March 16, 2015

Eco-Friendly cabinets for your home by Elyse Cabinet Makers

More and more, people are switching to Eco friendly materials when renovating their kitchen and bathroom. One of the main reasons for using Eco friendly products is to avoid formaldehyde glues and other toxic finishes that are typically found in today’s materials.

It may come to a surprise, but the majority of materials used for renovations are loaded with toxins. Even environmental protection companies have a new branch of standards that includes indoor air quality and omnipresent low-level toxicity. Some of the toxins that can be found in building materials (particularly cabinets and vanities) include:

Arsenic: Still found in many household products and is increasingly used as a wood preservative.

Formaldehyde: evaporates from particleboard and the adhesives used to manufacture most inexpensive wood-based products.

Wood stains: Often contain solvents for fast drying. Solvents are typically composed of carcinogens like methyl ethyl ketome and benzene.

Products in the House that Contain Formaldehyde

Formaldehyde can pollute your indoor air for many years by the off-gas from pressed woods. The off-gassing rate is especially high in new materials and in humid, hot weather.

Conventional plywood: Made of thin veneers of wood that is bonded together with formaldehyde resins.

Most hardwood plywood: Composed of a core layer faced with higher quality woods using urea-formaldehyde (UF) glue. Used for cabinetry and paneling.

Softwood plywood: Used for structural and exterior applications like floors, walls and roofs. It is comprised of an adhesive that contains phenol formaldehyde (PF) resin.

Particleboard: Used mostly indoors for cabinets and furniture. It is made from wood chips and plant fibers that are bonded with formaldehyde-based resins.

High Counts of Formaldehyde found in Cabinets

In the present day, most cabinets emit significant amounts of formaldehyde. According to a recent article by Examiner.com, they measured formaldehyde inside some cabinets and discovered that the toxins were way over the occupational exposure limit of 300 ppb. In fact, they found custom made cabinets in two homes that had more than 1,000 ppb formaldehyde inside all drawers. The count was so high that it was off the charts and meters. What is more, their research showed that cabinets with high counts of formaldehyde also had over 100 ppb formaldehyde toxins in room air.

According to some studies, just 100 ppb formaldehyde can cause asthma and respiratory irritation in most adults. What is staggering is that children are more sensitive.

Choosing Eco Friendly Products

Fortunately, there are now home renovation materials that contain little to no formaldehyde. This gives consumers the opportunity to exchange plywood and particleboard cabinets for Eco friendly products.

There are a wide variety of Eco friendly cabinet options such as toxic-free wood, metal and bamboo. However, the most cost effective, durable and innovative are cabinets and vanities made of wood. Eco friendly wood cabinetry materials include solid hardwood that is E-zero, Medium-density fiberboard (MDF) with an E-zero rating, egger range that is Super E-zero, particleboard with an E-zero rating.

When selecting Eco friendly cabinets, one of the main companies in British Columbia is Elyse Cabinets. Not only have they been in business for over 25 years but they take appropriate measures to be as Eco friendly as possible. At Elyse Cabinets, every one of their boards and materials is E-zero. What is more, their egger range is Super E-zero, their MDF materials are E-zero as well as their particleboard.

Elyse Cabinets
For more information:
5 Egan Road, Dandenong VICTORIA 3175
Tel: (03) 9793 7717    Fax: (03) 9793 8118
Mobile: 0414 354 561   

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