CARB formaldehyde ACTM for wood-based panels
CARB formaldehyde regulation
California Air Resources Board (CARB) released a regulation on formaldehyde emissions from wood-based panels and from composite wood products, the Airborne Toxic Control Measure ATCM 93120, for:
- Hardwood Plywood (Veneer or Composite core)
- Particleboard
- Medium Density Fiberboard
Both composite wood panels and down-stream products containing such panels are involved, such as wooden flooring, furniture and more.
Since June 2010, this regulation was adopted for the whole USA.
The regulation is complex, therefore here is a number of valuable links to more information:
- Summary
- Another summary
- Text of the regulation (ATCM 93120)
- Related CARB homepage
- CARB factsheets in different languages
- CARB advisory no. 384 (revised) to composite wood products industry
- CARB advisory 09-01 (revised) to retailers
- CARB flyer
- CARB FAQ
CARB approved Third-Party Certifiers TPC are certifying the mills producing composite wood panels. There is a list of certified mills, a list of TPC presently approved, and a list of candidate TPCs.
The certification process includes formaldehyde emission testing in large-scale test chambers (ASTM E1333) or in mid-scale test chambers (ASTM D6007) that are calibrated against an approved large-scale test chamber. Testing is performed at 25 °C which is in contrast to emissions testing in most other parts of the world (where 23 °C is the temperature at test). That is the reason why Eurofins does not offer these tests, at present our test chambers are running at 23 °C only. Eurofins recommends using the CARB approved Third-Party Certifier Scientific Certification Systems SCS, California.
Revision process
CARB will present plans for updating this regulation in a public workshop on May 10, 2012, in Sacramento, CA, see
- Workshop announcement
- Workshop preliminary agenda
Contact to VOC Testing Laboratories
Please see here contact information of Eurofins VOC testing laboratories in Europe, USA and China:
www.eurofins.com/voc-contacts.
Order forms and testing request forms are available for free download here.