Is icynene safe?

Question

Is icynene safe?

Answer 1

An article from Building Green.com states: "Icynene is environmentally friendly and does not contain any ozone-depleting chemicals. Water serves as the foaming agent, reacting with the other components to generate CO2, which expands the foam.

"Second, Icynene has a very low density, one-quarter that of conventional closed-cell polyurethane. As a result, less petroleum-based material is required in its manufacture.

"Third, Icynene is very effective at sealing air leaks in buildings. In fact, the company has promoted the product as much for its air-sealing properties as for its insulating properties. As polyurethane, it adheres extremely well to most surfaces, and because the foam remains flexible, it expands and contracts with seasonal movement of a building to remain airtight.

"Fourth, testing indicates that Icynene is fairly safe from an indoor air-quality standpoint. Because of the open-cell structure, volatile chemicals left over from the reactants off-gas quickly. The Saskatchewan Research Council tested Icynene in May, 1994, and found that after 30 days, off-gassing of five different VOCs virtually ceases. Green-Eclipse Inc., which runs the Envirodesic certification program for healthy buildings, lists Icynene as the only recommended insulation material."