The bit that is really bugging me is the statement that "because of contaminants accumulated in the pile".
This presumably means stuff that got on peoples footwear and rubbed off on the carpet. So do these concerned people hover above their allotment and fly through their house, or wash their footware at the door, as well as never lying on a rug?
No one has yet directly quoted any research with numbers or details, it is all just hearsay and assumption.
I did some research of my own using google and checked a number of search results pages from a search on 'carpets contain chemicals'.
The vast majority of these were talking about chemicals used to clean carpets and were from companies trying to sell something, either "safer" chemical to clean with or devices to clean without chemicals.
Nothing like someone trying to sell something eh
.
However of the sixty or so I've looked at so far only one has ANY research or proof of what they say.
The rest are all making bald statements with no proof.
Greenpeace is the honourable exception so far
and their research paper is "undertaken to investigate whethercertain hazerdous chemicals were present as components in new carpets and if so in what quantities".
They also had http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/Product...3&productid=70 which helps you choose new products.
The main chemicals people seem concernerd with are phalates and formaldehyde, which in the open will evaporate, it is dangerous where it can build up and be inhaled. Also any treatments applied to carpet to prevent insect damage/infestation, dirt sticking to fibres etc.
To be honest I am more worried about painting inside my house, or using those wonderful air freshener devices. Read up on those two substances and you will go back to limewash and natural odours on the spot.
=====
Risk always needs a balanced view and sometimes a percentage chance attached to it.
It is dangerous to use a knife to cut vegetables, but how else are you to cut them,?
A chainsaw is much more dangerous and karate chopping swedes is more likely to hurt your hands.
So you use a knife, look at what you are doing and do it with care.
=====
Any dust in your carpet is probably more than matched by the same dust, from the same sources, being deposited on your vegetable plot by the wind and rain.
Think of all the tyres and brake pads on all those vehicles you see every day, where do you think most of the wear ends up? Together with worn out tarmac it either blows away on the wind or runs away with the rainwater run-off. Those attractive looking ponds by any new road, are there to allow some of those contaminants to settle out, they never seem to be cleaned out mind.
DDT the first and possible biggest environmental contaminant deliberately spread by man is found everywhere, even in the Antartic, I have seen the old film (second world war) of mosquito eradication (aeroplanes dropping clouds of the stuff) people being deloused (hand portable blowers pumping clouds of the stuff into peoples clothing and every nook & cranny of their person).
In fact one of the sellers proves my point with its blurb and I quote.
"Misconception #2:
The only reason to clean carpets is to get out the dirt.
No. As you probably know, outdoor air contains pollens, fungus, bacteria, air pollution, cigarette smoke, car exhaust -- and hundreds of other chemicals. When you and your family members come into your home, you carry those pollens, bacteria and chemicals in your hair and on your skin, clothing and shoes. Not surprisingly, all those chemicals, pollens and bacteria wind up --you guessed it -- in your carpet."
Guess where the outside air dumps some of it outside?
Guess what you were breathing in while outside?
Pollution is a bugger, there is little point in trying to avoid being polluted, lots of point in avoiding polluting. Shutting the windows because the factory down the road is belching out pollutants does not do much good, getting them to stop belching does.
On another forum someone said "Let me quote Bob Flowerdew from the April 1994 Gardeners' World magazine, page 60 talking about the ingredients of a compost:-
"Old woollen and cotton clothes, bedding and carpets, newspaper and cardboard will compost if well soaked and well mixed in."
Most of us consider him to be one of the most respected organic gardeners around and it would be interesting to know if he still holds this view 12 yrs down the line?"
Sorry for banging on, but it really grates when people say something and persuade others about it without citing proof.
So the questions are;
Does carpet control weeds? Yes.
Is is a bugger if left down too long, getting stuck and grown-through? Yes.
Should one avoid foam backed ones, because the foam disintegrates and gets in the soil. Yes.
Does new carpet contain chemicals that can be harmful in an area where they can not dissapate? Yes.
Is a normally cleaned, used carpet loaded with toxins?
Will someone please answer, WITH FACTS, no assumptions, no "I read it somewhere", this last question
Meldrew moment over,..... I'll get my coat then?
that HD black polythene is just as bad to get up, if put down by an idiot who leaves it semi permanent or abandons his plot.