Formaldehyde Excess - Fatal Injury to Environmental Furniture! Buyers need to pay more attention!

Mr. Liu, a post80s BeiPiao ethnic group, is in a mixed mood recently: happy that he has finally settled down in Beijing after years of struggle. Worry is that although it has taken two months to ventilate the newly furnished new house, there are still some irritating odors in the room. Will the pregnant wife be affected?

With doubts, Mr. Liu invited an indoor pollution control agency to carry out the test. After comparing the air indicators in the environment with and without furniture, the inspectors determined that the irritating odor was emitted from the furniture Mr. Liu bought. Nowadays, in the process of home decoration, similar incidents are not uncommon. Furniture building materials have become one of the concerns in home decoration because of "excessive formaldehyde content".

　　Furniture formaldehyde exceeded the standard seriously

A sample inspection of furniture products by Shanghai Municipal Quality and Technical Supervision Bureau in November last year showed that 51 of 156 batches were not qualified. Many of the reasons for the unqualified furniture products were related to the "formaldehyde emission does not meet the standard". Shortly before, Shaanxi Quality and Technical Supervision Bureau announced the results of the second quarter of this year's furniture product quality supervision spot check. 95 batches of products from 95 production and distribution enterprises were sampled by this bureau. After testing, 19 batches of unqualified samples were found. The main problems of these products are not only the material requirement of metal parts and the strength of drawer slide not up to the standard, but also the excessive formaldehyde.

According to the standard of formaldehyde content detection in furniture in China, formaldehyde emission should not exceed 1.5 mg/L. However, if it is not difficult to find a little, some of the products with formaldehyde emission can reach 2 times of the limit, and more than 5 times.

Analysts said that the main reason for the problem of furniture formaldehyde exceeding the standard is that most board furniture in China are bonded with fiberboard or particleboard, and these materials need to be bonded with aldehyde adhesives in the process of production and assembly of furniture raw materials. For example, many board furniture will use an adhesive called urea-formaldehyde resin in the process of production. 。 From a chemical point of view, "urea-formaldehyde resin" is a direct compound of formaldehyde and urea. Under natural conditions, the product will undergo "decomposition reaction" of organic matter, releasing formaldehyde. In hot and humid environments, the decomposition rate will be doubled and the odor of formaldehyde will be heavier.

There are many small businesses in the household industry. In addition to the weaker control ability in product standards such as raw materials, these enterprises use unqualified wood-based panels and inferior adhesives wantonly. Industry insiders generally believe that another main reason for formaldehyde exceeding the standard in the industry is that the existing detection methods in China are "destructive", leading to some difficulties in the operation of furniture testing.

　　Current detection methods are highly destructive

　　Mr. Liu mentioned above told me that after finding out the problems in furniture, he had asked the merchants to return the goods. Who knows that the merchants did not buy it, but said that a certain amount of formaldehyde can protect furniture from corrosion. As for whether formaldehyde exceeded the standard, he hoped that Mr. Liu could send the furniture to a professional testing institution designated by the state for inspection. If formaldehyde did exceed the standard, he could exchange the goods.

"There is no problem with testing fees, but it is not cost-effective to cut tens of thousands of yuan of furniture into several pieces for testing. In case one-dimensional rights cannot be achieved, the cost is too high." In desperation, Mr. Liu had to give up the inspection.

A survey shows that the number of complaints about panel furniture has been among the highest for many years. Especially "excessive formaldehyde" is an unspeakable pain for consumers, which has become a headache in furniture industry. But for a long time, because the current furniture inspection method in China is difficult to operate, so the success rate of consumers'rights protection is not high, and in many cases, rights protection still depends on good words with the merchants!

At present, the current furniture testing method in our country is "dryer method", the process is roughly the same: generally, first extract the plate samples from the household products, and then send them to the laboratories at or above the provincial level for chemical testing. It is noteworthy that the integrity of furniture must be destroyed when extracting plate samples. Cutting furniture into small pieces for testing will not only produce certain costs, but also lead to the difficulty of ensuring the smooth exchange and refund even if the test results show that formaldehyde exceeds the standard, because many businesses will refuse to compensate consumers on the grounds that "furniture products have been damaged".

　　The "Environmental Test Storehouse Method" deserves to be used for reference

Comparing with the domestic "board sampling detection method" at the cost of destroying the integrity of furniture, some countries in Europe and America have already implemented the "environmental test bin method". The specific operation of this detection method is to place a single furniture in the "airtight cabin", and then extract the "air samples" from the cabin for testing after a certain period of time.

The main differences between this method and the methods currently used in China are as follows: the integrity of the furniture product structure is not destroyed, which is conducive to the protection of rights afterwards; the second is that the furniture will be inspected in an "airtight cabin", which is equivalent to simulating the use environment of furniture, and the results will be more convincing. Thirdly, without damaging the inspection products, the cost of "environmental test bin method" is less than that of "plate sampling and testing method".

In addition to the great difference in the detection methods between China and the United States, the standard of formaldehyde emission from furniture in China still needs to be standardized and improved. It is understood that in today's world, the United States has strict control over the "formaldehyde emission detection of furniture". In 2009, the CARB Regulation issued by the United States made detailed regulations on all aspects of furniture production, and even penetrated formaldehyde detection into every aspect of furniture product circulation, rather than simply confined to sampling of "finished furniture products".

In contrast to the existing standard of formaldehyde content in China, the limit of formaldehyde content in IAQS is less than or equal to 0.10 mg per cubic meter, while the standard of formaldehyde content in Limit of Hazardous Substances in Wood Furniture for Interior Decoration and Decoration Materials is less than or equal to 1.5 mg per liter. Relevant experts said that the inconsistency of the two standards resulted in the inconsistency between the formaldehyde content of furniture and that of air. Sometimes, the test results violated one of the standards but met the other, and the merchants would refuse to return the goods for this reason.

　　Buying furniture requires some basic knowledge.

The new standards will come out soon, which is undoubtedly good news for consumers. But it is very necessary for consumers to master some basic knowledge when buying furniture.

There is a saying in the industry that consumers should buy furniture in the following circumstances. Forward: Furniture has a strong irritating odor; Second: irregular stores are sold without quality inspection certificate; Third: the furniture products produced have repeatedly been blacklisted by the national and local quality inspection departments; Fourth: plate furniture has not been edged; Fifth: can not produce formaldehyde content instructions; Sixth: carry out label production, the price is extraordinarily low; Seventh: after-sale warranty is incomplete.

Professionals believe that the quality of indoor air is closely related to the health of family members. To deal with excessive indoor formaldehyde, besides using activated carbon adsorption, opening doors and windows to allow natural air circulation, indoor placement of green plants, purchase of air purifiers and other common methods. Before check-in, it is better to ask professional testing institutions to carry out "indoor air quality test" and wait for the air quality to reach the standard before check-in.