Friends of green furniture and foes of formaldehyde have a new cause to support as the EPA considers a petition to restrict formaldehyde emissions from engineered wood products and certain building materials. Formaldehyde is a colorless gas that comes from glues and certain wood products and can potentially cause cancer. The petition comes one year after California adopted California Air Resources Board (CARB) regulations that put a tight cap on formaldehyde emissions from engineered wood products. In essence, the petitioners want the EPA to apply the CARB regulations nationwide.

The proposal should face stiff opposition from domestic manufacturers looking to do business nationwide. While CARB’s regulations only cover California, wider-ranging restrictions on commonly-used materials in wood furniture could essentially handcuff domestic furniture makers and force them to start from square one. On the other hand, the petitioners would argue that it shouldn’t take the threat of regulations for furniture manufacturers to clean up their act.

If the petition does go through, wary industry professionals also suspect that the EPA will focus too much on violations by easier-to-monitor domestic companies and let foreign competitors slip through the cracks. A definitive decision on the petition should come by June 21 as environmentalists and furniture makers wait with bated breath. Until then, furniture affixed with trusted third party certifications may represent your best bet in the search for low emission furniture for your school or office.

(Photo via Morguefile)