Responding to a December 2001 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guide, "Greening Your Purchase of Carpet," The Carpet and Rug Institute (CRI) prompted the federal agency to remove portions of the guide from its web site.

Frank Hurd, vice president and COO of the CRI, told ICS Cleaning Specialist that when the EPA's Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP) Guide, "Greening Your Purchase of Carpet," was reviewed by CRI, the institute "found a whole series of errors, not only in fact but in tone."

According to Hurd, much of the information passed on by EPA dates from a decade ago and longer. For example, he said that references to VOC emissions included in the EPA guide "are from 20-odd years ago when formaldehyde was used in the manufacture of carpet. That's no longer true, but people still believe that."