The effects of edge sealing treatment applied to wood-based composites on formaldehyde emission by desiccator test method

Formaldehyde emissions were measured with the Japanese industrial standard desiccator (JIS A 1460) method for particleboard (PB) and medium density fiberboard (MDF) as furniture materials, 8 mm laminate flooring, and engineered flooring as flooring materials. To measure the formaldehyde surface emissions, the edge of each sample was sealed with either parafilm, polyethylene wax or aluminum foil. To determine the effect of thickness, emissions from PB and MDF of 9, 12, 15, 18 and 20 mm thicknesses were measured. The difference between sealing methods was relatively small but the difference from unsealed was large, confirming the need for a test procedure incorporating edge sealing. The reduction rate of formaldehyde emission from PB and MDF was 50-80% for flooring materials and about 30% for furniture materials. The greater core porosity in PB than in MDF may have caused the large reduction of formaldehyde emission from the edge sealed samples. The amount of formaldehyde emitted from the edge was significantly higher in PB than in MDF. These results need to be considered when using the desiccator test to measure formaldehyde emission from flooring and furniture materials.