With reference to the letter received from wood based panel industry regarding formaldehyde emission class for wood based panel products, IPIRTI has requested the Bureau of Indian Standards to put up this matter in the next coming CED-20 meeting. Technical note on formaldehyde emissions and standards of wood-based panel products are sent for the reference. It has also been recommended to Ministry of Commerce to have technical condition related to emission of formaldehyde in the import of such plywood based products/furniture to our country.
Wood based panel industries use formaldehyde based synthetic resin adhesives for making plywood, particle board (PB), Medium Density Fibre (MDF) boards. Commonly used resins are Urea Formaldehyde (UF), Phenol Formaldehyde (PF) and to some extent Melamine Formaldehyde (MF) and Urea Melamine Formaldehyde (UMF) are also being used. These resins, while used as binder in wood based panel, emit formaldehyde throughout their service life of the panel products. The emission is more from PB and MDF and less with plywood. Among the resins, emission is more with UF resin, moderate with MF and UMF and low with PF resin.
Formaldehyde is considered a health hazard; thus the composite wood products must be within the limits imposed by the strictest regulations in terms of formaldehyde release. Long exposure to an environment having formaldehyde in the air may create long term problem to health. Short exposure to an atmosphere of formaldehyde causes irritation to skin and tearing to eyes. There are various international/ national standards for the panel products where the permitted standard rate of emission is prescribed for formaldehyde emission class.
The acceptable levels of formaldehyde emission from wood panel products have been continuously reduced over the last decades. The driving forces have been the increased public awareness and the consumer demand for non-hazardous products as well as the corresponding regulations. The re — classification of formaldehyde by the International Agency for Research on cancer as "carcinogenic to humans" has triggered further concern and reactions by worker and consumer associations, regulatory authorities and the industry itself. Studies on formaldehyde health effects were initiated since 2005 in USA and Eurpoe and corresponding regulatory decisions were taken. Accordingly, The formaldehyde emission classes for wood and wood based panel products were imposed by Europe and USA.
In Europe, Germany pioneered in issuing regulations as well as in reducing panel formaldehyde emissions in actual industrial practice. Currently the German regulations require compliance with E1 emission limits. European formaldehyde limits for wood based panels are summarized in the harmonized standard EN 13986 - including 2 emission classes E1 and E2. European countries, Australia, USA, Japan have also have formulated standards to fix limit values for formaldehyde emission. Most of these countries keep the panel class with E1 standards with formaldehyde emission limit value of less than 0.1 ppm (Chamber method ) .
As of June 1, 2018, and until March 22, 2019, composite wood products sold, supplied, offered for sale, manufactured, or imported in the United States were required to be labelled as CARB ATCM Phase II or TSCA Title VI compliant. After March 22, 2019, composite wood products must be labelled as TSCA Title VI compliant. These products include: hardwood plywood, mediumdensity fiberboard, and particleboard, as well as household and other finished goods containing these products. By including provisions for laminated products, producttesting requirements, labeling, recordkeeping, and import certification, the final rule ensures that above listed products sold, supplied, offered for sale, imported to, or manufactured in the United States are in compliance with the emission standards as given below.
In India, although, consensus has been developing among manufacturers and users of wood based panel products regarding emission of formaldehyde and its harmful effect on human health, the Bureau of Indian Standards is yet to formulate a standard and to fix limit value of emission of formaldehyde from wood based panel products. However, there is one standard, IS: 13745 - Method for determination of formaldehyde content in PB. In the absence of BIS standards, many panel manufacturers are adopting CARB standards to control and standardize their products and ensure safety of the users.
IPIRTI is carrying out formaldehyde emission test by both the perforator and small chamber method for all the categories of wood and wood based products including plywood. The emission classes are certified with reference to European class EN:13986. Since we do not have any national standards for plywood formaldehyde emission classes we are reporting as per existing international norms. Many industries in our country are facing difficulty to export their plywood due to non-availability of a national standards. Hence it is very essential that Bureau of Indian standards to act upon implementing the formaldehyde emissions classes for all the categories of plywood.