Duct Tape Makers To Take On State Regulators

When two scientists from Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory said duct tape shouldn´t be used to seal ducts, they became national news.

Many reports took an amused look at the popular tape, which is used for a lot more than sealing ducts.

But the companies that make the popular tape weren´t chuckling when the state issued emergency regulations based on the lab´s study. The regulations prohibited contractors from using cloth-backed tape by itself to seal ducts.

Wednesday, the California Energy Commission will rule on a request for a three-year suspension of the rules. The request comes from duct tape makers Tyco Adhesives and Shurtape Technologies.

They´re questioning the techniques used in the study.

The study said the tape is ineffective in sealing ducts because the heat shrinks and curls the tape, causing leaks.

The scientists say the value of energy lost through leaky ducts each year in California is a whopping 400 (m) million dollars.