Bamboo: Choose it Carefully
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 12. 6.06
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
There will be no way to distinguish products based on adhesive off-gassing unless someone comes up with a voluntary measurement standard: e.g. # of sq ft exposed, to a certain temperature and humidity, with a certain finish coat, in a standard sized enclosure, with sample pump of certain kind, run for defined period, using a particular lab method, and so on. An industry group would have to lead the way in creating this standard.
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Not true at all. Volatile organics are used as inhibitors in glue. Glue cures as they evapourate. The amount that comes out is the same amount that goes in.