Formaldehyde in chipboard

[Plupp 284245]

I might have misunderstood something, but to me, saying they must not "emit more than 0.124 milligrams of formaldehyde per cubic meter of air" sounds very vague. Surely it must matter how MUCH particle board there is in the room?

I still think the limit is vague. If it is per board, it should specify the size and thickness they refer to. One reason I'm pondering this is whether it's reasonable that the insurance company replaces my shelves, where none were particle board, with particle board shelves

It's presumably measured in a weight unit. But it's irrelevant how the Chemicals Agency does it; their task is to establish a limit that suppliers must follow. As someone said, no one knows how much particle board you plan to fill your room with. What is interesting in this case is that Witre cannot specify the classification of the board used.

 

[Stefan1972]

how can it be vague? The limit applies whether it's a small amount or thirteen tons of boards in a space.
If the limit is reached very early, it just means that the boards contain a lot of it and are unsuitable. I believe that most building materials available in Sweden stay well within the limits with a margin.

 

[Plupp 284245]

how can it be vague? The limit applies whether it's a small piece or thirteen tons of boards in a space. If the limit is reached very early, it just means that the boards contain a lot of it and are unsuitable. I believe most of the building materials available in Sweden are well within the margins.

The building materials do, indeed. Finished products in the best case. In any case, I think that if TS is going to make it an insurance issue, he/she should argue it as if the product doesn't correspond to the replacement. Not as a question of FH.

 

[Tjoa]

A relevant question is also how high the air exchange is in the basement. Formaldehyde is a gas and behaves as such. It is also most effectively combated with air exchange through dilution or oxidation.

Then I think it's a non-issue since it emits the most during processing. But to know, you should measure.

Edit.
World Championship in spelling errors....

 

[senap]

A completely different thing:
If the chipboard shelves are only 10 mm thick with a width of 90 cm, it's only a matter of time before they sag if, for example, you place books on them. Even with supports at c/c 45 cm, 10 mm is pure rubbish. You should have c/c 30 cm.

I personally have used floor chipboards (22 mm thick and edge-cut down to 45 cm depth) with supports at c/c 60 cm, and with extremely heavy loads, you can actually see deflection even in these.

 

[Magnus E K]

One also becomes a bit curious about what it looks like. Pictures? Why such a huge amount of shelves?

I'm "working on" (started in 2019 and have put up about half of one) setting up shelves in the basement but don't like particle board for both aesthetic and technical reasons. I will use rough-sawn boards and some other leftover planks of real wood.

 

[Bergn]

I realized that I am sensitive to formaldehyde when we built a bookshelf in mdf. The carpenter sawed the boards inside the house. It took a long time and countless vacuum cleanings and wet wipes before I stopped feeling it. After we painted the bookshelves, it felt good again. So if you're going to be in the basement and sometimes the humidity gets elevated, I would at least have painted them.

formaldehyde is a gas that leaves the board. Today's levels are barely measurable. As for MDF, there is even less formaldehyde in it. Additionally, you can't vacuum up formaldehyde. It is highly likely that it is the fine wood dust you are intolerant to. All wood contains formaldehyde. Also, all vegetables, cosmetics, beer, medicines, and everything that lives and grows.

 

[arasmus]

How great that I can switch to metal shelves, it'll probably cost at most 50000 kr. But my question was: "There is a Swedish requirement that boards imported into Sweden must not emit more than 0.124 milligrams of formaldehyde per cubic meter of air. But what happens when you have such a large untreated surface?"

Imagine the audacity of some people, trying to help you in the wrong way.

It is a recurring theme in your threads that you become unpleasant when you don't get the exact input you apparently feel entitled to. Quite uncharming, actually.

 

[Plupp 284245]

A completely different matter:
If the chipboard shelves are only 10 mm thick with a width of 90 cm, it's only a matter of time before they sag if you, for example, place books on them. Even with supports at c/c 45 cm, 10 mm is pure junk. You should have c/c 30 cm.

I myself have used floor chipboards (22 mm thick and edge-cut down to 45 cm depth) with supports at c/c 60 cm and with extremely high loads, you can actually see deflection even in these.

From what I understand, it is a type of storage shelf. https://www.witre.se/sv/wsw/hylla-budget-ii-1720-x-900-mm

 

[Johnsson 56]

As I understand, it is of the shelf type. [link]

Yes, that's exactly the one. I wasn't the one who chose it; it was what they suggested, and I didn’t have time to look into everything so thoroughly amidst the chaos after the fire. They wanted to order everything as soon as possible, and I just saw a picture of them and thought they looked good. Besides, it says that a shelf should hold 175 kg. Before, I mostly had IKEA wooden shelves and the elfa system.

 

[senap]

What I understand is that it is of the shelf type. [link]

You're probably right about that. It's hard to draw a conclusion when reading the original post by TS. I myself guessed at classic Elfa brackets with particle board as shelves, which I have in the garage (with 22 mm) and has the advantage of keeping the floor free. I also have shelves (from Jula) similar to the ones you link to, but Jula's shelves have very thick hardboard, though I see in your link there are equivalent shelves as particle board. If it's freestanding shelves with support on all edges, then TS can disregard my previous comment, as 10 mm would be sufficient.

EDIT: I now see that TS confirmed a few minutes ago that it is "shelves" according to your link. Then you can disregard my posts.

 

[Tina Nordström]

I realized that I am sensitive to formaldehyde when we built a bookshelf in MDF. The carpenter sawed the boards inside the house. It took a long time and countless vacuuming and wet wiping before I stopped feeling it. After we painted the bookshelves, it felt good again. So if you are going to be in the basement and it sometimes gets elevated humidity, I would have painted them anyway.

I see that you are sensitive to formaldehyde... So am I, and I haven't met anyone else who is. So how do you react and to what? In the housing cooperative where I live, we have storage rooms (made of particle board) in the basement where we had flooding. I want them to replace them considering mold/formaldehyde is released more when they get wet. It's only me who reacts, but my opinion is that it is not healthy for anyone.

 

[Marlen Eskilsson]

formaldehyde is a gas that leaves the board. Today's levels are barely measurable. As for MDF, there is even less formaldehyde in it. It's not possible to vacuum up formaldehyde. It's highly likely to be the fine wood dust that you can't tolerate. All wood contains formaldehyde. Also all vegetables, cosmetics, beer, medicines, and everything that lives and grows.

I experience a sensation of "rushing" in my body, slight palpitations, and a mild headache. It's completely impossible to sleep. I react this way to MDF, hair dye at the hairdresser, new clothes that haven't been washed (not all, but very many new garments), a new sofa and cushions from Ikea we bought for the summer house. It took a very long time before I found out that it was the cushions I was reacting to.

 

[UffeH]

Still think the limit value is vague. If it's per board, it should state which size and thickness they refer to.

According to the method description (point 7) in the standard, it's 1 m² board per 1 m³ of air that should be measured. It can be purchased here, but costs 995 kr (however, you can preview pages 1-11, which includes point 7): https://www.sis.se/api/document/preview/38083/

 

[Düsseldorff]

Still think that the limit value is vague. If it's per board, then it should specify what size and thickness they're referring to. One reason I'm pondering this is whether it is reasonable for the insurance company to replace my shelves, none of which were particleboard, with particleboard shelves

It is specified in the standard (SS-EN 717-1:2004) referred to in Chapter 8, Section 3, Subsection 1, Point 1 of the Swedish Chemicals Agency's regulations (KIFS 2017:7) on chemical products and biotechnical organisms.

The standard, in turn, prescribes that a certain amount of board should be placed in a chamber designed in a specific way, with specific materials and with a certain airflow, specific temperature, specific humidity, and so forth, for a certain period. The outgoing air is water filtered and the amount of formaldehyde is measured in the water. If the limit value is exceeded, the board cannot be manufactured or brought into Sweden.