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From the FDA regulating formaldehyde-laden hair straighteners to a study that highlights the pervasiveness of formaldehyde in different kinds of beauty products, this pungent and carcinogenic chemical has been all over the news lately. 

While these cases are novel, the presence of formaldehyde in built environment products like furniture and flooring is, unfortunately, long documented. This chemical has been in use in the furniture and flooring industry for decades, mainly as a wood adhesive. Formaldehyde is a respiratory irritant, a chemical sensitizer, and a carcinogen. That’s why we at CEH identified formaldehyde as one of the “hazardous handful” — five chemicals of concern that are commonly used in furniture. 

Avoiding formaldehyde in furniture and flooring is an important part of protecting public health. Although recent federal regulations as well as stringent third-party certifications have helped significantly reduce the presence of formaldehyde in these products, it is still important for institutional purchasers to learn how to avoid this chemical when procuring built environment products. To help with this, CEH offers expertise in healthier furniture and flooring procurement and has developed several tools that purchasers can use to avoid formaldehyde in their purchasing.  

What is Formaldehyde?

Formaldehyde belongs to a large family of chemicals called volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) that tend to volatize from certain solids and liquids. When you smell the “new car smell,” it is likely that smell is from VOCs “off gassing” out of the product. Most of these chemicals are associated with a wide variety of adverse health effects, from respiratory problems to cancer. Formaldehyde itself is a colorless and flammable chemical that has a strong smell. It is mass produced for industrial processes and applications, but can also be found in natural processes such as the decay and combustion of plant material. 

According to the US EPA, the health effects of formaldehyde exposure in humans include eye, nose, and throat irritation. Sensitive populations can suffer from more severe health effects such as headaches, loss of coordination, and nausea; as well as damage to the liver, kidney, and central nervous system. Prolonged exposure to formaldehyde can lead to certain forms of cancer, which is why the chemical has been classified as a carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and the US National Toxicology Program. 

Formaldehyde in Furniture & Flooring 

Formaldehyde is used in wood as well as composite wood furniture and flooring products generally as an adhesive component. Formaldehyde is often combined with chemicals like urea or phenol to form resins that are used as glues or adhesives. These form the base for wood board adhesives or can be used to bind wood strands, particles, or fibers together to create composite wood.  

Formaldehyde emissions from composite wood products themselves are actually quite low due to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Title VI. This regulation — which was signed in 2010, but only became fully effective in 2024 — ensures that composite wood products meet the California Air Resources Board (CARB) limits. Solid wood generally does not emit any formaldehyde and has no equivalent regulation. 

Despite the limits placed on formaldehyde emissions by Title VI, formaldehyde and other VOC emissions can still be problematic among finished floors or fully assembled furniture. This is because the adhesives used to install flooring boards and tiles, or those used to assemble and upholster furniture can release significant amounts of formaldehyde and other VOCs. To avoid formaldehyde and other VOC emissions, your best bet is to use third-party certifications when sourcing materials. 

How to Avoid Formaldehyde 

Sustainability certifications serve an important role in the built environment market. They help consumers identify better and more sustainable alternatives, and push manufacturers to formulate improved non-toxic products. Understanding how these certifications work can allow us to use them to our advantage to make improved purchasing choices.  

Single-Attribute Certifications 

A certification can cover a single sustainability attribute or multiple aspects. Those that focus entirely on one attribute are fittingly termed single-attribute certifications. These certifications evaluate products — oftentimes quite stringently — on just one factor such as recycled content, social fairness, or product emissions.  

When it comes to ensuring very low levels of formaldehyde, Greenguard Gold is the premier single-attribute certification of choice. It imposes very low limits on the levels of formaldehyde and total VOC content that are emitted. SCS Indoor Advantage Gold is another single-attribute certification that ensures low total VOC emissions. For this certification, however, to ensure formaldehyde emissions are also low, further compliance with the ANSI/BIFMA criterion 7.6.3 or California’s Department of Public Health Standard Method v.1.2 (commonly known as Section 01350) must be verified. 

Multi-Attribute Certifications 

Multi-attribute certifications, as their name implies, evaluate products based on several sustainability factors. They are preferable to single-attribute certifications because they can protect users from the harms of formaldehyde exposure while also promoting a more holistic approach to sustainable purchasing. However, it is still important to know how rigorously formaldehyde emissions are limited.  

One of the most well-known multi-attribute certifications is Cradle to Cradle (C2C). C2C is a great certification that looks at many different sustainability factors, including formaldehyde emissions. However, only the higher certification tiers of C2C (Gold and Platinum) offer good protection against total VOC emissions. 

The best multi-attribute certifications that effectively restrict formaldehyde emissions are the Greenhealth Approved and BIFMA Level (satisfying the 7.4.4 criterion) certifications. Greenhealth Approved is a certification that applies to both furniture and flooring, and its furniture requirements were co-created by CEH. Like C2C, the Greenhealth Approved certification effectively evaluates several sustainability factors, but when it comes to formaldehyde emissions, it directly restricts them to the same levels that Greenguard Gold does. Similarly, the BIFMA Level certification observes several sustainability factors as well as directly restricting formaldehyde to the Greenguard Gold levels. The BIFMA Level certification is only applicable to furniture and must meet the optional 7.4.4 criterion, which matches the Greenhealth Approved furniture specifications developed by CEH. 

Formaldehyde has been a problem in the built environment industry for a long time. Fortunately, we now have tools at our disposal in the form of certifications that empower and inform us so that we can avoid this dangerous chemical in our furniture and flooring. Single-attribute certifications like Greenguard Gold or — better yet — multi-attribute ones like Greenhealth Approved or Level by BIFMA can allow us to choose more sustainable furniture and flooring products that will not emit harmful formaldehyde. Connect with CEH to learn more about how you can remove this harmful chemical from the built environment products you buy.