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The Science > Fact Sheet: A Review of the Various Formaldehyde Emissions Standards
A Review Of The Various Formaldehyde Emissions Standards
Only two U.S. government agencies, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA), provide legally mandated standards for how much formaldehyde can be present for the situations each regulates. The HUD standard applies to manufactured housing while the OSHA standard applies to the workplaces OSHA regulates. In addition, a good number of other federal agencies provide recommendations or guidelines that, while potentially helpful, are not legally mandated. These guideline figures vary significantly and are inconsistent with one another.
Organization |
Is it a mandate? |
Level |
| Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) - Manufactured Housing Program |
Yes for Manufactured Housing |
0.4 ppm |
non-mandated target for indoor ambient air |
| 0.2 ppm |
for emissions from plywood |
| 0.3 ppm |
for emissions from particle board |
| Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) |
Yes for regulated workplaces |
0.75 ppm |
average for an 8 hour work day |
| 2.0 ppm |
for 15 minutes of short term exposure |
No government standard is mandated for RVs. However, because the RV industry holds the safety of its customers as the highest priority, it has voluntarily adopted the formaldehyde emission requirements for wood products (plywood and particleboard) as required by HUD for manufactured homes. This is a particularly conservative standard since RVs are most often lived in for short periods of time, as opposed to manufactured homes which are made to be lived in permanently.
Additionally, on June 12, 2008, the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association's (RVIA) board of directors set an effective date for member manufacturers to begin using wood products that meet the California Air Resources Board's (CARB) new formaldehyde emissions level, as a mandatory condition of membership. Starting Jan. 1, 2009, RV makers that are members of RVIA will be required to build all units with wood products that comply with the CARB standard's emission limits. By July 1, 2010, they must use wood that has been certified by an appropriate third party as meeting the CARB standard.
As a result of this schedule, RVIA will require its members to use CARB compliant wood nationwide a full 18 months before California phases in its requirement.
This is a confusing issue. There is no scientific or government consensus on an appropriate level of formaldehyde, despite the fact that formaldehyde is in so many things we use every day, from products inside our homes to personal care products such as makeup and shampoo. The RV industry is committed to adapting its production if scientific experts determine an even stricter standard is required to ensure the continued safety and health of our consumers. |
