You’re undecided about which Christmas trees to add to your home this festive season. Will it be a real or artificial tree to decorate, bringing the festivities into your living space? Yes, families are choosing fake Christmas trees as they last longer and save you money.
But your most significant concern is that even if your tree does not shed needles and is reusable, you wonder if they have any health risks. Why? As you can find them pre-lit with lights and are they safe. Well, you can relax!
Our guide on artificial Christmas trees will show that you can enjoy a memorable yet healthy season ahead.
How Christmas Trees Made
Most artificial Christmas trees start with a steel framework fashioned into arcs. First the steel they weld to create the form of the tree. Then the steel manufacturers coat it with polyester powder in a color that suits the tree ranging from white, black, green, and more.
The polyester is a durable covering to prevent the frame from flaking off or scratching. The structure will then be baked on the opposite of the manufacturing process. You find people constructing the branches using polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a durable plastic.
The branches constructed using PVC are green for a more natural look, but other colors like white and more are used. The PVC moves through multiple circular cutters shredded into fine strips. Hence, it looks close to natural tree needles.
There is an automated spool winding the fringe to keep it in place for the next step. Then, the finished boundary with more PVC that is brown is merged with steel wire. Finally, the wire people twist together using a machine.
So, the brown PVC will end up in the middle of that fringe to make it look like a stem. Then, giant scissors cut the artificial greenery and add a frost of latex paint if it needs to look like snow. The foliage is then crimped with a ring fastener to the tree frame.
The branches workers adjust to prevent blank spots, and lights are added if it is a pre-lit tree. So, what are the health risks?
The Debate on Christmas Tree Health Risks
As PVC is a significant endocrine that could disrupt hormones in the body, people feel it has harmful effects on health. Still, people say that it can result in symptoms leading to asthma. Yet, compared to a fir tree, the needles can lead to allergies for some people, while the artificial Christmas tree does not have that effect.
But looking at this small amount of concern, your artificial tree might only release PVC dust particles that could result in health risks after many years. In addition, the tree is pretty safe as it has fire retardants sprayed to help prevent fires.
Yet, this does not mean your tree is fire-resistant if lights burn out. So, as with your natural tree, you still need to take care of where you place it and always follow safety precautions.