COMPARATIVE RESPONSE OF RECONSTITUTED WOOD PRODUCTS TO EUROPEAN AND NORTH-AMERICAN TEST METHODS FOR DETERMINING FORMALDEHYDE EMISSIONS

The European large-chamber, the North American large-chamber, the European perforator, and the North American desiccator test protocols for formaldehyde emissions from wood products were compared. Two formaldehyde analytical techniques using chromotropic acid and pararosaniline chemistry were used for the large-chamber testing. Six samples sets, chosen for their range in formaldehyde emission, provided the experimental data. The sets consisted of five particleboards and one medium-density fiberboard (MDF). The European large-chamber protocol produced values that were 20% lower than the North American large-chamber protocol and both analytical techniques produced similar test results. Linear relationships between all the tests were strong. These relationships should allow manufacturers on both continents a level of confidence in predicting their conformance with formaldehyde emission standards. These tests confirm a similarity seen by others in the emission rates of North American and European products.