Long-term study of formaldehyde emission decay from particleboard

In 1986, the National Particleboard Association and several particleboard manufacturers initiated long-term studies to determine how particleboard formaldehyde emission levels behave with the passing of time. Sixteen particleboard products manufactured in 1986 and 1987 were tested for formaldehyde emission levels repeatedly over a period of time by the FTM-2 large chamber method. Data were generated from four different large chamber locations and represented a large cross section of the U.S. particleboard industry. Data were used to generate formaldehyde emission decay curves. From these curves, the three-quarter life and half life levels of emissions were calculated. Initial measurements of formaldehyde emissions varied from a high of 0.41 ppm to a low of 0.10 ppm. The overall average initial emission level was 0.21 ppm. The overall three-quarter and half lives were 38 and 216 days, respectively. The rate at which emission levels decrease is not constant, but decreases with time. Generally, formaldehyde emission levels decreased linearly with respect to the natural log of time.

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