P10625 – E84 Class 1(a) closed-cell spray foam: Cancer warning?
EightNineTen
| Posted in General Questions on
My spray foam installer had to come back and touch up a few areas. He sprayed half a bay, nothing crazy. We vented it using a shopvac with the hose out of the window. Opened the windows in the other room where he sprayed maybe a 4 inch area.
The product he used seems to be this below:
https://www.fastoolnow.com/p10625.html
The front of the package has a cancer warning.
Does anyone know about the dangers of this product after its sprayed and cured? I was in the room when he sprayed, then left, vented via the windows for about 3-4 hours, then came back in.
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Replies
Hi 8910 (be great for the GBA Q&A community to have a name for you) -
Lots of products have an associated cancer risk; the real concern with two-part spray foam is with "side A"--the isocyanates, particularly any unreacted side A (which is why two-part spray foams generally come with a "surplus" of Side B...).
But the health risks to workers (an OSHA concern with sustained and re-0ccurring exposures - see here: OSHA Fact Sheet: https://www.osha.gov/Publications/OSHA3707.pdf) is quite different than the health risks to occupants (most often a one-time exposure - see EPA safe re-entry times after spray foam installation: https://www.epa.gov/saferchoice/vacate-and-safe-re-entry-time-spray-polyurethane-foam-application).
The verdict is really still out on occupant health and spray foam; there are lots of anecdotal reports of occupants reporting illness after spray foam has been installed but the science on this issue is definitely not settled - see this recent BuildingGreen article: https://www.buildinggreen.com/blog/epa-raises-health-concerns-spray-foam-insulation).
Peter
It’s unlikely you’ll have a problem with that spray foam. Many products have various health warnings, and almost everything contains the “contains a chemical known to the state of California” warning. Does the warning really mean all that much? Not really, in most cases. Manufacturers put the warning to avoid being sued in case someone argues they should have put a warning. The ultimate result defeats the purpose since the warning doesn’t really have much meaning.
Most materials are pretty safe if you don’t ingest them. For example, lead is a neurotoxin, but it would have to be eaten to harm you. Mercury is the same — don’t light it on fire and breath the vapor, and don’t eat it, and it will just sit there and not hurt you.
The isocyanates in the chemicals have the peculiar property in some people of causing those people to gradually increase in sensitivity to the particular chemical over time. One of the spray foam installers that did a project for me had this issue, so he had to be extra careful to not breath the air in the space immediately after application of the foam. Aside from his heightened sensitivity (he said it made him “cough all day”), he was fine. Epoxy resins have a similar issue with increased sensitivity over time with many exposures.
If you want to play it safe, have your spray foam work done on a Friday. Leave your house windows cracked over the weekend and go visit people out of town. When you get back on Monday, your house has had all weekend to air out so the bulk of the vapors will be gone. I did this when I had spray foam work done in my own house, and when I got back most of the smell was gone.
Bill