I didn’t realize it until you mentioned it but it’s true on my part. DC at my ts has definitely decreased as I look back and was about the time I installed the zci. I even went as far as duct taping gaps in my collection area to increase collection to no avail. 

When you do go back, will you order me one?  Congrats on your new toy! 

I live in California and Prop 65 is an absolute joke.  It is even on restaurant entrances if they sell wine.  It is a non thing as far as I am concerned.

I can tell you that my 1.5 hp DC, vented outside, can pull planer shaving from the floor through a 4" hose pretty well. But when I plug in a 2" vac hose, it struggles to lift fine sawdust from the surface. Connecting the 4" hose to my saw, I still need at least the factory throat plate to pass enough air for any collection at all. Zero clearance plates kill the DC altogether.

First, universal warnings like Prop 65 are kind of useless. You know the #1 cause of death in the US? Birth, as in being alive. Warning people that anything they taste, touch, smell, or look at funny may eventually kill them is quite redundant. Now that the rant is over, I would suggest (as a woodworker) that some natural wood boards, tounged, grooved, and beaded, will make wonderful wainscoat. No artifical materials needed. But the practical side of me says look for a plywood wainscoat product at the upper side of what you can afford, as cost roughly follows quality, and quality is likely to mean less chance of nasty off-gassing adhesives.