Polyurethane help

Cjaff70

Hello ladies not sure if anyone knows about this but I'm so upset. My downstairs neighbor decided to polyurethane his floors and I woke up to a horrible fine filled apartment. I left immediately but I'm worried about the effect it could have had. Does anyone have experience with this!"? Besides some mild throat burning I didn't feel sick

Cjaff70

Doctor looked at me weird and said something about my liver....

stephaniechen82

At this point, what's done is done. Try not to worry. You were not in direct contact and the fumes were not as heavy as being in the downstairs apartment. Just try to ventilate your place as best you can. Think of it this way. How many ladies do you know who go get their nails done...Or are pregnant nail salon workers? Much greater exposure there with very similar chemicals. And, At least you are in the third Tri and beyond the critical phase of development.

kelseyofanne

Yeah I agree - open all the windows and try to air your place out! You're probably fine, but better to err on the safe side!

Beckah31

Baby's organs and what not are fully developed at this point so risk to him is low, but I'd still be pissy because that crap gives me a headache just thinking about it. But so does everything else these days.
Anyhow, vent your apt, and give your neighbor the side eye from me later for exposing pregnant people to nasty smells. That's just rude.

daniellex925

I actually have a similar issue - my DH's grandfather made a toy box for LO and polyurethaned the wood. At first it just smelled like wood and now when I open the box (after storing blankets and other items inside) it smells so strong. I'm worried about the effect (if any) this would have on the baby once she's here. I'm not sure what to do, its a beautiful toy box - but I don't want to keep it if it'll pose a health risk.

MerBot

For what it's worth (my dad's a carpenter, we're renovating our house and I try to look up the MSDS/safety sheets of anything I use), most of the MSDS sheets for the polyurethane products you use at home can be accessed easily. 

Products for home use often state that it causes respiratory irritation and a couple other side effects, but no confirmed teratogenic effects. It's the solvents for cleanup and paint stripper that are the big things to watch out for.

Plus baby is pretty far developed at this point - even if it did have any effects, it wouldn't have anywhere near the same effect as any first trimester exposure.

Not that I'd do any poly-ing projects at this time - better safe than sorry. But you're probably OK

daniellex925 said:

I actually have a similar issue - my DH's grandfather made a toy box for LO and polyurethaned the wood. At first it just smelled like wood and now when I open the box (after storing blankets and other items inside) it smells so strong. I'm worried about the effect (if any) this would have on the baby once she's here. I'm not sure what to do, its a beautiful toy box - but I don't want to keep it if it'll pose a health risk.

Can you store it elsewhere for a couple months? The off-gassing should be done by then.