Big Steps In Building: Ban Formaldehyde
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto 
on 04.21.08
As we know courtesy of FEMA's optimization experiments, Formaldehyde exposure is not a good thing. It gets worse; a new study links it to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease. As we know courtesy of the Environmental Protection Agency, energy efficiency is a good thing, which is why they promote Energy Star houses, which have effective insulation, high-performance windows and tight construction.
One would think that a standard coming from the EPA would care about health and air quality instead of energy (isn't that another department?) but no, they recommend tightly sealing houses to reduce air leakage, the biggest energy loser. A leaky old house might change the air once an hour; a tightly sealed house designed for Energy Star might be as little as 1/100 of an air change per hour.
What happens when you don't change the air enough? The concentration of toxic chemicals gets higher. Formaldehyde, as an example, found in particle board, MDF, (medium density fibreboard) fabrics, glues and paints, and most fiberglass insulation. (More info here)
Sources of Formaldehyde: Home purifier expert
Nowhere does the Environmental Protection Agency mention the environmental hazards of these chemicals in such a tight envelope. While it does recommend mechanical ventilation, it mentions the problems of mold and pollutants only in passing.
Big Steps in Building:
1) Make Energy Star houses healthy houses, not just energy efficient. The program is run by an agency that seems to have its priorities confused. "Protecting the environment through energy efficiency" is fine, but not at the cost of air quality and the health of occupants. The agency should make the Indoor Air Package compulsory and ban the use of products with formaldehyde or any other VOC where there is an alternative available in any house going for Energy Star certification.
2) Make the California standard for formaldehyde emissions national.
3) Aim for a complete ban of formaldehyde use in building products.
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But isn't formaldehyde a naturally occurring substance in wood?
Bravo! These steps are long overdue. Lots of people think the big environmental risks in buildings have been eliminated with the bans on lead paint and asbestos. Well, the battle on those isn't really over, and the invisible threat from formaldehyde has barely been addressed. We also need to ban importing finished products like furniture which emit formaldehyde.
My parents have lived for decades in a house they had fully insulated with urea-formaldehyde foam. My father has Parkinson's and my mother was diagnosed a few months ago with CLL (Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia).
After over 30 years, has the formaldehyde quit gassing? Should they move out? Will it make any improvement in their health if they do?
I don't believe there is any safe level of formaldehyde.
My parents have lived for decades in a house they had fully insulated with urea-formaldehyde foam. My father has Parkinson's and my mother was diagnosed a few months ago with CLL (Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia).
After over 30 years, has the formaldehyde quit gassing? Should they move out? Will it make any improvement in their health if they do?
I don't believe there is any safe level of formaldehyde.
Ross,
Many living creatures produce a SMALL amount of formaldehyde as a metabolic byproduct, but not enough to be a concern. Most formaldehyde is an incomplete combustion issue; it's not the wood itself, it's the burning wood.
The formaldehyde emissions from particleboard and other composite wood products are from the binders used to hold them together.
There are formaldehyde-free particleboard alternatives entering the market; I know a new one called ChloroFill is entering the US later this year.
Actually there is no formaldehyde free particleboard that uses wood. Wood Naturally gives off formaldehyde as high as 5ppm.
All plants and animals create formaldehyde as a part of their metabolic pathways. Your blood currently has 2 to 3 ppm formaldehyde in it. Your body produces about 42 grams of formaldehyde a day. Without it you would be dead. All plants and animals emit formaldehyde. If you are standing in a typical room in the US you are giving off more formaldehyde than the particle board and MDF around you.
The largest source of breathable formaldehyde in the world is the sun. But if it didn't create formaldehyde the Ozone layer would be smaller.
Formaldehyde in high concentrations is bad, but it is as much a part of organic life as any organic molecule. The important thing is concentration, not getting paranoid about something that may not be a problem.
Banning all formaldehyde from building products is an knee jerk reaction, and doesn't make much sense.
The following are steps you could do to reduce formaldehyde from your home which would have a large impact than banning formaldehyde (based on new california standards).
Remove pets
Remove plants
stop breathing
stop cooking
stop smoking
do not light candels
Do not use fire place
I made a mistake wood is as high as 0.05 ppm naturally. 0.06ppm is what most particle board manufactures will be targeting with the new carb standards.