A recent marketing report from LDI Interiors made a series of inaccurate claims about PVC coated fabrics. We reached out to LDI Interiors to inform them of their mistakes but they ignored us. We have a responsibility to make sure the consumers have the facts. So we are publishing the letter we sent to LDI Interior correcting their misleading claims:

 

July 20, 2020 

Mr. Lou LaMarca 
CEO 
LDI Solutions 
3560 Lafayette Road 
Building 2, Suite C 
Portsmouth, NH 03801  

Dear Mr. LaMarca,  

It has come to our attention that LDI Interiors has recently been promoting a “research case study” which contains a number of false and misleading claims about vinyl materials. This “study” veers so far from scientific fact that it grossly misleads anyone who may read it.  

To start, the report makes the outlandish claim that PVC coated fabrics “do not hold up well over time to the new infection control protocols.” That is a claim for which the report offers no supporting evidence. The fact that PVC is exceptionally durable -- especially to harsh cleaning chemicals -- is exactly why PVC is commonly used in medical settings. In fact, newer protocols could actually make PVC fabrics even more durable.  

The report goes on to criticize the manufacture and disposal of PVC -- both of which are highly regulated to protect the health and safety of our communities and the environment (40 CFR Part 63 Subpart HHHHHHH and 29 CFR Part 1910.1017). All U.S. manufacturing is regulated by EPA and OSHA rules, including the materials used by LDI. To support this claim, the report cites a nearly two-decade old article from an activist organization whose 40 person staff employs only 2 licensed doctors. More to the point, what exactly does this have to do with the use of PVC fabrics in medical settings?  

It would seem that LDI is well aware of the advantages of PVC, given your company’s plans to release Evolution™ Vinyl, a line of vinyl durable coated fabrics this year. Yet you have chosen to publish and promote this “research report” attacking PVC products with nearly identical characteristics to the ones you plan to sell. 

In order to support the false claim that EnviroLeather is more durable than PVC, LDI invents several ‘tests’ out of whole cloth that rely on contrived conditions and is entirely divorced from the real-world use of durable coated fabrics. We asked for an opinion of LDI’s tests from a healthcare designer for a major U.S. healthcare system that is conducting extensive materials testing for products used in their facilities. They informed us that LDI’s key tests do not make any sense for use in current healthcare environments. On the broader credibility of the report, they noted that personally and professionally, they found this ‘white paper’ filled with inaccuracies and opinion

In this report LDI has engaged in the reckless promotion of misinformation and outright falsehoods. The continued promotion of this report does a disservice to the healthcare industry. Spreading false claims regarding PVC during this health care pandemic is particularly reprehensible. Before we consider our other options, we call on LDI Interiors to retract the report entirely and discontinue any future use of such egregious misstatements against PVC. 

We look forward to your swift response. 

Sincerely,  

Susan Orenga 
Executive Director 
Chemical Fabrics & Film Association    

Ned Monroe
President & CEO
Vinyl Institute