What an event. Finially I’ve found a couch for our pad that both fit in the room, and up the stairs…through the door and hallway. Oh and it fits a room motif for white accessories and accents. For over a year now, I’ve been irritably complaining about the uncomfortable bar bench we’ve been using for our communal “living” room comfort seating. Then with an ugly saag paneer color, and now the room is brightened with a white glow from our single arm rest lounger in the corner. The next fear is my first wine stain or chicken wing drop on the pillows…. So I went to 4 stores yesterday looking for the infamous Scotchguard. The master substance that will repel grim, spills and apparently unwanted dirty ex-girlfriends…
To no avail… Kmart, National Whole Saler, Duane Reade and even CVS do not carry it…
So I took to the internet only to find this:
3M and Scotchgard: “Heroes of Chemistry” or a 20-year coverup?
To summarize the link: “Consider 3M’s Scotchgard coatings, surely one of America’s best-known chemical industry brand names. It is universally recognized by consumers as the magical substance that repels water and stains from clothes, carpets and furniture. Hardly anyone knows Scotchgard has been used for years in the wrappings for an eye-opening list of packaged and fast foods. ”
Now what I found out: “Scotchgard ingredients belong to a large family of chemicals that degrade to form a chemical called PFOS, or perfluorooctane sulfonate…..
In the 50 years between the start of commercial production and the phaseout announcement, many millions of pounds of PFOS chemicals have entered the environment and now contaminate the blood of people and wildlife to an extraordinary extent.
Although research is still evolving, PFOS is known to damage the liver and to produce severe birth defects in lab animals, among other health effects.
And of course: 3M has manufactured PFOS commercially since 1948, and in 2000 was expected to produce more than 10 million pounds of the compound for use in Scotchgard products.
Quitely 3M on May 16, 2000, 3M announced with a vague, one-page press release that it would phase out of the PFOS market by the end of 2002 because of concerns over what the company said was new information–that the chemical had been “detected broadly at extremely low levels in the environment and in people.”
Great! So what other cancer causing substance can I pick up to protect my white couch from my dirty NYC blackend dogs…
UPDATE: Despite all my formal training as an Enviro Engineer and my own personal desire to do my part to concerve our environment, I spotted the Scotchgard at a small hardware store in the West Village – bought a can and used it on my couch – It said “New & Improved” although how something can be improved upon if its a new product is beyond me. I figured there was probably some policy for 3M to sell out of all the stock on the market anyway, and by not buying it, it doesn’t hinder 3M, just the small shops that have taken in all their stock. Can I say I’m doing some part by buying up the product and preventing someone else from getting cancer? Well, look out for my cancer blog in 2020 when I compare my $13 a can investment to the thousands in financial and physical pain I will suffer from use of the product in my home.