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Residents of Puerto Rico Concerned Over Formaldehyde Off-Gassing from Laminate Flooring

Zimmetry Environmental provides formaldehyde testing and consulting services to help prevent exposure to this carcinogen used in some flooring.


Bayamon, Puerto Rico – WEBWIRE

Parents of young children and toddlers are especially concerned due to the fact that children spend so much of their time on the floor and could be exposed to especially high levels of formaldehyde in the air they breathe.

“60 Minutes” broadcast a report on March 1st that has many residents of Puerto Rico wondering if their laminate flooring is creating unhealthy conditions in their homes, schools and businesses.  The concern is the result of a segment aired on the show that found high levels of formaldehyde present in Chinese-made laminate flooring that was supplied by one of the largest flooring retailers in the United States.
 
The show first focused on laminate flooring sold in California with their strict formaldehyde emission standards.  In California, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) sets standards for the amount of formaldehyde emissions that can come from flooring and other materials.  The California Composite Wood Products Regulation requires finished goods made with hardwood plywood (HWPW), particleboard (PB) and medium density fiberboard (MDF) to comply with the regulatory requirements and to be labeled as such.  The laminate flooring tested in the report all showed that the flooring was CARB Phase 2 Compliant on their boxes.  60 Minutes interviewed experts that had tested over 150 boxes of the laminate flooring and found the products emitted an average of 6 to 7 times the state standard for the chemical.
 
31 boxes of the laminate flooring materials were then purchased by the investigative reporters at 60 Minutes from stores in Texas, Virginia, Florida, Illinois and New York.  The samples were sent to two separate laboratories and all but one failed compliance with California’s regulations.  Some samples were reportedly over 13 times the limit.
 
“The 60 Minutes broadcast has many people in Puerto Rico and across the Caribbean now wondering if laminate flooring could be exposing their families to unsafe levels of formaldehyde,” said Harry Pena, President of Zimmetry Environmental.  “Parents of young children and toddlers are especially concerned due to the fact that children spend so much of their time on the floor and could be exposed to especially high levels of formaldehyde in the air they breathe. At Zimmetry we have environmental professionals that can quickly test the indoor air quality for formaldehyde to determine if high levels are present so that corrective actions can be implemented.”
 
To learn more about Zimmetry Environmental and their indoor air quality, environmental and compliance consulting services, please visit www.zimmetry.com, call (787) 995.0005 or email info@zimmetry.com .
 
About Zimmetry Environmental
Since 2002, Zimmetry Environmental has been providing environmental consulting services to building owners and managers, architects, engineers, EHS professionals and Fortune 500 companies.  The company is based in Puerto Rico and provides services across the Caribbean and Central America.  The professionals at Zimmetry offer environmental compliance, indoor air quality, asbestos, lead-based paint, Phase I ESAs and general environmental consulting services.


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 Formaldehyde
 Puerto Rico
 Air Testing
 Laminate Flooring
 IAQ


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