[Lisa B]

Carpeting:

At the very least, make sure that the carpet holds the controversial “Green Tag” seal from the Carpet and Rug Institute (CRI). Although this seal will not guarantee that the carpet is nontoxic, it will assure the carpet's volatile organic chemicals (PVCs) are within what the CRI considers an acceptable range.
Tacking carpets down is safer than gluing.
Avoid carpeting with PVC or styrene-butadiene rubber backing, and rubber carpet pads.
Camel hair and wool needled (not glued) carpet pads are far safer and hold up very well.
Finally, do the job in the summer when the house can be aired out frequently, and ask the carpet installer to air the carpet out in the warehouse for three days at least—the longer the better—before putting it in the house.