The reporter made an unannounced visit to diatom mud, and the result was surprising

Update time:2022-06-04

Once a report on diatom mud was published in Chongqing Evening News, it attracted the attention of many readers. Many consumers have called to inquire about related issues, and some consumers broke the news to the newspaper reporter about the situation after using diatom mud.

Is diatom mud really environmentally friendly?

At present, there are many brands of diatom mud on the market, and each brand says that they are the best, but are they as good as they say? These have become questions in the minds of consumers. With readers' questions, a reporter from Chongqing Evening News made an in-depth visit to the diatom mud market and made the following reports.

Diatom mud is used, but formaldehyde exceeds the standard

Two years ago, Wang XX was decorating his home. In order to protect the environment and health, he deliberately chose diatom mud as the wall coating. "At that time, not many people used diatom mud, and the price was not cheap. It was much more expensive than wallpaper, but I thought it was worth spending some money for the health of my family, so I bought it."

Wang XX said to the reporter very regretfully: "I never expected that after applying the diatom mud, I went to a professional organization to test it, and the formaldehyde was seriously exceeded. I asked the seller, and the seller said that the diatom mud itself does not contain formaldehyde. , but glue is needed in the process of attaching the wall, and the glue contains formaldehyde, isn’t this a scam?”

"Diatom mud needs to be glued to the wall?" The reporter ran to several diatom mud specialty stores with questions from many consumers. Some sellers said that diatom mud itself is mud, not sticky, and glue is needed to put it on the wall, but it is not used much, so that the formaldehyde will not exceed the standard; some sellers said that their diatom mud does not need glue. The mud contains diatomaceous earth, which, like cement, becomes viscous with the addition of a little water and can be directly painted on the wall.

However, the sales staff also revealed that about 80% of the diatom mud is made of diatom earth, and the remaining 20% is added with special chemical materials, such as photocatalysts such as titanium dioxide. The effect of formaldehyde, there will also be some gelatin, which is animal glue, non-toxic, just to increase the viscosity."

"Fake diatom mud uses different chemical adhesives to make diatom earth adhere to the wall. This method seriously blocks the molecular structure of diatom earth, so it cannot play the role of diatom mud adsorption and clean air. And the role of regulating humidity, diatom mud will lose the 'health and environmental protection' performance."

The standard is questioned and the product is not pure

Some people in the industry believe that "diatom mud products have no distinction between good and bad, only true and false." Gels and adhesives, so the functionality and naturalness of diatom mud itself is crucial. If the diatom mud product itself has unenvironmental factors, such as formaldehyde, benzene, TVOC, heavy metals and other harmful components can be detected by itself, then its functionality is impossible.

So, is there any inspection standard for diatom mud?

The Chongqing Evening News reporter learned that on September 1, 2013, China's first diatom mud industry standard "Diatom Mud Decorative Wall Materials" issued by my country Building Materials Federation was officially issued, which clearly defined diatom mud. Its usability, functionality, and environmental protection are clearly regulated. This standard defines diatom mud for the first time: a dry powder interior wall decoration coating material prepared with inorganic gelling substances as the main bonding material and diatom materials as the main functional filler.

Regarding this industry standard, a reporter from Chongqing Evening News found in the investigation that many brand merchants said that they have participated in the formulation of this national standard. However, some people in the industry have voiced their concerns. They believe that among the merchants participating in the formulation of standards, the shortest time for some brands to become a standard-setting unit is less than a year, and most of them are within 2 or 3 years. How can they take on the burden of setting standards?

A reporter from Chongqing Evening News took a look at the content of this standard, and it was indeed surprising! The so-called "diatom mud" with white cement, putty powder, gypsum and other gels as the main raw materials has also entered the "diatom mud industry standard" in a grand manner. Experts said, "In this way, many companies that produce "diatom mud" can meet the standards as long as they add a little "detectable" diatom earth in diatom mud. Is this standard too low?

It has only been two or three years since diatom mud started to develop in China. From the beginning, it has been accompanied by price wars, verbal disputes, intellectual property rights protection battles, etc., making consumers at a loss. Right from wrong! The reporter said that on the one hand, this kind of chaos represents the difficulties in the advent of new domestic decorative materials, and also reflects the lack of relevant national regulatory measures. If this continues, who would dare to buy this newly emerging product?