CARB

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Permalink Reply by billthewoodguy on March 23, 2009 at 6:11am

ok, I'll bite. what are CARB regulations?

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Permalink Reply by Karl Forth on March 23, 2009 at 9:44am

CARB is referring to the California Air Resources Board regulations that limit formaldehyde emissions from particleboard, MDF and other composite products used in California. Go to www.fdmonline.com and search "CARB regulations" to see some summary articles. Or you can visit the Composite Panel Assn. site, www.pbmdf.com, for more detailed information.

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Permalink Reply by Todd Vogelsinger on March 23, 2009 at 12:54pm

At this point, the CARB regulations apply to people doing business in California or shipping materials containing composite wood products into California. However, there's a lot of activity within other states and at the federal level which might turn CARB into a national standard.

Where are you doing business, Bill?

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Permalink Reply by billthewoodguy on March 23, 2009 at 9:10pm

I am in Kentucky, and for the most part I don't use much if any composite materials unless veneer core plywood falls into that category.

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Permalink Reply by Joel Templin on May 13, 2009 at 9:51pm

I'm in Oregon and a good deal of what's manufactured here goes to California too so the mills have standardized and we get the same spec'd materials Cali now requires with the CARB regulations. HardwoodPly Veneer Core and Composite Core is at .08ppm (an emissions measurement of some sort), Particleboard .18ppm, and MDF at .21ppm for 2009's Phase1 standards. Phase 2 standards take effect from 2010 through 2012 and will become respectively .05ppm, .09ppm and .11ppm. That's all fine and dandy but I don't have anything to compare that to. How much have things improved? What are the good ol' numbers from days past and out of curiosity what are the present day Chinese ply numbers. I saw a 4.8mg/l measurement (whatever that means) for Chinese stuff but don't know how that relates. All this is to have a better understanding so I can give a better understanding of why I'll say both yes and no to clients that are more frequently asking for "no formaldehyde" materials. A few interesting tidbits I've picked up are that you can't smell things below .50ppm, a few people are affected with materials having .10ppm but most have no ill effects even at .80ppm. supposedly a reasonable work limit is at .30ppm, and last but not least, human blood contains .20ppm. Neat. The duration of emissions is an issue as is proximity to the emissions. Clothing/Fabrics/Cosmetics often (?) have higher emissions and while having a closer proximity have less duration. After all the cool numbers and statistics I usually sum it up with "None of this crap matters, it's mostly BS." Might not always go over well but it's pretty much how I feel.

If my question got lost in there it's what were the emissions before CARB regulations?

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Permalink Reply by Jeff Morgan on June 18, 2009 at 10:53am

Here's to my first Sawdust Soup entry. Being a glue peddler, I have to address CARB and LEED's often. In short, the need is always dictated by the customer. However, I find that there is a general desire for compliance regardless of the existing job. Many are already using LEED and CARB compliant products. I.E. many of Franklin's most common products, like MultiBond 2000, are already compliant. Their latest introduction is MultiBond 4000, an entirely urea formaldehyde free product. It, however, goes way beyond what most would deem acceptable. Veneering is probably one of the areas that is seeing alot of attention, replacing UF adhesives with compliant PVA's. There are real challenges in address compliance with Fire Retardent products.

I've attached a Franklin Document that really helped me to have a better understanding of CARB and other regulations...

Attachments:

• Franklin_AP_Green_Guide.pdf, 1.5 MB

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