While researching insulation for your home, you are probably finding conflicting reports on foam insulation safety.
This leaves you asking yourself if spray foam insulation is safe to have in your home. What about your kids or pets? Will they be safe after you add foam insulation to your home?
The quick answer is yes. Both our injection foam and spray foam insulation are safe to use in every area of your home without worrying about toxic or potential health risks. We wouldn't put anything in your house that we wouldn't put in our own homes.
You have to take what you read on the Internet or hear secondhand with a grain of salt. Problems with spray foam insulation that may have been true 20 years ago aren't the case today.
RetroFoam of Michigan has more than 20 years of experience insulating thousands of homes across Michigan's lower peninsula and the greater Toledo area, so we get a lot of questions regarding foam insulation safety. We use the safest products offered on the market in your home and in our homes.
Let's look at common safety concerns and clear up the misconceptions about spray foam insulation safety.
When it comes to off-gassing, your contractor might throw around the term VOC, which stands for volatile organic compounds.
But don't worry -- let's break it down in a way that makes sense.
Off-gassing is basically the release of tiny particles into the air when a material is sprayed, like the stuff you might notice from hairspray, body spray, or even your dry-cleaned clothes. But you're here to find out about spray foam insulation -- so let's dive into that.
Yes, spray foam insulation does off-gas, and there can be some concerns about health and odors, but these issues typically arise only when off-gassing occurs in large amounts. If you're asking, "Is spray foam insulation safe?" or "Is foam insulation safe after it cures?" you're on the right track by looking for products labeled low VOCs.
This label is like the gold standard in the industry—it means the amount of off-gassing is minimal. This means safer air quality and quicker re-entry into your home, usually in just two hours.
For those looking at existing walls, the injection foam we use has the bonus of not off-gassing at all. So, if you're concerned about whether spray foam is safe, rest assured—with the right choices, spray foam insulation can be both safe and effective.
The foam insulation products we use are Class One Fire Rated.
A fire rating is given for insulation to determine how long it can withstand a fire resistance test.
The Class One Fire Rating is given to insulation materials with a smoke development of less than 450 and a flame spread index of 25 or less. This rating means the insulation is the most fire-resistant but not fireproof.
Basically, if the worst were to happen and there was a fire in your home, the foam insulation would not act as a catalyst. Once the flame is removed from the foam, it will self-extinguish.
The word formaldehyde strikes fear in most homeowners' hearts, but you have to consider all the things in your home that contain it.
These things include tobacco smoke, cosmetics, lotions, shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, keratin hair smoothing treatments, and some fingernail polishes, according to the American Cancer Society.
Other items that have trace amounts of formaldehyde are crafters glue, caulk, drywall adhesive, some insulation boards, and some liquid detergents, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Now that we've examined some things in your home that contain formaldehyde, let's discuss foam insulation.
RetroFoam injection foam insulation has a trace amount of formaldehyde at 0.06 parts per million present in the dry product, but when mixed in our trucks, the formaldehyde is bonded in the material, so it can't leak out. This means the finished foam product installed in your walls is considered to be formaldehyde-free.
The spray foam products we use contain no formaldehyde. Since they are spray foam products, they don't require formaldehyde's preservative properties.
Not only has foam insulation come a long way from its early years, but the machinery has improved.
These new high-tech machines are used by experienced contractors who have been in the foam insulation business for a while. This is because these rigs make it impossible to spray bad foam.
Foam insulation rigs today have a fail-safe that kicks in if anything is off-ratio, like the heat, the mixture, or the pressure, so if that happens, the rig shuts down.
When the material isn't mixed correctly in the rig, you'll run into the nightmares you've read about spray foam insulation problems like strong odors. We always recommend homeowners vet their foam insulation contractors, and asking what type of rig they have and how the foam is mixed are important questions.
Weird things happen every single day.
You hear about car crashes nearly every day, yet you still get behind the wheel and drive to work.
You hear about the dangers of foam insulation, but the reality is that spray foam insulation has made massive improvements in the industry just in the past few years. If you're asking yourself if spray foam insulation is safe, the simplest way to answer that is to tell you that spray foam is actually the new standard for construction.
Both commercial and residential projects call for foam insulation if you were to look at the specs or blueprints.
It just comes down to you making sure the contractor you hire is using a premium foam material and that they have the experience to install it properly.
If you want to learn more about spray and injection foam insulation, head to our Learning Center.
Copies of the Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) and Tech Sheets for the insulation products we use can be found on our website. This information can be helpful and includes what the materials are made of, toxicological information, and ecological information.
Does Spray Foam Insulation Off-Gas?
What is Fire Rating for Insulation?
Does RetroFoam of Michigan Use Formaldehyde-Free Insulation?