Op-Ed
More on Formaldehyde and Timber
More on Formaldehyde and Timber
You stated in response to a letter from Structural Board Association President John Lowood in your July/August issue that “while formaldehyde emissions from panels made with PF (phenolic formaldehyde) binder are quite low, they are still problematic for some individuals.” While this could be true for some hypersensitive individuals, it should be noted, to put the matter in perspective, that formaldehyde is produced by natural processes and is environmentally omnipresent. It is found naturally in apples, onions and human blood, for example, at significantly higher levels than those produced by PF panels. (A publication on this subject, including the results of PF panel “large-scale chamber” tests, is available from APA, 253/565-6600.)
On another matter, thank you for printing (also in the July/August issue) the diatribe against the wood products industry by Denny Halde-man of Heartwood. His inflammatory and cliché-riddled rhetoric (“forest feeding frenzy,” “corporate profit motive,” “insatiable global market,” etc.) serves well to explain how the radical fringe of the environmental movement has managed to disqualify itself from participation in the good-faith efforts of reasonable people to achieve sustainability.
Jack Merry, Communications
APA–The Engineered Wood Association
Editor’s Note:
The formaldehyde question is far from simple. It is meaningless, however, to compare levels of formaldehyde in a material (apples), with levels released by another material (plywood).Published September 1, 1997 Permalink Citation
(1997, September 1). More on Formaldehyde and Timber. Retrieved from https://www.buildinggreen.com/op-ed/more-formaldehyde-and-timber
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