[Greenbuilding] bamboo, formaldehyde

[William Updike]

The following was provided by a rep from EcoTimber in
response to my question to him about the information
provided to a member of this list from Home Depot. 
EcoTimber will soon be the only manufacturer to
provide solid bamboo flooring without any added
urea-formaldehyde (a LEED requirement).  This doesn't
answer Keith's important question about production per
acre, or the issue of shipping, but it does address
formaldehyde and worker's rights issues.  Read on (if
you haven't already read more than you wanted to on
this subject):

"First, the Home Depot associate was dead wrong.  Most
manufacturers have reduced it
(urea-formaldehyde)significantly, but almost no one
has removed it altogether.  In fact, we are the only
one that has removed it from most of our products, to
my knowledge.  Teragren, Plyboo and every other Bamboo
company still use UF resin unless you order a special
batch at a significant mark-up.  The good news is that
EcoTimber is just now receiving the first containers
of our new-and-improved standard solid Bamboo flooring
without any added urea-formaldehyde whatsoever.  We
will be the first brand to offer “no added
urea-formaldehyde” in its standard production, at no
upcharge.

The assertion that the formaldehyde levels in these
products are below naturally occurring levels may be
correct in some cases but misses the point.  Those
“naturally occurring levels” consist of the sum total
of many different sources of formaldehyde, such such
as wood combustion, building materials, chemical
manufacturing, natural physiological processes, etc.
The “naturally” occurring levels in our outdoor air in
cities are much higher than those in rural areas,
indicating that what some call “natural levels” are in
large part impacted by human activities.  The more
products we choose that contain formaldehyde, the
higher the overall levels will be, and in particular
the higher the levels will be in the areas those
products are used.

It’s important to note that urea formaldehyde, which
is man-made and is not produced by any natural
processes, is highly volatile and considered far more
dangerous to human health than other types of
formaldehyde such as phenol formaldehyde.  It is for
this reason that the LEED credit requires “no added
urea-formaldehyde,” and products that contain it, even
in trace amounts, will not qualify for the credit. 
Some Bamboo and engineered/composite wood
manufacturers have tried to focus attention on the
presence of ‘natural’ formaldehyde in order to (I
believe) deflect attention from the fact that their
products contain a man-made carcinogen.

It is interesting to note that with our engineered
Bamboo, when we switched the core from Pine (one of
the woods that emits the highest levels of
formaldehyde) to Rubberwood (which emits very little
formaldehyde), our testing data on the overall product
changed very little, indicating that the emissions
levels we were seeing were coming mainly from the
glue, not the Pine.

Regarding labor conditions and wages, I can tell you
that EcoTimber visits our mills regularly, and that
all of them are ISO 9000 certified, which requires
that they adhere to strict labor, management, worker
protection and pollution controls.  We have ended
relationships with mills because we felt they were not
adequately protecting the workers, as we did with a
Bamboo flooring mill in China several years ago.  I
have not heard of any other U.S. Bamboo companies
making business decisions for social reasons like we
do, but it’s certainly possible and I would applaud
it."

Cheers,

Bill Updike
Regional Sales Representative
Nature Neutral, Green Building Supply
www.NatureNeutral.com



--- RONALD CASCIO <roncascio at verizon.net> wrote:

> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Keith Winston" <keith at earthsunenergy.com>
> To: "Greenbuilder list"
> <greenbuilding at listserv.repp.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, February 07, 2007 3:43 PM
> Subject: Re: [Greenbuilding] bamboo, formaldehyde
> 
> 
> ... I still don't know the whole story, but I
> definitely stopped giving 
> bamboo a free ride! Mostly everyone else still does,
> however :-/
> 
> Keith
> 
> I've essentially given up on bamboo after installing
> a good deal it in the 
> last ten years, none in the last five. Too many
> unanswered questions for me, 
> yet I bet Jason Holstine is quite informed on the
> subject.
> 
> Ron 
> 
> 
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