The choice of building materials should first look at environmental protection

Recently, the Shenzhen Consumer Council released a survey report on indoor air quality of home decoration, saying that it randomly selected 120 family houses that had been decorated within one year for air quality testing, and the unqualified rate was as high as 40%. Excessive decoration and neglect of the environmental performance of products have all become the main reasons for air substandard. It is the peak season for decoration, and the testing data in Shenzhen is sounding the alarm for us. In this issue, Jinghua Home Furnishing will carefully sort out the crux of indoor pollution for you and help you clear the misunderstanding of environmental protection.

Knowledge articles

The Shenzhen Consumer Council's air quality inspection standard is based on the "Code for the Control of Indoor Environmental Pollution in Civil Construction Projects" (gb50325-2010). According to the Beijing Times reporter, this is a set of acceptance criteria. Among them, the detection items of hazardous substances include five items: formaldehyde, benzene, ammonia, radon and tvoc. At present, Beijing's indoor air quality testing institutions generally use gb/t18883-2002, and the testing items have added toluene and xylene. Since the factors of radon and ammonia production are not closely related to home improvement, they will not be discussed in this article. Now, let's take a look at where these pollutants come from.

where do these pollutants come from

formaldehyde

Artificial board with urea-formaldehyde adhesive as adhesive. Urea-formaldehyde glue contains formaldehyde, which will continue to volatilize for a long period of time. Then, as long as products of this kind of artificial board are used, formaldehyde will be released. Such as man-made panel furniture, man-made panel frame sofa; solid wood composite inner door; panel cabinets, even pure solid wood cabinets generally use man-made panels as pads under the countertop. There are also laminate floors and solid wood composite floors used in a large area of ​​​​the home. The large core board used for modeling is also a kind of artificial board.

In addition, there are adhesives for interior building decoration, such as floor glue. Free formaldehyde also exists in water-based wood coatings, interior wall coatings, and solvent-based wood coatings. There is also a class of products that are not noticed - fabrics, which also add formaldehyde during the production process. Such as curtains, tablecloths, sofa covers, etc.

But here I want to remind you that formaldehyde is a substance that exists in nature itself. Some woods contain formaldehyde themselves. Consumers have purchased solid wood flooring, but the test results found that its formaldehyde content is higher than some laminate floors. Experts explain that formaldehyde content and release are not a concept. Laminate floors have containment measures that trap formaldehyde in them. However, the solid wood material lacks blocking, so it is detected that the formaldehyde emission of some solid wood floors will be higher than that of laminate floors. However, the formaldehyde naturally present in wood is very weak and will not cause harm to the human body.

tvoc, benzene, toluene, xylene

Interior wall coatings, water-based wood coatings, solvent-based wood coatings, putty, adhesives for interior building decoration. Obviously, the paints we usually use, lacquered wooden furniture, upholstered furniture such as sofas and mattresses, and processed leather will release the above substances.

tvoc is a general term for volatile organic compounds. In the air quality report released by Shenzhen this time, it is mentioned that the solid wood furniture used in some households "releases some harmful gases from the wood itself, which makes the tvoc test results exceed the standard." How to explain this? Is some wood itself harmful? Sun Shudong, assistant director of the National Furniture and Indoor Environment Quality Supervision and Inspection Center, said that some woods do have some special odors (tvoc has a pungent odor), which is not as good as pine resin. However, wood that can be used indoors is safe, so these substances will evaporate quickly and will not cause harm to the human body. Moreover, in fact, there are so many types of volatile organic compounds that it is impossible to confirm whether they are harmful one by one. Therefore, each product standard limits a total value to ensure the safety of users. "Not all volatile organic compounds are toxic and harmful." Some experts once gave an example to a reporter from the Beijing Times. Ethanol is a typical volatile organic compound, but it is moderately volatile and will not cause harm.

Purchase articles

A single product that is qualified may also be superimposed and exceed the standard

After understanding the above knowledge, it can be seen that formaldehyde, tvoc, toluene, xylene, benzene, etc. exist in every process of decoration. However, conventional decorative materials such as man-made panels and wall paint are not the culprits that lead to excessive levels of harmful substances in the air. The crux is that consumers lack environmental awareness, use products that do not meet national standards, and blindly pursue luxurious decoration, resulting in the superposition of harmful substances.

First of all, choosing products that meet national standards is the most basic requirement to ensure air quality after decoration.

For interior wall coatings, wood coatings and other products, the country has strict limits on harmful substances. For wooden furniture, currently only the formaldehyde emission is specified in the standard. Since the "climate box detection method" has not yet been launched, the release of tvoc, toluene, xylene and benzene in wooden furniture cannot be detected. Some people in the industry pointed out that the quality control of adhesives and wood coatings in the production process mainly depends on the enterprises themselves. Therefore, it is obviously more reliable to choose a brand with high credibility. At the same time, asking for the test report of the same batch of products is also an important way to understand the product quality.

In addition, there is a long-standing problem of the limit of harmful substances - upholstered furniture. Standards such as "Limits of Hazardous Substances in Upholstered Furniture Mattresses" and "Limits of Hazardous Substances in Upholstered Furniture Sofas" have sated everyone's appetite, but according to reliable sources, there is no hope for its introduction this year, and there is no timetable. In this case, consumers can only choose to trust brands with a high market share, and they can also make appropriate return visits to previous users. It is not difficult to find in the list of users of building materials with qualified air quality provided by the Shenzhen Consumer Council that these consumers invariably use ceramic tile, floor, wall paint and furniture brands with high reputation and market share.

Another problem that causes serious indoor air pollution is excessive decoration. Sun Shudong said that the carrying capacity of furniture and building materials per unit area is limited. "The small room is full of furniture, which can easily cause pollution to superimpose." Or other building materials have been used a lot, and after the furniture entered the market, it was even worse. In this way, even if each product meets the national standard, it will lead to exceeding the standard. In the report issued by the Shenzhen Consumer Council, it is also clearly pointed out that through the analysis of unqualified houses with air quality, it is found that many houses with unqualified air quality are mainly due to luxurious decoration and excessive decoration, such as the pursuit of KTV-like luxury. Soft bag style, etc. However, according to a reporter from the Beijing Times, although there are voices in the industry, there is currently no regulation and guidance on the unit use area of ​​man-made boards in China, and consumers can only measure by themselves.

In addition, some consumers "grasp the big and let go of the small", which inadvertently leads to excessive pollutants. For example, furniture and flooring are selected for qualified products, but for some small shoe cabinets and small shelves, they relax their vigilance and shop online at will. Curtains and tablecloths go directly to the wholesale market, and once these small pieces are unqualified, they will also continue to release harmful substances.

Regular company decoration is more reliable

In the report issued by the Shenzhen Consumer Council, it is particularly pointed out that the room that chooses "all-inclusive" (that is, a decoration method in which all materials and labor are handed over to the decorator) has the highest air quality qualification rate, reaching 70.6%. . According to the Consumer Council, after investigation, the contractors of these full-package repairs are all brand companies and strictly control the quality of decorative materials. This is basically the same situation as the Beijing market. According to industry insiders, the building materials products that can enter the main material platform of the brand home improvement company have been strictly screened. "Otherwise, if there is a problem, the company will also be responsible." In addition, even if you choose a decoration model that includes light industrial accessories, it is obviously a brand The company is more reliable. "The auxiliary materials are purchased by the company in a unified manner, and the quality is guaranteed. Moreover, the management of the foreman is relatively strict." And the guerrillas often use shoddy materials and secretly exchange materials.

At the same time, engineering personnel pointed out that sometimes the putty of the owner's house is very good, but some workers secretly add formaldehyde-containing construction glue to increase the viscosity in order to rush to work, which makes the owner unknowingly trick. Therefore, it is also very necessary to find a reliable decoration team.

In addition, it was mentioned in the investigation report that nearly 90% of the tested houses did not stipulate air quality acceptance clauses in the decoration contracts. However, in the "Construction Contract of Beijing Family Room Decoration Project" formulated by the Beijing Municipal Administration for Industry and Commerce, a reporter from the Beijing Times saw that Article 9 of the quality standard clearly stipulates that the indoor environmental pollution control of the project should be strictly in accordance with the "Indoor Environmental Pollution of Civil Construction Projects". Standard implementation of Control Specifications (gb50325-2010). Therefore, consumers are reminded here that they must pay attention to the relevant agreements on indoor environmental protection issues when signing home improvement contracts.

■Special reminder

Ventilation is the most effective way to purify

Ji Zhijiang, secretary general of the Eco-environmental Building Materials Branch of China Building Materials Federation, once said in an interview that there is currently no way to completely remove formaldehyde pollution. In addition to purchasing green building materials and controlling the number of boards used, the best way to reduce the harm of formaldehyde is to ventilation. And Sun Shudong also introduced that volatile organic compounds such as tvoc can also be removed as long as there is sufficient ventilation. In the survey report, it was also pointed out that the main reason for tvoc exceeding the standard was insufficient ventilation and eagerness to move in.

In addition, many consumers identify household products by their odor. However, in the survey report, it was pointed out that among the 47 unqualified dwellings, 22 dwelling owners had slight or no sense of "unpleasant and pungent odours in the interior". The reporter found that some owners of qualified residences felt that the smell was serious. It can be seen that the nose is not reliable. Relevant experts said that if the product has a strong irritating odor (excluding the special odor of some wood), it does indicate that there is a certain problem. But if there is no smell, it is probably due to the low temperature at that time and the slow release of formaldehyde, which cannot be smelled. When the temperature rises, the flavor will be released a lot. Therefore, everything still depends on the test data of the product.