Bamboo: Choose it Carefully

We previously wrote about the need to chose bamboo carefully, that it was not all greenly wonderful. We see others are picking up the story: in the San Francisco Chronicle they interview Teragen, one of the better suppliers. "It's important to note not only when the bamboo was harvested but what kind of adhesive is used during the manufacturing process. In the United States, companies like Smith & Fong in South San Francisco and Teragren have set high standards, using glues with negligible levels of formaldehyde, a known carcinogen."Our products are well below the Occupational Safety and Health Administration standards," Teragren's Knight said. But inferior products from less stringent sellers are common in the marketplace. "The adhesive used in China is very high in formaldehyde, and it's a lot cheaper," Knight said. "There are no (mandatory) controls in China." ::SFGate