Anyone know about Acrylic yarns being carcinogenic?

[radish]

I wsa at my LYS this wknd and the owner told me she will not carry any arcyrlics b/c the flame retardent is now known to be carcinogenic.

Anyone know about this? I emailed her for a link/article.

TIA
!regina

[AinNJ]

what's "LYS"?

i have never heard that about acrylic yarn!! interested in more info...

[radish]

oops sorry local yarn store

[Mamid]

great! let's start a rumour and make it so that no one on a limited income can afford yarn anymore!

There's a reason why you wash your yarn after making the item. or even before.

[radish]

Whoa Mama! I assume that is sacrasm ??

I have seen inexpensive wool for $2.99/skein. Recycled wool sweaters are another option.

I don't like it when someone brings up (potential) info about synthetics and is then accused of limiting CD options.

Why the double standard? There are plenty of posts about going "plastic-free" yet when someone brings up PUL or acrylic they are flamed. Please enlighten me.

[guestmama9907]

great! let's start a rumour and make it so that no one on a limited income can afford yarn anymore!

Umm, OK, that was really rude. anyway....

if it is coated in flame retardant it won't wash off. it is a nasty chemical that is permanent. Like on jammies for kids. I wont buy anything that is called "sleep wear" or PJ's for the same reason, anything labeled "not intended as sleepwear" has not been treated. I don't know anything about the acrylic yarn though.

anyone know what the treatment is on "super wash" wool that makes it washable? is that toxic?

[radish]

if it is coated in flame retardant it won't wash off. it is a nasty chemical that is permanent. Like on jammies for kids. I wont buy anything that is called "sleep wear" or PJ's for the same reason, anything labeled "not intended as sleepwear" has not been treated. I don't know anything about the acrylic yarn though.

ooh thanks for pointing this out. didnt know it but of course, it makes sense...

[rubidoux]

I am worried that we are all doomed with this stuff. There are so many foods I'm afraid to feed milo (or eat while I'm b'feeding) and so many products that freak me out. I don't even feel comfortable drinking water. <<sigh>> I can't believe how "they" spray chemicals on just about everything w/o any kind of warning. But, I guess it's not like I wouldn't have thought there was something creepy about acrylic.

And sorry Mamid. But I think it's better to have the info and make a decision about whether or not to use it than to pretend there's no issue. I'm happy regina brought it up. I wouldn't have known otherwise. (Btw, I am assuming it is true b/c it makes sense given what little I've read about the flame retardent stuff.)

J.

[radish]

But I think it's better to have the info and make a decision about whether or not to use it than to pretend there's no issue.

Well said Jayne! Thanks for summing up what I have felt for a long time with issues such as this.

[Mamid]

everyone's sick here and I was nak before when DS hit enter.

unless we know for sure that the yarn has a flame retardant on it, the worst thing that can be done is start up a rumour that it does and the flame retardant is cancerous.

Some knitters - like me - can't use wools. The only one I've been able to use without ending up with raw blistering hands from the natural oils on the yarn was angora and that tiny ball I had cost 25$!! So I'm stuck with cottons (boring - and expensive) or acrylics. And some acrylics are just, well, YUK.

Sure, I could use silk. Again, they start at 25$/a skein and go up from there. I'm trying to find a wool/somethingelse blend I can use that doesn't make my hands turn to blisters, but so far I'm out of luck.

Acrylics here start at 1$/skein but can be as expensive at 10$/skein. So guess what I use?

[radish]

Again, it is not a "rumor", I was asking if anyone knew more about it.

I will just agree with what Jayne said about wanting to know the info and make a decsion based on that.

[AdinaL]

There are several kinds of flame retardants.

One thing makes the cloth/fiber inherently flame retardant - that is usually in a poly blend, and it is actually woven into the fiber. It won't wash out. You can buy inherently flame retardant fabric from a variety of sources.

The other is a spray on. These are salt based. They can be washed out. In fact they will be washed out over time. This is what we use in theatre when someone has to be close to pyrotechnics, open flame, etc.

I believe that they have to put on the label if something is flame proofed or not. So that you know if you can use it for infant sleepwear. The acrylic yarn I have is not labeled in any way saying that it was flameproofed. Does anyone have any baby acrylic yarn with a label?

If you are worried, you can also try and burn it. Flame proofed fabric will merely smolder, but will not flame, if it catches at all. Non-flame proofed acrylic will melt. Quickly.

[chiromama]

Hmm interesting questions... I rarely use acryilcs anymore.. just a personal preference. I do use some wool/acrylic blends though. I may try lighting some of them on fire ot see what happens... heh. fire yeah. heh .. (beavis and butthead impersonation.. bad , I know)

Mamid, have you tried Alpaca? it's super soft, not always expensive, and may not irritate your skin.

[Peppamint]

INteresting! I just finished up a scarf in a pretty acrylic (TLC Amore $6/skein) and liked it okay. Mostly I don't like the feel of acrylic.

If anyone finds any info, post and let us know!

[Maeve]

I am definately keeping an eye on this thread. Also, if I have time I'll try hitting my lys tomorrow and see what they say too. I have noticed that they really don't sell much in the way of acrylic, but that might be because it's so easy to get elsewhere. Kwim? Can't wait to hear what they say (plus, it gives mean excuse to go! LOL).

[Throkmorton]

Acrylic is basically "naturally" flameproof but it will melt, which isn';t a walk in the park.
I don't know about it being carcinogenic, at least not any more so than polyester. Let's face it, it is a petroleum product, like all plastics. Most of the info I can find about it is how the industry is making a shift away from carcinogenic dyes, flameproofing and processing methods.
Also, a lot of the dyes used on yarns both natural and synthetic aren't exactly good for you.
The stuff that makes wool superwash is a resin that I don't know as I would drink or anything, but I have not found it to be a huge issue. It is also a plastic product.
Mamid, if you want to play with natural fibers, I might have a source for you in BC that mainly sells alpaca and llama wools. Prices will probably be fairly reasonable (they are for me) but I will have to find the snail mail address. This could take a couple of weeks, as we are mid-move. If I track it down, i will PM it to you.

ETA: most of the cancer causing stuff would be washed out long before the product ever reaches the consumer, so it is not the time for general alarm. Mostly the processes are worse from an environmental point of view than a personal health point of view.

[Mamid]

My LYS hasn't been able to bring in alpaca and the angora I got was the last in the shop.

it just "maddens" me (that's a word right?) cause all the beautiful colours etc are in the wools and I can't even play with them in the store cause my hands start to react.

[chiromama]

Mamid, have you tried wearing gloves? maybe latex or vinyl....??

[Maeve]

My lys has some beautiful alpaca. I could always pick you up some.

[Mamid]

LYS just brought in some peruvian alpaca. 100% baby alpaca. Just brought in as it it wasn't there at my last visit two days ago.

At 17$/skein, I could only afford one. So, hopefully, dd is going to get a sweater out of it....

DP is ranting about the "demon llama wool." I need to go punish him.