High Formaldehyde Levels Found In Baby Furniture
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 05. 7.08
Back in the day, cribs were made of metal and babies got lots of fresh air and sunshine. Now, most kids get put in shiny new cribs from Wal-Mart or Babies R Us, and guess what; they are made from particle board and are full of formaldehyde. Environment California found a half dozen products – out of 21 nursery furnishings it tested – emitted formaldehyde at levels high enough to trigger allergy and asthma attacks in children.. The regulators are all over cribs for safety, space between bars and little pieces, but not a word about formaldehyde; it is not even checked.
The Sacramento Bee notes that California officials have classified formaldehyde as an air contaminant since 1992. It's also considered a human carcinogen. A branch of the California Environmental Protection Agency has "basically said there's no safe level."
We have already suggested that the building industry should ban formaldehyde; it is hard to believe that it is allowed in childrens' furniture.::Sacramento Bee
More on formaldehyde in TreeHugger:
Big Steps In Building: Ban Formaldehyde
FEMA Trailers Optimizing Formaldehyde Exposure
How CDC bungled FEMA Formaldehyde
image: Hulton Archives, Getty images
As a woman who is looking to be a mom in the next year or so, this petrifies me.
I wonder if there are old-school metal cribs that are up to safety codes. If not, I might just have one made.
Because really, what's the point of going to all the trouble to protect the world for future generations if we're just going to slowly poison the future generations in their sleep?
LA: solid wood does not have formaldehyde. cheap particle board cribs and change tables do.
I still have my solid wood crib (that was built for me when I was born) and it will be used by my kids when they are brought into the world.
How many children today use furniture that their parents used? If we all did that, how much waste would be saved?
I knew a person who worked in kids clothing; they would often have to hang shipments out to air to reduce formaldehyde levels to legal levels (obviously not the ideal solution but that's another issue).
Another good reason to buy organic; and wash kids clothes before use.
Actually, solid wood does contain formaldehyde, as does any living thing, including your own body. It is present in much lower levels than the adhesives used to create MDF or particleboard, but it is still present. This is why you see certain composite wood products marketed as "no added formaldehyde" rather than "formaldehyde free." The good news is that formaldehyde is volatile and dissipates rapidly over a short period of time. If you have something that was manufactured more than a year or two ago, even if it's particleboard junk, the formaldehyde levels are most likely quite low by now.
And Thad, you would be well advised to check the slat spacing on that 20-30 year old crib before you reuse it.
And the old cribs probably have lead-based paint -- you can't win! And don't even start on the mattresses (vinyl/lead, phthalates, PBDE flame retardants...).
I remember helping a friend assemble one of those pretty white changing tables that came from a box and in all likelihood was a Babies R Us registry item. It was so flimsy when assembled (after we deciphered the instructions which were written in horrible "english"). All particleboard and plastic. Just good enough to last the 18 months you'd use it, and then chuck it in the landfill - it's not good enough to hand down to any friends, let alone the next generation. And I'm sure it cost 80% of a "real wood" changing table. What a shame people only see the "savings" by buying the trashy (but pretty) unit and can't realize it doesn't cost that much more to buy something that will last!