FORMALDEHYDE STANDARD IN VIETNAMESE PLYWOOD

1/ What is formaldehyde?

   Formaldehyde is a strong-smelling, colorless gas used in making building materials and many household products. It is used in pressed-wood products, such as particleboard, plywood, and fiberboard; glues and adhesives; permanent-press fabrics; paper product coatings; and certain insulation materials. It is also used to make other chemicals.
   Formaldehyde is a gas with bad effects on health, with high carcinogenic potential. If exposed to formaldehyde for a long time, whether the concentration is high or low, it also causes many serious harms to the skin and respiratory system, white blood cell diseases, cancer of many organs in the body, especially the lungs, nose, throat, etc. Formaldehyde is also a cause of chromosomal aberrations and mutations. Infected pregnant women can affect the development of the fetus.
   Hence, in recent years, consumers have tended to research formaldehyde standards with the aim of protecting health and the environment. In this article, we will provide you a basic knowledge about formaldehyde emission.
 

2/ Application of Formaldehyde

   Formaldehyde is a toxic industrial chemical that is widely used in the production of many products for a normal life. Therefore, in the final products, small amounts of formaldehyde may still be present.

2.1 Construction and architecture

   Formaldehyde in glue is used to manufacture industrial wood products and engineered wood products widely used in cabinets, countertops, moldings, furniture, shelves, stair systems, floors, … Formaldehyde brings a high adhesive, high-quality performance and are extremely economical.

2.2 Health Care

   According to medical history, formaldehyde can use safely in the production of vaccines, anti-infectives, and hard gel capsules.

2.3 Personal Care and Consumer products

   Formaldehyde is an essential chemical in the manufacture of many consumer and personal care products. These products may contain ingredients that release formaldehyde, which acts as a preservative to kill microorganisms and prevent the growth of bacteria and other pathogens, extending the product's life.

2.4 Car

   Formaldehyde technology makes the vehicle lighter and more energy-efficient. Formaldehyde plastic is used to make internal molded parts and parts under the hood that need to withstand high temperatures. These plastic are also used in the manufacture of high-strength exterior primers, coatings, tire adhesives, brake pads, and fuel system components.

3/ Formaldehyde in wood product

   Wood is the main raw material used worldwide to make wood boards such as particleboard (PB), fiberboard (FB), Parallel Strand Lumber (PSL), and other related products such as Oriented strand board ( OSB), Laminated veneer lumber (LVL), and Laminated strand lumber (LSL). Synthetic resins, especially urea-formaldehyde resins, are the main binders used in wood panels.



   Currently, aminoplastic resins are used industrially to manufacture boards with formaldehyde emissions below 0.1 ppm, which is the limit value for the E1 wood standard, according to the German standard. The ultimate goal is to produce boards that have the same formaldehyde emissions as untreated natural wood. In fact, living trees can also emit formaldehyde. However, it only has a very low amount, which has little effect on human health.

4/ Formaldehyde in Vietnamese plywood

   There are many methods used to measure formaldehyde emissions such as laboratory methods; the method of using a desiccator; the method of test flask; gas analysis methods; the TNO gas analysis method; FLEC method; extraction method…Measurement results will classify the wood as meeting E0, E1, E2 standards for the European market, CARB standards for the US market, and JIS standards for the Japanese market. When evaluating formaldehyde in wood, products should be compared with a standard method to get accurate conclusions. We have analyzed many documents to total up the table below:

>>Different Glue used for manufacturing plywood in Vietnam<<

Note: ppm stands for "parts per million" and it also can be expressed as milligrams per liter (mg/L).

Standard	Limitation of Formaldehyde Emission	Wood type	Way to check	Applicable countries
E0/ F***	0.07ppm	Plywood MDF	JIS A-1460	Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Korea, West Asia
E1/ F**	0.14ppm	Plywood	Test EN 717-1	Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Korea, West Asia
	0.10ppm	MDF	Test EN120
E2	0.38ppm	Plywood MDF	Test EN120	Southeast Asia, North Africa
Carb P1	0.18ppm	Hardwood	ASTM- E1333	America, Canada, Europe
	0.21ppm	MDF
Carb P2	0.05ppm	Hardwood	ASTM E1333	America, Canada, Europe
	0.11ppm	MDF

   F standard assumes that there is only Japan, Finland - two countries enforce, on the other countries are spontaneous standards, rather than mandatory standards.
According to the table above:
    E0/ F*** formaldehyde release is less than 0.07ppm, the E0 board can be directly used for indoor plate.
    E1/ F** formaldehyde release is less than 0.14ppm for plywood and 0.10ppm for MDF, the E1 board can be directly used for indoor plates.
    E2 formaldehyde release is less than 0.38ppm, must allow for interior finishes treatment.
    Carb P1 release is less than 0.18ppm for hardwood and 0.21ppm for MDF, and to be used in America, Canada, and Europe.
    Carb P2 release is less than 0.05ppm for hardwood and 0.11ppm for MDF, and acceptable in America, Canada, and Europe.

In this article, we already provide some of the ways to measure the formaldehyde emission in wood products. There are different ways that are suitable for different markets in the world, we will update in the next article. Thanks!

Rosie
FOMEX GROUP