Paper products, formaldehyde release

Unwashed new clothing samples (Table IIC), fiberglass insulation products with formaldehyde resins (Table IID), paper products (Table HE), fabrics (cotton, nylon, olefin, and blended) (Table HF), and carpets (Table HG), had substantially 3 to > 100 fold) lower formaldehyde release rate coefficients, as measured by this method, than did pressed wood products or urea formaldehyde foams (1, 15). 

The relative ranking for each type of product on the basis of rate of release of formaldehyde per unit surface area was pressed wood products z formaldehyde foam clothes z insulation products z paper products > fabric > carpet. Considering the surface area of each type of product likely to be present in houses and the relative release rate coefficients. 

HIS BOOK SUMMARIZES OUR CURRENT UNDERSTANDING of many problems related to measuring, abating, and understanding formaldehyde emission from wood products bonded with formaldehyde-based adhesive resins. It contains expanded and updated versions of selected papers presented at an ACS symposium, Formaldehyde Release from Cellulose in Wood Products and Textiles. In addition, three chapters from participants who could not attend the meeting were added. 

Formaldehyde (CH2O) release was measured for seven types of consumer products pressed wood, urea formaldehyde foam materials, clothes, insulation, paper, fabric, and carpet. A modified Japanese Industrial Standard (JIS) desiccator test was used to measure release rate coefficients and to rank 53 products. Ten pressed wood products and five urea formaldehyde foam products showed the highest CH2O releases (1-34 mg m 2.day"b The remainder, representing all product types, had lower releases ranging from 680 yg m 2.day to nondetectable levels. In other studies, CH2O release was measured in a ventilated chamber for single samples of particle board, plywood, insulation, and carpet. 

Phenolic plastics. Collective designation for phenolic resin-based plastics. Phenolic resins are produced by condensation of phenol and/or its homologues, such as cresol, with an aldehyde, such as formaldehyde or with an aldehyde-releasing material such as hexamethylenetetramine. Phenol/formaldehyde and/or cresol/formaldehyde resins are used as binding materials in fibre board, laminated paper and fabrics. In phenolic moulding compounds, the proportion of filler (such as wood flour, rock flour, asbestos, stone powder, mica, glass fibre) can be equal to that of the resin. These thermosets can be processed by compression or injection moulding into black or dark-coloured products mainly for the electric industry. 

It will be appreciated that poly(vinyl alcohol) has an unusual combination of properties. In particular, it has much greater tensile strength than is normally associated with water-soluble materials at the same time it has outstanding chemical resistance. This combination results in a wide variety of applications. Thus poly(vinyl alcohol) film is used for water-soluble packages for materials such as bath salts, bleaches, disinfectants and insecticides film is also employed as a release agent in the production of reinforced plastics. Poly(vinyl alcohol) may be spun into fibres (which are insolubilized by treatment with formaldehyde), which have been developed particularly in Japan. Aqueous poly(vinyl alcohol) solutions are used in the formulation of adhesives, paper treatments and textile sizes. 

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