Wainscoting our nursery

[New2woodworking]

Hello!

My wife and I would like to wainscot our nursery but of all of the options available, there are Prop 65 warnings.

As this will be in a nursery, we would like to find an option that wouldn’t be harmful. 
 

Any help or direction would be greatly appreciated!

[legenddc]

Prop 65 warnings are slapped on everything because the alternative is paying for the testing to prove they're not going to cause cancer. 

[Chestnut]

Doesn't coffee, toast, potato chips basically anything with a maillard reaction carry a prop 65 warning? That warning is on everything these days. I agree with the testing comment.

I think there is little to worry about as a child's contact with the waistcoat is likely limited. Paint and drywall are likely just as harmful.

[JohnG]

Good ol’ California.

Guess what also has a Prop 65 warning? The OB/GYN office and the hospital. When we were expecting our first in CA, we would always laugh at the Prop 65 warnings by the entrances to those buildings. 

The trouble with their Prop 65 warnings is that you can’t tell which items are actually a potential health hazard when everything has the warning on it.

[wtnhighlander]

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.

[Chet]

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.

[VizslaDad]

On 4/13/2021 at 7:54 PM, New2woodworking said:

Hello!

My wife and I would like to wainscot our nursery but of all of the options available, there are Prop 65 warnings.

As this will be in a nursery, we would like to find an option that wouldn’t be harmful. 
 

Any help or direction would be greatly appreciated!

Congratulations on the inbound bundle of joy.

I'm going to echo all the sentiments folks have already shared. Frankly, most if not all woodworking tools have those California warnings plastered all over their manuals. Does that mean that a circular saw is really spraying carcinogens everywhere? No. Like @legenddc says, the warnings are in place of paying for prohibitively expensive and essentially unhelpful (for the majority of consumers and cases) testing. 

I have 11 month old twins. I care about what environmental factors I subject them to. That said, my wife and I aren't so paranoid that we're going to sell our house and move into a handwoven canvas yurt to escape modern materials. If you keep your house relatively clean, maybe run an air filter if you have anyone sensitive to dust etc., and get fresh air circulating through your house with some frequency everything should be a-ok.

Now, if you're looking to satisfy a partner's paranoia re: materials used in the nursery, go with solid wood and shellac and/or milk paint and you can legitimately tell said partner you've used materials that won't offgas anything nasty or be problematic if gnawed on.

[Barron]

Actually, the circ saw is spraying out sawdust, which is a known carcinogen. . .

[VizslaDad]

15 hours ago, Barron said:

Actually, the circ saw is spraying out sawdust, which is a known carcinogen. . .

Ack, touche! I was thinking more along the the petrochemical lines but you are 100% correct of course.