Exposure to New Carpet While Pregnant

August 2, 2013 by Debra Lynn Dadd

Question from Tanja

Hi Debra, What a great blog you have! 

My husband and I are moving into a new apartment next week. They are replacing the old carpet and putting in new wall-to-wall carpet everywhere. Probably of a lower quality too because the landlord wants to save money (we offered to pay more in rent if he puts in hardwood instead but that didn't work). 

I try to live as green as possible, eat mostly organic, am replacing old furniture, etc. and I was worried from the beginning but everything else about the place is great so I couldn't justify passing it up. 

Now a couple days ago I found out I'm pregnant with our first child. Needless to say, I'm freaking out about the carpet right now. I already know I want to move when the lease is up in a year before the baby stars crawling but what about the pregnancy? I'm planning to vacuum a lot and get an air purifier but I feel like I just want to break the lease. I can't think straight right now. What should I do? My husband understands my concerns only to some extent. Thank you! 

Debra's Answer

The best advice I can give you would be to break the lease.

New carpet has a long list of hundreds of toxic chemicals, and your baby is most vulnerable to toxic effects while in the womb. I don't want to scare you, but exposures to toxics while in the womb can result in developmental effects later on in life. If there is one point in life to be careful, it's now.