Why do Harbor Freight Stores smell so bad?
Many DIY enthusiasts are familiar with the Harbor Freight brand; it’s popular because their tools and supplies are sold at a discount compared to other chain hardware stores. Harbor Freight doesn’t rely on name-brand tool manufacturers for their products; they have developed their own brands like “Pittsburgh”, “Chicago Electric”, “Hercules” and “Bauer”.
Harbor Freight tools are manufactured overseas, mostly in China. However, this is not exclusively the reason for the characteristic “rubber smell” of their stores, because some premium brands, like Snap-On, are also manufactured in China. The problem is the cheaper processes used in Harbor Freight products, especially the plastics (plastic handles and cases of tools) and rubber tires. Plasticizers are used to make plastics more flexible, easy to mold, and durable. These plasticizers contain formaldehyde, benzene, and toluene. The more flexible the plastic, the stronger the potential odor. Inexpensive tires also have their own set of odor-causing factors. Vulcanization is the process of strengthening rubber by adding sulfur or other chemicals to create “cross-links” between the rubber molecules, and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and mercaptans are byproducts of rubber vulcanization. H2S is also known as sewer gas, and mercaptans are used to make natural gas and propane smell alarmingly bad. Other chemical byproducts of rubber manufacture include low-quality antioxidants, fillers, and VOCs like volatile amines, benzene, styrene, and toluene. (What The Awful Stench Coming From Harbor Freight's Tools Is About)
These processes and chemicals are common to most plastics and rubber, but here’s the difference between Harbor Freight and premium brands: premium brands add extra steps to deodorize their products. There are odor-reducing steps such as chemical scrubbing, plasma treatment, and photocatalysis for plastics. A particular rubber odor common in the sidewalls and other parts of inexpensive tires, can be addressed by using a peroxide rather than a sulfur vulcanization system, also by avoiding cheap additives, using deodorizing post-treatments, or adding time-consuming processes like aeration and ensuring complete vulcanization. Without these steps, the results are cheaper but smelly products!
Inexpensive tools and products are found in many “big box stores” too, but the larger stores not as odiferous because of the space: the combination of all these VOCs are mixed into more cubic feet of air, which dilutes them. The typical Harbor Freight store is 15,000 to 16,500 square feet, while a typical Walmart (not SuperCenter) is 106,000 square feet: the typical WalMart has a ten times larger footprint, with much taller ceilings. Having so many smelly products in a small store can be overwhelming, which is why chemically sensitive people avoid them. But, recognizing that these are toxic chemicals–shouldn’t anyone who cares about their health avoid them?
Probably, yes. Some of these VOCs are quite harmful, especially to pregnant women, children, and young people. Why? They (H2S, formaldehyde, benzene, styrene for example) are mutagen chemicals, which can cause changes to your DNA sequence. If you are of child-bearing age or younger, this should be a major concern (see our article). It seems to us that employment in such an atmosphere of high VOC levels could be downright dangerous to your health, because part-time employees spend 12-24 hours in the store, while full-time associates log in 36 hours or more. No employee discount or benefit could truly make up for these types of hazards.
If you do visit and purchase from Harbor Freight, you can take the precaution of letting your new tool(s) offgas in a covered location outdoors, or in a place (like garage or workshop) that can be ventilated. Although some products can be used in the home, it’s best to avoid storing them into your home. Besides being mutagens, VOCs are a common trigger for Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, which often causes patients to choose between preserving their health and many social activities that others enjoy, because they can’t tolerate chemicals and fragrances (read one story here). In summary, those extra processes used by premium toolmakers to remove VOCs could be very valuable to your health.
Photo by Ravi Sharma on Unsplash
