1. Why is the air in our apartments sometimes as polluted as the air on a busy highway?
2. Which furniture is better for health and which is worse ?!
3. What is important to consider when buying furniture.

- WHAT SMELLS?!

A strong smell from new furniture usually reminds of a purchase made for more than one week, or even a month. But we do not always think about what we really breathe, sitting at a recently purchased table or near a new headset.

The result of research on this topic is not very encouraging. In many cases, the "fumes" emanating from new furniture made of chipboard, fiberboard, etc. is a real poison. The composition of the air in a newly furnished room is so polluted that breathing in it is like breathing car fumes on a busy highway at rush hour!

Most chipboard, fiberboard, MDF, polymers, paints and varnishes, which are used in the manufacture of mass furniture, generously endow us with all kinds of poisons: here and phenol, and formaldehyde, and ammonia, and benzene, and a dozen other toxic substances. It should be noted that fiberboard is often less toxic than particleboard, but still they can “give in” in excess of the norm, in excess of the MPC.

And after all, in addition to furniture, we already have enough toxic materials such as linoleum in the premises, plastic panels or ceilings, etc.

As a result, for our own money, along with the new interior, we acquire new problems: sleep, immunity, headaches, worst cases- ARI, bronchitis, asthma, conjunctivitis, allergies, dermatitis ...

By the way, children suffer from this more than adults. For example, a link has been established between formaldehyde released from furniture and children's myopia, which in Lately occurs more and more often.

How to buy furniture without hurting yourself

1. Prefer natural wood

The most environmentally friendly is, of course, furniture. from natural wood ... Especially when it comes about a bed or about bedroom furniture. Although there may be reservations here: it is important whether the tree grew somewhere in the Chernobyl region, it is important what it was glued with, what varnish it was covered with, etc. But these are, in general, little things in comparison with a wardrobe or a bed from cheap particle boards, in which the concentration of released phenol-formaldehydes is often higher than the maximum permissible.

In general, natural wood is a topic for another big conversation. Indeed, in our time, furniture is made and bought not for centuries, as before. On the contrary, for many it has already become the norm to constantly update the interior, just like updating their clothes or hairstyle. And in the case of furniture made of natural wood such a "renewal race" will very quickly lead towards the final deforestation of those forests that still remain on the planet.

Therefore, we are not going to campaign only for natural wood furniture.

2. And if, after all, you preferred a wardrobe or a bed made of chipboard, fiberboard, MDF?

If you nevertheless decide to buy furniture made of chipboard, fiberboard or MDF, then ask the seller for a quality certificate (or certificate of conformity) and a hygienic certificate. Make sure that the formaldehyde emission indices correspond to GOST or the European E1 standard (E2 is worse, because it allows a stronger release of toxic substances).

Manufacturers who think about the health of their customers are sure to cover all surfaces and edges Chipboard protective film or veneer, and all drilled holes glue. This at least partially protects against harmful fumes. When choosing furniture from chipboard, fiberboard or MDF, pay attention to this.

3 more things to consider when updating your interior

In any case, it is advisable not to update all the furniture at once, but to do it slowly, in parts. This is quite reasonable: it will hit less on the pocket, and you will not once again test your health “for strength”.

If you nevertheless decide to replace all the furniture in a room or apartment at once, then it makes sense at first ventilate more often this room and less to be in it.

And if you have a good old wooden furniture, and it is not damaged by fungus and other pests, then maybe the best way- is it not buying anything at all, but just leaving the old one? Moreover, it can be restored.

One way or another, everyone chooses for himself what is more important to him - to update the interior at any cost or to keep health.

Children laminated chipboard furniture- you can hear a lot of conflicting opinions about her. Someone considers such interior items to be absolutely harmless, but for someone it is synonymous with the strongest poison.

Children's furniture laminated chipboard: is it harmful or not?

Children's furniture laminated chipboard- you can hear a lot of conflicting opinions about her. Someone considers such interior items to be absolutely harmless, but for someone it is synonymous with the strongest poison. Modern manufacturing factories offer buyers widest assortment furniture made from this material. In addition, the price for it is very attractive for its affordability. Therefore, the issue of harm to children's furniture chipboard is worth attention.

Children's furniture laminated chipboard: what is the emission class

Chipboard (laminated chipboard) is a material that is highly durable, beautiful shades and low cost. This combination of properties has made it incredibly popular. However, not all parents know about such a concept as the emission class. This is the percentage of formaldehyde resins that are released into the air from the board. Why is this harmful substance there? The fact is that in the process of making the plates, glue is used, which necessarily contains this substance. Formaldehyde itself is a carcinogen that can cause serious damage to health. In high doses, it causes cancer and severe allergic reactions. Formaldehyde resins are contained in chipboard. But in quantities that cannot be harmful to health. Children's furniture chipboard has advantages over chipboard, since the layer of laminate (provided that it is of high quality) does not allow harmful toxins to escape into the atmosphere of the room.

Determining the emission class can help the buyer with the purchase truly safe furniture for your beloved baby. Chipboard and chipboard marked with the "E0" marking represent the most desirable material option. The percentage of formaldehyde is extremely low. Such material can also be called medical particleboard, since it is used in hospitals. Medical facilities use, made and environmentally friendly safe materials... The material is produced mainly by foreign manufacturers. Domestic factories offer their customers E1 class materials. Here the content of harmful substances is quite small. Classes "E2" and "E3" are highly undesirable as raw materials for use in residential premises. Unfortunately, not all manufacturers are honest with their customers. Therefore, if, when buying in a store or at a factory, you cannot be provided with quality certificates and documents confirming the environmental standards of materials, refuse such a purchase.

No matter how small the price and no matter how attractive the children's furniture of laminated chipboard looks, without documents confirming the quality, you acquire a slow-acting poison for your beloved child. When buying inexpensive pieces of furniture for a child's bedroom, it is worth paying rent to factories dealing with.

Children's furniture laminated chipboard: correct cutting and gluing of the edge

But what to do with materials of class "E1"? After all, they contain formaldehyde resins, albeit in small quantities. Here, conscientious manufacturers also found a way out. This is edge gluing. It should be well glued, because it has more than just an aesthetic role to play. How to determine the quality of the edging and cuts? Examine carefully ready product... All ends of the parts must be carefully cut, without chips or cracks. Such a marriage not only gives out formaldehyde, but also worsens appearance furniture, shortening its service life. All parts must be edged, even in places that are not visible to the eye. For example, removable shelves should be pasted over from all sides, including the one that is located with the end to the back wall of the cabinet or cabinet. The edge is a reliable barrier that does not allow harmful substances to penetrate into the air that the child breathes.

Probably there is not a single person who at least once would not have encountered particle board. This material is used in different areas(construction, finishing and decorative work), it is used to produce furniture of the middle and economy segment, and much more. Due to its special composition, it is often ranked among unreliable and unsafe materials. But how harmful is chipboard to health? Let's try to figure it out.

What is chipboard. Characteristics and features

Particleboard is a composite made of a mixture of sawdust and thermosetting resins. The raw material passes through several stages of production and is pressed under pressure in a hot way. After cooling, it is cut into slabs of various sizes.

By density, chipboard is distinguished:

• extra small indicators - 350-450 kg / cu. m. (production of furniture cases, heat and sound insulation);
• small - 450-650 kg / cu. m., (production of facades frame method and repair of buildings, rough surfaces);
• average level - 650-750 kg / cubic meter m .;
• high degree - 700-800 kg / cu. m., (used for roofing, foundation works, production of large-format furniture).

The structure of the chipboard may vary depending on the purpose. These are single-layer slabs, three-layer (on outer layers fraction finer than inside) and multilayer (the size of sawdust decreases layer by layer from the middle to the surfaces).

According to the degree of moisture resistance, one can distinguish:

• ordinary plates that can withstand an average air humidity in the range of 30-50%;
• Moisture resistant, containing polymer or paraffin additives, which makes it possible to operate the material at humidity up to 80%.

An important fact: like any product, chipboard is marked in accordance with the selection and division into grades. The first category includes products that meet all the requirements for the quality of raw materials, resistance to stress, etc. Chipboard with lower parameters and defects on the front part belongs to the second class and is most often sent to the construction industry.

The advantages of chipboard:

1. High compressive and flexural strength. Fasteners hold well in slabs;
2. Ease of processing, including external finishing. Painting, varnishing, lamination, veneering, etc. is allowed;
3. Shock and moisture resistance;
4. Wide range of sizes. The length of the material varies from 1.8 to 5.6 m, the width is 0.4 to 2.5 m, and the thickness is from 3 mm to 40 mm.
5. Low price.

Of the minuses, we note:

• The impossibility of using various techniques curly processing, including milling, complex parts, etc.
• Sharp edges. Paradoxical as it may seem, chipboard furniture is almost always traumatic, since a rare manufacturer tries to round off the edges or process it with a soft edging U-shaped tape;
• The second time, the hardware is very difficult to install in the plate body. Application required adhesive mixtures like " cold welding», Epoxy plastics;
• Continuous release of toxic volatile compounds (formaldehyde and others). When a certain concentration (limit) is reached, they can cause Negative consequences for the body. This is typical for second-rate material.

It is the last minus that makes you wonder whether chipboard does harm to others, and is it not dangerous for health to buy furniture from it, to veneer walls, floors, ceilings.

The harmfulness of chipboard: myth or reality

The state and supervisory services impose on products widely used in everyday life and construction, high requirements for safety. Furniture, decoration and other household items and household items should be made from materials that are safe for the population.

What does this have to do with particle board? The most direct. In the production of boards, melamine, urea-formaldehyde or phenol-formaldehyde resins are used as a binder. As a result of certain reactions, the chipboard almost constantly releases a volatile compound that is toxic to humans - formaldehyde.

Its harm does not even need to be proved once again - it is officially recognized as a carcinogen, which, with constant exposure to a certain concentration (percentage in the air), can cause various disorders, poisoning, diseases, including by no means harmless dermatitis and dangerous cancer.

However, it will not be possible to completely get rid of this incredibly harmful substance. Even wooden furniture or decoration contains a certain amount of bound compounds of formaldehyde, phenol, benzene, what can we say about the plastic we love so much, used in all areas - from household appliances to constantly used dishes.

According to Russian and European legislation, the maximum permissible content of formaldehyde in the air for particle boards is determined by the emission class:

• E1 - no more than 8 mg per 100 g. dry chipboard inclusive;
• E2 - up to 30 mg inclusive.

These indicators depend not only on the quality of raw materials, but also on external processing. The harm can be significantly reduced if the emission area is reduced. To do this, it is enough to cover the sheet with laminated film from all sides, and trim the ends with an edging tape.

Slabs of the first category are used to produce furniture for the residential sector, commercial and other institutions. A material with minimal performance and all-round cladding can be used to release a nursery or hospital setting.

Slabs of the second class without exterior decoration may only be used for repairs under decorative finishing cladding. Otherwise, the harm of second-rate material manifests itself in a deterioration in health, the appearance of headaches, asthma attacks, signs of poisoning and other consequences.

Particleboard factories are well aware of this, so the range always includes products with different emission classes. Another thing is that manufacturers of economy class furniture do not always use appropriate raw materials in the manufacture of their products. But it's easy to check:

1. Carefully inspect the surface and edges of the furniture - if the film is bubbling and the ends are not covered by anything, then most likely the cladding is homemade, not factory-made, therefore, plates that do not meet the standards were used;
2. Pay attention to the smell after unpacking. The sharp, literally knocking down "plastic" smell of formaldehyde indicates the low quality of the chipboard used;
3. Ask about certificates. There is nothing shameful in demanding from the supplier a sanitary and hygienic conclusion, on the reverse side of which the normative and practical release of formaldehyde compounds, as well as the period of testing and the validity of the certificate, must be indicated.

The harm of formaldehyde resins has been proven, but this does not mean that you need to completely abandon chipboard. It is enough to take a responsible approach to the choice of products made from wood-based materials and not save on your own health.

Replacement natural materials a man-made analogue has become a habitual practice for a person. High cost natural wood and the apparent lack of it during the construction boom led engineers, chemists and technologists to create a similar material - chipboard.

Where and when did particle board appear?

Few people know that the “birth” of chipboard could not have happened, since any sawdust in the first quarter of the 20th century in Europe, they were used exclusively for the manufacture of briquettes for heating. Thus, it was waste that was only used to heat the dwelling.

But already in the 30s, the situation changed: work began on the manufacture of a composite building material from sawdust and an adhesive. At the same time, the first practical experiments appeared.

The new direction developed rapidly. During the Second World War, plywood was already in use, but due to a shortage of building materials, its price rose sharply. German Max Himmelheber from the beginning of the thirties actively experimented with wood-based composite, the experiments brought results. Inexpensive material was created, the technology perfected, and in the 40s in Germany began mass production of chipboard.

There were no interruptions with raw materials: non-commercial wood and any waste from sawmills were suitable for production. Phenolic resins became the binder, which Himmelheber concluded were ideal for forming a strong composite board. Inexpensive and excellent technical characteristics the material has become popular all over the world. Temporary housing is built from it, used to decorate residential buildings and offices, and produce high-quality furniture.

The ability to improve individual qualities of particle boards further expanded their scope of application: moisture resistant material suitable for kitchens and bathrooms, fire-resistant stoves are also in demand.

Phenol-formaldehyde resin and harm to health

The first reaction of our ancestors to the achievements of chemical scientists was joy at the opportunity to use advanced technologies, the desire to quickly implement them. Subsequently, it turned out that some of the technologies not only made life easier, but also significantly shortened it. Therefore, today every product made by people is tested for toxicity and environmental safety.

• One of the substances, the attitude to which is ambiguous - phenol-formaldehyde resin. Having great importance for industry (high strength, corrosion resistance), it has toxic components - phenol and formaldehyde. Employees of enterprises producing products containing phenols and formaldehydes can receive the greatest damage from their exposure, provided that they do not use funds individual protection... During curing in adhesive resins, the oligomeric fragments are crosslinked with the participation of free phenol. As a result, the phenol content is reduced to trace amounts that allow sanitary standards RF.

When chipboard became ubiquitous, niches traditionally occupied by others were filled building materials (wooden board, more expensive plywood, etc.), manufacturers losing their market, attracting environmentalists, began to publish materials that harm the reputation of chipboard manufacturers.

Over time, standards change, technologies improve.

At a time when no one thought about the dangers of phenols, the percentage of their content in the adhesive mixture was higher than today. As awareness has grown, standards have also changed.

Today, there is hardly a home or office where chipboard is not used. This is due to its advantages:

• acceptable price;
• flat, smooth surfaces;
• strength, uniformity, the material does not exfoliate, does not curl, does not dry out;
• the broadest possibilities for application.

So, is chipboard furniture harmful?

On the human body many harmful factors are affected every day: emissions industrial enterprises, tar and nicotine from cigarettes, car exhaust gases, background created by electronics, components household chemicals and cosmetics, others. The least damage to humans is caused by the release of volatile resin components from furniture. Moreover, some types of wood evaporate harmful substances in the same amount as chipboard of class E1.

Rumors about the dangers of using quality particle board are nothing more than speculation on consumer anxiety and the belief that everything created with the help of chemistry is harmful.

How to choose a quality and safe material?

The key to maintaining health is the use of certified materials. Regardless of which grade of particleboard is used, it is provided with a label indicating which emission class for the release of free formaldehyde belongs to:

• E1 - 100 grams of the composite releases no more than 10 mg of a volatile substance (the formaldehyde content in the chipboard is within the permissible norm). In Russia and abroad, it is allowed to make furniture from this material for children's rooms and rooms where people are constantly located;
• E2 is a marking that indicates the inadmissibility of the use of plates in children's and living quarters.

Today, chipboard furniture is still quite popular, although it has more practical substitutes, it is inexpensive and thus attracts buyers. The harm of chipboard to health was recognized by the World Health Organization back in 1985. Manufacturers and sellers of particle boards have an opposite opinion: they insist that this decision was politicized and has no evidence base.

Chipboard - particle board. Chipboard is a similar plate, only laminated.

Is there a wolf

Like chipboard, it is dangerous due to the potential emissions of formaldehyde. This substance officially recognized as a carcinogen. Studies have shown that an excess of formaldehyde in the environment can cause cancer. Fiberboard material has the same problem.

The fact is that the composition of the chipboard is shavings and glued with resin, which releases a dangerous carcinogen. The environmental friendliness of chipboard is constantly trying to improve by prohibiting dangerous species resins for bonding. Uncertified slabs, which are made in semi-legal workshops, are recognized as especially dangerous. Formaldehyde can be released from low-quality products for up to 10 years.

In order to protect the consumer from negative effects on the body, manufacturers cover plates:

• KDSP (Laminated): paperless coating method, varnish (melamine) is applied.
• Chipboard (Laminated): a method of applying plastic to wood.

The coverage really makes sense if it doesn't have any the slightest damage... If you see mechanical damage on laminated furniture, you need to immediately eliminate them. The problem is especially relevant for the furniture of children's rooms.

Experts note a sharp deterioration in the health of people with asthma. Formaldehyde, which is part of the particle board, causes irreparable harm to the respiratory organs (nose, nasopharynx, larynx). noted negative impact on the skin and nervous system person.

Table of the harmful effects of formaldehyde included in the particle board:

How to protect yourself from harm

The harmful properties of chipboard can be reduced by covering all mechanical damage resistant material... If the furniture is not sufficiently protected, you will definitely smell the characteristic smell of formaldehyde. One should be alert even if the smell is pleasant to the scent.

When buying, ask the seller for a product certificate. Be sure to pay attention to the class, choose only a product with class E-1, in it permissible value formaldehyde vapor is the smallest.

After a week of using such furniture at home, you may no longer feel the smell. However, if after this time a pungent smell is felt, you should immediately contact the seller and, if possible, return the purchased product.

Pros of using

We doubt that any advantages that we describe are capable of making a person still risk health. However, among the advantages are the following features:

• Moisture resistance.
• Low price.
• Ease of handling and application.

We strongly discourage buying furniture made of chipboard. In our opinion, products made from of this material can only be used outdoors.

Trying to defend ourselves

According to experts, formaldehyde can be released for up to 14 years. The most active discharge occurs in the first 2 years. We strongly advise against placing furniture close to heaters. Chipboard furniture is harmful to health even without heating, and with an increased temperature of its environment, the harm can increase significantly.

Despite the fact that according to GOST, up to 10 mg of formaldehyde is allowed per 100 grams of dry weight of the material, choose plates of class E1. In this class of products, up to 8 mg of a carcinogen is allowed. Carefully check the corners of your furniture for damage, if any, seal them with insulating materials.

If you see E2 markings on furniture, remove it from your apartment immediately. This marking means that the furniture cannot be used in residential premises. It is illegal to manufacture such items.

conclusions

If you have already decided to buy furniture from the use of chipboard technologies, cooperate only with large companies... Usually, quality certified products are hard to find in small provincial warehouse stores. If your financial situation allows you, you should not save on health, natural furniture much safer.