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by | Good to know, Insulation, Soundproofing

Spray Foam Insulation Is It Safe? 18 Facts to Consider

First, this article is not about bashing spray polyurethane foam (SPF), but to get to the bottom of spray foam insulation is it safe. It’s about giving you both common and uncommon facts that you might have yet to hear of from your spray foam contractor so that you can make an informed decision.

Our journey into the world of spray foam insulation began with extensive research. We reached out to four manufacturers and three equipment suppliers, seeking answers to our questions. Our goal was to understand the industry before making any decisions. In this article, we’ll share the insights we gained, providing you with the knowledge you need to make an informed choice about your insulation.

The Pressure on Spray Foam Installers

Spray foam competition has risen crazy high, and with only razor-thin margins and hundreds of companies in the city, a spray foam installer must find new ways to make you buy their products to keep the ball rolling and break even every month. This has led to some unscrupulous installers who will say anything to sell their expensive product to pay for their expensive equipment, over $200,000 financed at $7000 per month; This was the quote I received when looking to get into this industry from equipment retailers. This doesn’t even include basic overhead and other essential trade tools, so it’s considered an exceptionally high monthly expense for a trade contractor.

To make matters worse, did you know the shelf life of spray foam liquid barrels before installation is only six months by law. This creates an urgent deadline to use your spray foam barrels before time runs out. Then, if expired spray foam is installed, it can turn into a goo that will stink like rotten fish, make you sick, and make you unable to enter the house until it’s removed, which is quite costly. At this point, it became a no-brainer to refrain from using this product, as we asked ourselves if spray foam insulation is it safe?

Verdict: It is not a fit for us and our company values. We aim to be an environmentally sustainable company using eco-friendly materials, and spray foam is not part of that, among other factors.

New European studies show that building envelopes must have air circulation to breathe, and spray foam seals everything forever, making homes airtight to the point of causing severe damage to the building structure. It’s good for a house to breathe as it’s normal for the weather to fluctuate and humidity levels to go up and down, and if the humidity can’t escape, the wood rots. The newer insulations are all made of natural elements like wood fibre, paper algae and even hemp fibres! Also, they are sealed with smart vapour barriers that control humidity levels instead of blocking it.

Why We Avoid Spray Foam Insulation: 18 Reasons You Should Too

Now, we’re ready to share the facts that many contractors might not disclose, unless they’re committed to ethical practices like us.

 Spray Foam is Toxic and Not a “Green” Product

  1. Spray polyurethane foam (SPF) contains PFAS chemicals, including HFC and HFO blowing agents used in closed-cell SPF. These chemicals accumulate in the environment, and our bodies and exposure to some types of PFAS have been linked to severe health effects. Because it contains PFAS, it cannot be designated Red List Free via the Declare Label program (see link).
    • PFAS (Per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances), also known as the Forever Chemicals, are a large chemical family of over 10,000 highly persistent chemicals that don’t occur naturally.
    • HFC (hydrofluorocarbon) and HFO (hydrofluoroolefin) are vital to spray foam formation and help slow heat movement.
    • About Declare Label program and Red List Chemicals
  2. EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention is concerned about MDI and off-gassing from SPF, as they have more prolonged and serious effects than predicted.
  3. When looking at the bigger picture, even if insulation helps reduce carbon emissions, spray foam insulation is it safe with all the blowing agents and chemicals? In fact, SPF manufacturing foot print and toxic chemicals offset any benefit, and now you have forever chemicals in your building and the environment.

Spray Foam Insulation Health Effects & Chemical Exposure

  1. SPF is petroleum-based with several harsh chemicals, which can cause all sorts of allergic reactions, asthma, irritations and more.
  2. Off-gassing poses serious health concerns during the curing period of SPF; therefore, you should follow the guidelines and not be in the building or your house during installation and off-gassing based on the Canadian Urethane Foam Contractors Association CUFCA as their Fact Sheet For Consumers of Spray Polyurethane Foam states “that occupants must not re-enter until at least 24 hours following completion of work“.
    • Other environmental agencies and manufacturers state that occupants should not re-enter up to 72 hours to stay safe, and some occupants have indicated a chemical smell lasting over a month.
    • Learn more about the curing process from EPA: Potential Chemical Exposures From Spray Polyurethane Foam.
  3. Faulty SPF application in residential homes can cause serious health effects. If it is not cured correctly, the smell will not go away for a long while or never.

The Risk of Faulty Spray Foam Application

  1. Improperly installed SPF is disastrous and a nightmare to fix. Faulty mixing of chemicals or proportions can occur, as it has to be exact every single time, and installers are only human, so mistakes happen. The big problem is the mixing of the two components as it is done on-site, and the equipment used is delicate and tends to break often, even when it’s brand new. Also, the weather significantly impacts the spray foam results; if it’s too hot, cold, or humid, you might get a faulty application.
  2. A faulty application can cost you thousands of dollars for removal.
    • Whether it is cured fully and is hard or sticky because it’s only partially cured, it has to be scraped off from the stud cavities and around all the mechanical work, such as plumbing, electrical, gas lines, HVAC ducts, etc. And if any of these get damaged during the removal process, how long will that take, and what will it cost to fix?
    • CTV News Calgary: ‘Such a mess’: Foam installation problems leave couple with costly clean-up
  3. If the humidity level is not optimal and your installer decides to do the work regardless because they know drywall will be up soon and no one will notice a thin gap between the substrate and the spray foam, guess what? Condensation will happen like it always does, and the spray foam will not dry. The humidity will be trapped and turn into water, causing mould and rotting your wood structure.
  4. Sometimes it’s not faulty application, you have a poorly applied SPF, ever heard of an Italian slap? Sometimes, you get what you pay for, and you may find your installer cutting corners or, in this case, not installing enough foam in the center stud cavities but just enough by the studs’ edges. At first glance, it looks good, but it actually needs more inches in the centre, and therefore, your R-value is greatly impacted, which is common in low-priced companies. In the trades, we call it the Italian slap.

The Problem with Airtight Homes

  1. Installing SPF everywhere in your house makes your home too airtight! You read that correctly. Your house will not breathe anymore, and you have to install an air exchanger; otherwise, the toxicity levels of your air will increase, as explained in this video and in this report.
    • There is a time and place for SPF, preferably on concrete or metal rather than wood, as wood must breathe, and definitely not for your whole building envelope.
    • Preferably it should be only used in manufacturing where there is a controlled environment, and quality control.

Spray Foam as a Fire Hazard

  1. There is a slight chance your house will catch fire during the spray installation; as the chemicals mix, they create heat, so they can only be installed in open-wall areas.
  2. Unfortunately, SPF feeds fires and creates toxic gases in just 44 seconds. Multiple fire tests have been conducted (see link).

International Restrictions on Spray Foam Have Begun

  1. Currently, in the US, PFAS legislation is looking to restrict spray polyurethane foam SPF use because of the growing environmental and health concerns these forever chemicals cause.
    • Spray Foam Magazine wrote an article for the Spray Polyurethane Foam Alliance (SPFA), which opposes this PFAS legislation change and is working hard to stop it. However, they can’t win this battle.
  2. In the UK, some homeowners are starting to have difficulty selling their houses or renewing their mortgages if spray foam is used in their homes.

Soundproofing and Spray Foam: A Poor Match

  1. SPF is considered to have poor sound attenuation (soundproofing), with a sound transmission class (STC) assembly rating of 30 based on supplier tests. Everyday speech is heard and understood at this level, which is why the basic building code requirement for shared assemblies between units is 50 STC.
  2. It also falls short in impact insulation classification (IIC) because of its subpar criteria; for this reason, it is not qualified for an IIC rating, which is the industry standard for floor-ceiling assemblies that block impact sounds.
  3. Lastly, the noise reduction coefficient (NRC) rating improves sound quality in rooms with sound absorption. SPF is rated at 0.70, which is only achieved if 76.2 mm thickness is applied, which is greater than the standard available cavity space in walls; ideally, you want to avoid anything less than 0.70 to improve room acoustics.

When taking advice from sound engineers or looking at supplier technical sheets, if you want to win the race of soundproofing, why use a low-end car to bring you to the finish line when there are other more powerful engines on the market? A powerful engine with a high acoustic rating will win you the race to quieter space fast. You do not want to buy soundproofing twice, as it’s not cheap to remedy after spraying everything. Learn more about better soundproofing alternatives!

Conclusion: Making an Informed Decision on Spray Foam Insulation is it Safe

Awareness of the potential health hazards associated with spray polyurethane foam (SPF) is crucial. Understanding these risks can help you make an informed decision about your insulation. If you’ve decided to look for an alternative solution with superior acoustic ratings and similarly high R-values, or if you’re seeking a more environmentally friendly product, we suggest cellulose fibre insulation. We recommend using the cellulose dense-pack technique combined with a smart vapour barrier, as this method will achieve the highest results. Here’s a link to learn more about cellulose fibre insulation, and its soundproofing abilities.

If you are still convinced that spray foam is the right solution for you, I would suggest picking a reputable company with a long track record and has been working in the industry doing spray foam for a very long time, and don’t settle for the lowest price. To give you an idea, the supply cost per inch is roughly $.90 per square foot. This means that at 3 inches, approximately an R-value 20, standard type of spray foam insulation, the minimum material cost is $2.70 per square foot for the spray foam installer. Therefore, a decent consumer price for R-20 is about $4.40, and anything less than that exposes you to many potential problems. Again, this is to give you a general idea as this varies over time with inflation; there are various types of spray foam insulation on the market, so depending on the material cost at the time of purchase, it could be more than this.

December 2024
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