Even in a year of recession-some feel depression-in the wood industry, over 300 individuals attended the 16th International Particleboard Symposium held at Washington State University on March 30-April 1, 1982. Some 22 countries were represented.
The meeting was organized to discuss many current developments in the production of dry-process composition board, including conventional U.S. type planer shavings board, flakeboard, oriented strandboard, waferboard, medium density fiberboard, dry-process hardboard, and composites. The specific session titles were Binders, which included formaldehyde discussions, Structural Products, Medium Density Fiberboard, and Plant Considerations.
The most pressing concern to all involved in the composition board industry at the present time is the possible effect of formaldehyde emissions on consumers. An enormous body of scientific knowledge has been amassed which indicates that such effect is minimal. However, questions about problems with formaldehyde emissions have continued to be pressed by the various media in many countries. It is well known by those involved in industry that formaldehyde has been used for over 50 years in the manufacture of adhesives. Formaldehyde is also found in many other products including foods and cosmetics.
Some of the more recent concerns in the United States appear to have come about because of the energy conservation movement as applied to housing. Less air interchange between indoor and outdoor air has been a change which causes problems with the elimination of all types of indoor pollutants. Formaldehyde has been one that has been given great attention because its odor can be detected quite easily.
To alleviate the alleged problems, board manufacturers have changed to different resin formulations. The adhesives manufacturers have changed the mol ratios of formaldehyde to urea and have made other changes in their resin formulations to reduce the amount of formaldehyde that can be emitted from the board products. However, even With this great improvement, there is still great concern as expressed by the numerous lawsuits that have been filed against the manufacturers ofparticleboard.
One study that has been cited by some as evidence against the use of urea formaldehyde resin is the study on rats and mice conducted by the Chemical Industry Institute of Toxicology. In this particular study laboratory animals were exposed to as much as 15 parts per million of formaldehyde for six hours per day over a period of two years. Some nasal cancers were observed at the end of this very severe exposure period, but the research does not indicate that humans would get cancer. However, there was no statistical evidence showing that humans would get cancer from formaldehyde exposure as far as the study was concerned.
As already noted, formaldehyde is widely used and is found in more than 640 cosmetics at levels up to 1%. As is also well known to those involved in this matter, cigarette or other tobacco smoke contains significant amounts of formaldehyde. Thus, formaldehyde is found in almost every living condition. There is a problem, however, with a small number of people very sensitive to this chemical. The industry has taken the position that the approach to be * Previous symposia have been reviewed in