Air rule affects furniture
California adopts formaldehyde limits
By Jeff Linville -- Furniture Today, May 14, 2007
Sacramento, Calif. — California regulators have enacted tight restrictions on formaldehyde gas seeping out of composite wood products like plywood, particleboard and medium-density fiberboard.
The state's Air Resources Board said it adopted the Air Toxic Control Measure because of health concerns about formaldehyde. The regulation, which takes effect in two stages in 2009 and 2012, will force manufacturers to re-engineer furniture and other wood products.
When the control measure came up for discussion last summer, executives of furniture manufacturers, including Los Angeles-based Sandberg Furniture, voiced concerns. The regulations were enacted on April 26.
"Today's action will bring California in line with Europe and Japan in Phase 1," Air Resources Board Chairman Robert Sawyer said, "and will make us the world leader when we implement Phase 2 in 2012. This measure will substantially reduce public exposure to formaldehyde, related asthma attacks and the risk of getting cancer."
Phase 1 standards — most of which will take effect Jan. 1, 2009 — would raise the cost of a 4×8 sheet of plywood by less than 20 cents and a sheet of particleboard or MDF by about $1, according to the Air Resources Board. However, Phase 2 will raise the price of particleboard by $3 to $5 and plywood and MDF by $4 to $6.
The board evaluated the risk of formaldehyde exposure throughout a person's life. Aside from causing sinus irritation and itchy eyes, the chemical poses a risk of cancer, regulators said. The board said research varies, but appears to show that for every million residents there are 86 to 231 cancer cases caused by formaldehyde.
When Phase 2 is in place, the board predicts there will be 500 fewer tons of formaldehyde released into the air every year.
Opponents questioned several aspects of the measure, including its benefits, its enforcement and its effect on the furniture industry in California.
Gary Marsh, a biostatistics professor at Pittsburgh University, was quoted in news reports as saying that formaldehyde's designation as a carcinogen was "premature" and was based on a small sample of workplace deaths — of people who work with the chemical and receive heavy daily doses.
During negotiations spanning three years, the American Home Furnishings Alliance opposed the formaldehyde limits, contending that the Air Resources Board was relying on research that didn't adequately substantiate health consequences and was ignoring newer, more reliable data.
No one denies that formaldehyde is a problem, but many in the furniture industry question how low the standards need to be.
California regulators said that there is no acceptable level of formaldehyde exposure and want the limits as low as possible.
Formaldehyde is found naturally in wood, but most of the chemical gets into engineered wood products through the glues holding them together.
CARB noted that urea formaldehyde is the most common resin glue used, but lesser emissions could come from phenol formaldehyde, methylene diisocyanate or soy-based resins. Unfortunately, each of these has their issues, too, according to Chris Leffel, vice president of sales and marketing for particleboard maker SierraPine.
The first two alternatives would be costlier, and could require more energy in handling, Leffel said. Soy-based resin technology isn't yet feasible for particleboard or MDF, he said, "and we don't know if it ever will be."
Tom Julia, president of the Composite Panel Assn., said California's Phase 2 limits set "emission levels that are so exceedingly low, we're not even sure that we can test them effectively."
To ensure compliance, CARB will require makers of composite wood, or manufacturers that use composite woods to make furniture or other products, to have their products certified by a "third party" lab approved by the board. This also applies to importers selling goods to California retailers.
Products will have to be labeled as meeting the emission requirements. Distributors, contractors, panel manufacturers and importers will be held responsible for assuring that their products comply. Enforcement officers could visit stores to check for the necessary paperwork.
California-based manufacturers are upset because they feel singled out. One plywood maker said he sells much of his product to companies and consumers outside of California, but all of his goods will have to comply.
If plywood and particleboard costs $5 more per 8-foot sheet, this could effectively halt any California-based manufacturer from selling goods to other states.
The restrictions also could push some manufacturers out of the state. Harden Mfg., an Alabama-based furniture maker that uses particleboard, said last fall that if Phase 2 were approved, the company might not be able to meet the standards. Rather than spending capital trying to comply, Harden might stop selling particleboard-based furniture in that state.
The AHFA is formulating a compliance strategy to help manufacturers meet the new requirements, according to Bill Perdue, the Alliance's vice president of environmental management, health and safety
Phillip Sweet, Sandberg vice president of domestic operations, said there were problems last year in trying to test furniture made overseas for formaldehyde emissions. Furniture shipped in containers had been in cardboard boxes for months, and the glues in the box and other packing materials have formaldehyde that can seep into the air and contaminate the furniture. He wondered how a lab would differentiate between emissions from the furniture and what comes from the packaging.
Perdue said that if goods are tested before shipment to the United States, it's unclear how overseas labs will receive approval from the California regulators.
"How are they going to create the proverbial level playing field?" asked Julia of the Composite Panel Assn. He worried that regulators will be "in no position to enforce against offshore products" and said the regulation "risks undermining the entire wood products industry in North America, and possibly shifting even more of it offshore by overreaching."
