Stability/Exercise Ball out-gases toxics...

Are you using a Thera-Band exercise ball. Those are said to be "made of = a specially formulated vinyl compound" ( =

), which in turn could = release some monomeric vinyl chloride ( = ) and thus a mild, sweet = odor. It appears these balls are recommended for indoor use!?

Either it goes away with time, depending on the concentration, or not. I = doubt you can wipe or wash it off. Perhaps you can wrap around some = transparent, odorless plastic foil and seal off the ends of the foil air = tight, if you know what I mean ...

"Unbelievably toxic" would be if you couldn't speak about it any more = ....! Before that happens, I'd go back to where I bought this ball to = get my money back.

Mechan wrote:

As Rolf Indicates, if the smell is coming from something in the plastic, it will decrease over time, although it will never go away completely. Try leaving the ball alone in the garage, attic or storage shed for a few weeks or months. That should result in a dramatic decrease in the odor. You can accelerate the process by putting somewhere warm. An attic in the summertime would be ideal. However, now that's if Fall, you could try placing it in a garage or storage shed equipped with a space heater. Of course be careful with the space heater. Leave plenty of space around it to avoid igniting a fire.

Larry Effler

Unfortunately, the (un)pleasantness of an odor is not correlated to its toxicity. Cyanide smells like almonds, phosgene smells like fresh cut grass. And keep in mind that concentration cannot be quantified by your nose. When you smell a natural gas leak, you are smelling the hydrogen sulfer that has been added since the gas is odorless, but the H2S isn't even at parts per billion. So the score then is natural gas: 99.9999999% pure is oderless, H2S at 0.00000001% has a strong smell.

I can't imagine that it is residual vinyl chlorine monomer (VCM). The government watches VCM levels and restricts them to very low levels.

If it is palsticizer, your idea of a vacuum oven would help remove plasticizers, but remember - the plasticizers are there for a reason. Take them all out and you will have rigid plastic that you could plumb your house with.

Assuming you could find a spray or dip that would 1) stick to the ball, and 2) be sufficiently flexible, the adhesion will degrade over time. The plasticizers will keep diffusing to the surface and would build up at the interface with the coating. If they don't soften the coating, they certainly will ruin the adhesion.

The bottom line: you will not be happy long term with this ball.

John Aspen Research, -

=93Turning Questions into Answers=94

Opinions expressed herein are my own and may not represent those of my employer.