Concern Resource Guide (lists 30 to 40 alternative carpet companies), P.O. Box 2386, Mill Valley, CA 94942/[phone].

* National Center for Environmental Health Strategies (complaints, questions, brochures), 1100 Rural Avenue, Voorhees, NJ 08043/[phone].

* The Carpet and Rug Institute, P.O. Box 2048, Dalton, GA 30722/[phone]. Publishes a free carpet guide brochure.