Low Formaldehyde – E1

This icon identifies engineered wood flooring products that contain very low levels of added formaldehyde, such that they meet the stringent German E-1 standard for formaldehyde emission. The E-1 standard for formaldehyde is seven times lower than what is allowed under OSHA.

Formaldehyde is an important chemical used widely by industry to manufacture certain building materials (as well as numerous household products). Building materials that contain high levels of added formaldehyde are of concern because they can “off-gas” formaldehyde into building interiors and reduce interior air quality.

Formaldehyde, a colorless, pungent-smelling gas, can cause watery eyes, burning sensations in the eyes and throat, nausea, fatigue, and difficulty in breathing in some humans exposed at elevated levels (above 0.1 parts per million). High concentrations may trigger attacks in people with asthma. It has also been shown to cause cancer in animals and may cause cancer in humans.

In residential and commercial construction, the most significant sources of formaldehyde are likely to be pressed wood products made using adhesives that contain urea-formaldehyde (UF) resins. Engineered wood flooring, which is basically multiple layers of wood glued together to form a single piece, is one example of a pressed wood product whose adhesives may contain urea-formaldehyde. Other pressed wood products made for indoor use include particleboard, hardwood plywood, and medium density fiberboard (MDF). MDF contains a higher resin-to-wood ratio than any other UF pressed wood product and is generally recognized as being the highest formaldehyde-emitting pressed wood product.

Other pressed wood products, such as softwood plywood and flake or oriented strandboard, are produced for exterior construction use and contain the dark, or red/black-colored phenol-formaldehyde (PF) resin. Although formaldehyde is present in both types of resins, pressed woods that contain PF resin generally emit formaldehyde at considerably lower rates than those containing UF resin.

For more information on this topic, see:

http://www.epa.gov/iaq/formalde.html