Furniture and building materials frequently encounter environmental "traps"

The problem of environmental protection on the floor is now more and more, consumers are paying more and more attention to the safety of the floor. In recent years, some flooring companies have also created many environmental protection concept products for consumers, but many consumers are disappointed that they only stay at the conceptual level.

After purchasing a new floor, many consumers will smell a strong irritating gas, always feel hot eyes, tears, chest tightness, etc., mainly due to free formaldehyde. Zhang Jie, an East China University of Science and Technology professor, told the Beijing Morning Post that the main factors affecting the environmental protection of composite flooring are plastic and surface coatings. Triacetal (ie, urea-formaldehyde, phenolic, and melamine-formaldehyde) is the main raw material for bonding. Due to its high adhesiveness and low price, triacetal is widely used in wood products, but it produces formaldehyde after hydrolysis. The volatilization of formaldehyde is not released in a matter of months, and it can last for many years,” said Professor Zhang. If environmental friendly adhesives, such as polyurethane adhesives, are used, there will be no environmental problems, but compared with general harmful glues, Polyurethane rubber is expensive, and the cost is high. Generally, manufacturers that cannot reach the scale do not use green plastic in order to reduce costs.

Jiang Zhiguo, an associate professor at Beijing University of Chemical Technology, told the Beijing Morning Post that in addition to the formaldehyde that consumers know well, some organic small molecules in the floor materials are also the culprits that cause environmental problems. “When people smell a pungent odor, they will notice the harm of formaldehyde, but odorless organic small molecules like traces of benzene, toluene, and xylene are more likely to endanger people’s health because they are undetected.”

For many businesses to play the "zero formaldehyde" propaganda banner, Professor Jiang said that if it is high-quality solid wood flooring, wood quality is high, in a sense, can be achieved "zero formaldehyde", that is, the product of formaldehyde content is extremely low. However, some businesses use inferior materials or use fast-growing trees, such as poplars and willows, to produce "technical wood." Floors are made from solid wood. In fact, they are filled with chemical glue. "A lot of businesses in the past were using imitation mahogany furniture (mahogany furniture renderings), and now slowly into the flooring industry, formaldehyde content must be seriously exceeded."

For the key to the purchase of the floor, the two professors said that in addition to looking at the plate level, the other is to admit that the price is a point, because the market is fair. "It's not that the most expensive thing is the best, but the price that is too cheap will certainly not be good." Professor Zhang also reminded consumers that when purchasing, they must smell the odor, and there is no pungent odor that can basically guarantee safety. “Some merchants also use the smell of eucalyptus to cover up the pungent smell of chemicals. Consumers must pay special attention.”

Coating solvents are also very knowledgeable. Today, in the various building materials markets, paints that read “environmentally friendly” and “zero VOC” are commonplace. More and more companies are playing "environmental protection cards." In addition to the flooring industry and the paint industry, “environmental protection” has gradually become a corporate vocabulary for abuse. But are these "green paints" really environmentally friendly?

As far as the current coating industry is concerned, many companies have advertised their own safety and environmental protection, but many of the paint's environmental standards cannot withstand scrutiny. According to Jiang Zhiguo, associate professor of Beijing University of Chemical Technology, paint can be divided into two major parts, solvent and film-forming material, of which solvent accounts for about 50%. Currently common paint on the market, solvent part is organic solvent. The implication is that if it is an oil paint, it cannot contain harmful substances. "These substances usually take five to ten years to evaporate."

So, in the end there is no real environmental protection paint? Professor Zhang Jie East China University of Science and Technology, said that the current development of environmentally friendly coatings to basically two ways, one is water-based paint, and the other is UV curing paint. Water-based paint, as its name suggests, is water used as a solvent, so it can greatly reduce the presence of harmful substances during use. Photocurable coatings use UV energy to initiate the polymerization and cross-linking reaction between low-molecular prepolymers or oligomers in a coating and monomer molecules as reactive diluents to obtain a hardened paint film. No pollution. However, many consumers do not understand environmental protection coatings because they have fewer categories and less publicity. “At present, environmental protection coatings cannot be widely disseminated, and many consumers still do not understand their excellence.” Professor Zhang said, “Not long ago, East China University of Technology and the Dow Chemical Company organized a children's paint contest. Promote and introduce environmental protection coatings to the people."

Water-based paint is so environmentally friendly, is there no disadvantage? The answer is of course "no". Associate Professor Jiang introduced that although the water-based paint is environmentally friendly, the smear layer is very thin, only one-sixth of the oil-based paint, and wear quickly. Therefore, we must dialectically look at the advantages and disadvantages of waterborne paints and oil paints. He said that when consumers buy paint, whether it is oil paint or water paint, do not just look at the sample, be sure to require businesses to see the real thing, and to believe in the market, I believe the big brand: "a brand's establishment, it certainly makes sense In addition, with the development of technology, some disadvantages of water-based paints in the future will also be resolved."

Sofa materials and dyes are easy to harm Most consumers know that there are harmful substances in floors, paints, etc., but few consumers pay attention to the environmental issues of sofas and textile home textiles. Currently, fabric sofas and leather sofas on the market are rarely pure cotton, pure wool, or pure leather. The main raw materials are mostly chemical fiber for light industrial textiles, blended fabrics, cotton, and artificial leather. Tian Jingyan, deputy secretary general of the Synthetic Leather Industry Association, said in an interview with a Beijing Morning Post reporter that most manufacturers will use PVC materials for the back of the sofa and polyurethane materials for the front (ie, the human body contact surface). If it is made of PVC, it will cause harm to the human body. Some businesses, in order to make the cloth sofa fabric look more beautiful, will be very colorful colors, this time you need to pay attention to whether the fabric dye problem. “A lot of merchants use azo dyes to make the colors more vivid. This dye can decompose to produce more than 20 kinds of carcinogenic aromatic amines, and after activation, causes the human body to undergo pathological changes. The azo dye has been forbidden to use for long-term skin contact. Fabric consumer goods, but there are still some manufacturers will use."

Tian Secretary-General reminded consumers that when purchasing a sofa, if it is a leather sofa, be sure to ask about its material, if the contact surface is using polyurethane or microfiber, it will not cause harm to the body. For fabric sofas, choose light-colored fabrics as much as possible to avoid too bright colors.