What We Are Not Being Told About Furniture Strippers

We have all second guessed ourselves when it comes to the safety of chemical products. It looks great, works fantastic, perhaps a little smelly…. could it be that bad? That is what we tell ourselves, over and over and over again through the years.

Today, checking facebook, I stumbled upon yet another person I know battling with cancer, my heart just sank. About 10 years ago, it was easy to say that we all knew one person who was or is battling cancer. Compare that with today, when most of us know a handful or more people who have cancer personally. Cancer is a frightening thought, making this article even more important to read.

While there are many reasons why cancer develops, you cannot discount the use of chemicals in our lives. What is more shocking is these substances that we think are safe are on the shelves, yet in other countries they are banned. So how do you know if what you are using is safe? If you know the answer, comment below.

We rarely read product labels when we are young and aren’t told about products that CAN do damage until it is too late. It seems as though when we turn 50, we know better, but at that point, I have found that most people are fighting for their lives when something does appear. We trust that if a product is on the shelf, it is safe. That is far from the truth.

Furniture Strippers… Case in point. Maybe you are the type of person to strip one piece of furniture throughout your lifetime, or you could be the person who works with furniture every day and often needs to strip wood, metal or other salvage pieces on a regular basis. Either way, this article is for you.

There is a certain chemical that has been banned in the European Union, yet, it still remains on American and Canadian shelves today. The chemical is called Methylene Chloride, which is also called dichloromethane, or DCM which are in the fastest strippers, and other cleaning products.

In an article By Safer Chemicals, they mention that this chemical does cause cancer:

“several federal, state, and international agencies have identified methylene chloride as a cancer-causing substance. Unlike the poisonings, cancer in people caused by methylene chloride can take years to develop and is more difficult to document. Despite decades of knowledge about these toxic health effects, methylene chloride remains poorly regulated.”

If a product is considered deadly, why do they sell it?

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Household Products Database lists 27 consumer products containing methylene chloride, most with concentrations greater than 50 percent. These products include automotive cleaners, adhesive removers, paint strippers and graffiti removers.

Sadly, we do have safer alternatives such as water-based adhesives, soy-based strippers, and benzyl alcohol which are safer substitutes for methylene chloride-based paint strippers. So why aren’t they being used? Unfortunately, this toxic substance is still found in most common store chains.