For a healthy home

UREA-FORMALDEHYDE (FORMALIN)

formolKitchen and bathroom cabinets are generally recognized as topping the list of offenders in terms of containing harmful compounds. Their cabinets are manufactured with materials that contain urea-formaldehyde. Better known as formalin, urea-formaldehyde is a toxic gas contained in certain materials — adhesives, pressed wood, plywood, medium-density fiberboard (MDF), melamine, etc. This toxic gas may emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs) up to five years after its manufacture.

These VOCs are released, especially when they are exposed to high humidity and high temperatures, conditions that are often most favorable in the kitchen and bathroom.

  • Dangers
    They can cause irritation, nausea, respiratory problems, allergic reactions and asthma. They are considered as carcinogenic by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).
  • Facts and Figures
    In the long term, Health Canada recommends that exposure to such harmful compounds must not exceed the threshold of 50 micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m3). But the panels used for kitchen and bathroom cabinets can emit levels above this threshold, lasting for weeks or even months. A study conducted in 1999 by Health Canada showed that an assortment of particle boards and MDF emitted high levels of urea-formaldehyde in a closed room: from 300 to 400 μg/m3 per hour during the first few weeks and from 80 to 240 μg/m3per hour after 6 to 10 months.
  • What can I do to protect myself from formalin?
    Choose particle board, plywood or solid wood not containing VOCs. The panels used in the ERE 132 are constructed with particle board but with no added urea-formaldehyde. The particle board used in the kitchen and bathroom has helped to avoid the release of urea-formaldehyde A good alternative: buy used furniture, at least 5 years old.
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