Caveat Emptor

---

The Carpet and Rug Institute (CRI) used to advertise to doctors in physician journals claiming that carpeted rooms are actually better for the allergic patient than hard floors. I thought they would extend these ads to the public, but that has not happened yet. Dozens of scientific studies have been published in peer-reviewed, prestigious medical journals on the value of avoiding what you're allergic to. Almost all of them recommend removing carpeted surfaces and putting down tile, wood or linoleum instead. The references provided by the CRI that support carpeting being less allergenic than hard floors come down to one medical abstract; it was not accepted for publication in any peer-reviewed journal.

Their argument goes like this: when you walk on hard floors, you kick up pollen, dust mites particles, etc, that get into your "breathing zone". On the other hand, according to CRI, carpet traps these particles, thus protecting you from breathing them in.

THIS IS JUST NOT TRUE.

By cleaning hard surfaces, you remove the allergens entirely. Carpeting, which provides dust mites with a nice, warm, moist environment to live, can never be totally cleaned of allergenic particles. Not even close. So keep your carpeting if you can control your allergy symptoms in spite of it, but don't install it because you think it will help with your allergies.

So, while the Carpet and Rug Institute puts its opinion all over the internet (including Wikipedia, unfortunately, claiming that carpet helps allergies and asthma, almost all researchers disagree:

Here are some examples: from BBC News and the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology.

David B. Engler, MD

Note: Information contained in this article should not be considered a substitute for consultation with a board-certified allergist to address individual medical needs.