When buying latex paint, this Der Blaue Engel, that European flower, and a green guardian. Who has the highest requirements for VOC testing?
Will we use highly radioactive materials at home?
After reading this article, you can get:
The strictest and safest VOC standard.
The strictest and safest formaldehyde standard.
Materials with high radioactivity that are harmful to human body are basically not used at home.
If you want to skip a long section of pollutant science popularization and national standard citation, please drag it directly to the end of the article to see the lazy summary ~
How to keep VOC out?
What is VOC?
VOC, namely volatile organic compounds, contains toxic and harmful substances such as benzene, toluene and xylene, which easily volatilize into the air at room temperature and is an important cause of leukemia and cancer.
According to the definitions of different countries and international organizations, some regard formaldehyde as a kind of VOC, while others think that the two should be treated differently. In addition, there are many international standards on formaldehyde, and their detection instruments are also different. Therefore, in this paper, we separate VOC from formaldehyde.
How is VOC regulated in China?
Most VOCs are soluble in organic solvents but insoluble in water, and various organic solvents are used in the coating construction process, which contains a large number of VOCs. At present, water-based paints are basically used in interior decoration, and water is used instead of organic solvents, which greatly reduces the VOC content.
In the compulsory national standard GB 18582-2008, the requirement for VOC content in water-borne coatings is ≤120g/L.
The VOC content in waterborne coatings is ≤ 120g/L, which is a national mandatory standard. Friends who are interested in the full text can find it on /bzgk/gb/ GB full-text disclosure system. Source: GB 18582-2008 Limits of Hazardous Substances in Interior Paint for Interior Decoration Materials.
The inspection of mandatory national standards is relatively strict. General manufacturers will entrust a third-party laboratory for self-inspection.
The national standard implements type inspection, that is, the special person from the inspection organization randomly takes samples from the finished product warehouse of the enterprise and seals all the products in this batch until the inspection results come out. This inspection method requires annual inspection to ensure the timeliness of the results.
Another indicator comes from China environmental label, namely ten ring certification (≤50g/L or ≤80g/L), which requires stricter VOC content. Refer to HJ 2537-20 14 Waterborne Coatings for the technical requirements of environmental labeling products issued by the Ministry of Environmental Protection.
Source: HJ 2537-20 14 Technical Requirements for Environmental Labeling Products of Waterborne Coatings.
How to supervise VOC abroad?
There are many standards for formaldehyde in European and American countries. You can always see a string of environmental protection signs on imported paint cans. The number is too big. Let's have a quick look.
VOC standard list? Source: Living in a fan's house
Besides looking at national standards, there are other ways.
Anyone who knows the European and American standards knows that the VOC specified in the national standard is not too high ≤120g/L. Some enterprises' R&D and production level are close to the international first-class level, and they will find a laboratory certified by CNAS (China National Accreditation Committee for Conformity Assessment) for inspection.
CNAS laboratory also carries out testing according to the national standard GB 18582-2008. If the VOC content of the sample is lower than 2g/L, the test report will indicate "Not Detected".
Report issued by CNAS laboratory? The image source sees the watermark.
Another internationally renowned notary bank SGS (Swiss General Notary Bank) will also mark "VOC not detected" if the VOC content of the sample is ≤50g/L in the test according to GB 18582. However, according to European and American standards, the meaning of "not detected" is different.
If we compare the authoritative VOC certification at home and abroad horizontally, it will be more prominent. Finland's M 1 and France's A+ are not included in the following figure for the time being due to different inspection methods.
The VOC standards at home and abroad are ranked from high to low, and the highest VOC content is the national standard. Although there is a big gap with the international first-class table standard, it is not the second result of CNAS national laboratory testing, but there are still high standards in China. Source: Living in a fan's house
Are these mainstream paint brands that have won Der Blaue Engel, Finland M 1, French A+, greenguard Gold and Flower of Europe? Source: Living in a fan's house
How low is formaldehyde emission to be safe?
Formaldehyde is a naturally occurring organic compound with a volatilization point of-19℃. It is gaseous at room temperature and belongs to volatile organic compounds. As the saying goes, materials with high formaldehyde content are often materials with more glue, such as wood-based panels, soft clothes and textiles.
The less formaldehyde in glue, the higher the cost. The most commonly used urea-formaldehyde resin adhesive in the market has been favored by manufacturers because of its high formaldehyde content and low cost. MDI glue is called "formaldehyde-free glue", its main component does not contain formaldehyde, and its price is very high.
Then the problem is coming. From the consumer's point of view, it is almost impossible to find out whether the merchants use urea-formaldehyde glue, phenolic glue or formaldehyde-free glue. Just because glue is expensive doesn't mean that glue is used well, right? Therefore, no matter how wonderful the sales are, without the endorsement of environmental protection labels, it is just bragging.
What are the domestic standards for formaldehyde?
In the current mandatory national standard GB 18580-20 17, E 1 (≤0. 124mg/m? ) is the only formaldehyde emission standard.
National standard GB 18580-20 17? Source: National Standard Full-text Open System
There are three methods for the determination of formaldehyde, namely, perforated extraction method, dryer method and climate box method. The former E0 grade (≤0.5mg/L) was determined by the dryer method. But in the new national standard to 1m? After the climate box method, the past E0 level and the present E 1 level cannot be compared horizontally, so E0 level is not mentioned.
What are the foreign standards for formaldehyde?
Europe, America and Japan have a set of formaldehyde standards.
Among the current standards, California's carbohydrate standard and Japan's F4 standard are the most stringent.
Due to different inspection methods, horizontal comparison cannot be made? Source: Living in a fan's house
F4 star standard comes from Japan Agricultural Standard (JAS) issued by Japan Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. Among them, the formaldehyde emission of F4 Star is ≤0.4mg/L, and the concentration of formaldehyde dissolved in water is measured by dryer method, so the unit (mg/L) is different from other countries.
F4 star? Source: official website, Japanese Plywood Inspection Team of Public Welfare Foundation? /
Products that can obtain F4 Star certification are usually sold to or imported from Japan, which is very rare in China. If a product has F4 Star certification, the factory must first obtain JIS certification. Few factories in China have obtained this certification, which can be found on the official website of JIS.
The next time a salesman tells you that "our composite flooring/plywood/MDF is equivalent to Japan's F4 star standard", you can ask TA to hand over the factory name or F4 star certificate.
It doesn't matter if you can't remember the standard of F4 star, which is extremely rare in China? Source: Japan Plywood Industry Association
There are many formaldehyde standards in the United States, among which the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has the highest standard.
CARB promotes four formaldehyde-related standards throughout California by issuing bills and authorizing laboratories on a large scale (from high to low):
NAF (no added formaldehyde)
Ultra-low formaldehyde emission
Carbohydrate stage 2 (≤0.05ppm)
Carbohydrate phase 1 (≤0.05ppm)
As mentioned earlier, the less formaldehyde content in floor glue, the higher the cost. Wood-based panels certified by NAF and ULEF belong to this kind of products. Unless they have very high air quality, serious respiratory diseases or are allergic to formaldehyde, few people are willing to pay such a high price for the labels of NAF and ULEF.
The prices of wood-based panels certified by CARB P2 and P 1 are relatively close to the people. Manufacturers use adhesives containing formaldehyde, but the formaldehyde content can be reduced by technical means, so that more people can afford it.
CARB P 1 and P2 have the same formaldehyde emission (≤0.05ppm), but the detection standard of P2 is stricter.
Carbohydrate P2 is tested quarterly. The supplier of Faneryan Revolution 2.0S series, the brand Dayishu Floor of Liangyou Group has obtained CARB P2 certification? Source: provided by freshman tree floor
Due to different testing methods, GB, EURO, JPN, F4 and California cannot be compared horizontally.
National standard E 1 class (≤0. 124mg/m? ) It is safe enough and easy to buy.
Eurostandard, F4 Star of Japan and CARB of California all put forward many strict production and quality control requirements for the factory, and the upgrade cost of the factory is extremely high. Generally speaking, only export manufacturers will have the European standard E 1, F4 star carbohydrates in Japan and California.
Will there be radioactive materials at home?
Will natural stone be radioactive? We use a lot of marble and granite to lay the floor. Will you be harmed by radiation?
In recent 10 years, the national stone quality inspection center has conducted radioactive detection on more than 100 domestic and imported marble samples commonly used in the market. The results show that the average radionuclide specific activity of all marble samples is 0.02, which is only 1/50 of the national standard A index.
Marble mine? Source: video block
The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine also found no problems. From June 5438+1 October1day, 2009, marble and its related products were transferred from the legal inspection catalogue, and the entry-exit inspection and quarantine supervision was no longer implemented, that is, the mandatory radioactive inspection of marble was no longer implemented.
It can be seen that the radiation of natural stone materials that can be used in home decoration is very small, far below the national standard. Friends who like marble can use it with confidence.
Summary of the last lazy edition:
In terms of VOC standards, the top three are Der Blaue Engel (≤ 1g/L), which has not been detected in CNAS laboratory (≤2g/L) and Green Shield Golden Rooster (≤5g/L).
In the standard of formaldehyde, the national standard E 1 (≤ 0. 1.24 mg/m? ) is enough. If you want to pursue higher standards, you can try F4 Star in Japan and CARB P 1 or P2 in the United States.
Natural marble used in home decoration has little radiation, which can be ignored and is harmless to human body.
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This answer comes from a user who lives in Faner Shanghai. For more decoration strategies and home experience, welcome to visit the Good Life APP.