Costco carries many of the furnitures made in China, such as Universal Furniture Broadmoore. They’re made in good quality, but some might worry about the toxic chemicals residing in the furniture materials. One of the most common concern is the emission of formaldehyde from wood-based panel products and the effect on indoor air quality. National Institutes of Health. National Cancer Inst. Formaldehyde and Cancer Risk determined that formaldehyde is known to be a human carcinogen. Exposure to formaldehyde may potentially cause cancer of the nasopharynx and leukemia.
Formaldehyde is a colorless, flammable gas with a strong smell. It dissolves easily in water, but escapes as a gas from the water. Formaldehyde is used to make resins used in building materials and coatings for clothing or synthetic fibers. Furniture materials with formaldehyde include certain glues, and pressed wood products like particle board, plywood, fiberboard and engineered wood. The amount of formaldehyde these adhesives release into the environment varies by system.
Because of high tensile strength, flexural modulus, high heat distortion temperature and high surface hardness, urea-formaldehyde resin was used extensively in many manufacturing processes, such as decorative laminates, textiles, paper, foundry sand molds, wrinkle resistant fabrics, cotton blends etc. But it adds the most formaldehyde. Two other commonly used synthetic polymers are phenol formaldehyde resins and melamine formaldehyde resins. There were no observable safety issues found related to the later two resins.
Although formaldehyde is known as carcinogen, generally air concentrations above 1.0 parts per million (ppm) would triggers watery eyes, nose irritations, wheezing and coughing, fatigue, skin rash, severe allergic reactions, burning sensations in the eyes and throat, nausea, and difficulty in breathing in some humans. The onset of respiratory irritation and other health effects, and even increased cancer risk begins when air concentrations exceed 3.0-5.0 ppm. The Threshold Limit Value (TLV) defined by American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) is 0.3 ppm. According to the assessment from Identifying an indoor air exposure limit for formaldehyde considering both irritation and cancer hazards, a formaldehyde indoor air limit of 0.1 ppm should protect even particularly susceptible individuals from both irritation effects and any potential cancer hazard.
Approximately 1 million metric tons of urea-formaldehyde are produced every year. Over 70% of this production is then put into use by the forest products industry for bonding particleboard (61%), medium density fiberboard (27%), hardwood plywood (5%), and laminating adhesive (7%).
– from en.wikipedia.org
Formaldehyde emissions standards in Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Title VI for unfinished composite wood panels.
| Hardwood plywood | 0.05 ppm |
|---|---|
| Particleboard | 0.09 ppm |
| Medium-density fiberboard | 0.11 ppm |
| Thin medium-density fiberboard | 0.13 ppm |
In general, products with sealed surfaces or edges emit less formaldehyde while products with larger surface areas or those treated with certain finishes (i.e., acid-cured) have potentially increased emissions. Higher temperature or higher humidity also increases the emissions of formaldehyde. Per A Guide to United States Furniture Compliance Requirements, TSCA Title VI is proposed to be implemented even on imported furnitures.
The second proposal would implement formaldehyde emission standards under Title VI of TSCA and would apply to hardwood plywood, medium-density fiberboard, particleboard, and finished goods containing these products that are sold, supplied, offered for sale, or manufactured (including imported) in the United States. This regulation is referred to as the Implementation Rule.
Are you still concern about formaldehyde in your home? Want to find out whether the formaldehyde level in your room is under 0.1 ppm. There’re two ways to test it out. The most common way is to place a passive sampler in your room for 20 minutes or more and then send the tube to a lab of analysis. The advantages of such a method are ease of use and the results are produced by an accredited lab. They can detect formaldehyde down to 3 parts per billion. It costs about $100. Second way is to buy a passive formaldehyde monitor which performs 24-hour real-time detection of formaldehyde content. The devices ranges between $40 and $100. Some claims the resolution could be 0.01mg/m3 ±5%. You should be aware of Problems with the Performance of Passive Monitors for Formaldehyde.