Reporter investigation: Uncovering the shady secrets of "green" decoration materials

Moderator: I don't know if you have this feeling. Standing in a newly renovated home, people seem to have become It's beautiful. After the decoration, the posture becomes warm and fashionable, but sometimes what people don't expect is that the air in the home has changed. Now who doesn’t pay attention to the quality of the air we breathe all the time? Just recently, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce announced the test results of joinery wood board products sold in seven building materials markets in Beijing, Luoyang, and Zhengzhou. The results showed that the pass rate was only 32.3%. Among the unqualified products, most of them were due to the hidden killer formaldehyde. caused by exceeding the standard. Blockboard is a kind of board that can cover doors, windows, heating, and can also be used to make furniture, etc. No one can live without it, so where does the formaldehyde in blockboard come from? Why is it exceeding the standard?

Weekly Quality Report: Revealing the shady secrets of green decoration materials

Not long ago, Mr. Ding from Chaoyang District, Beijing bought a few joinery boards to decorate his new house. When I moved in, I ran into trouble.

Mr. Ding: I feel that there is a particularly pungent smell in this room. I can’t open my eyes and shed tears. Sometimes I can’t stay still for a long time and it’s difficult to breathe.

The reporter found that there was indeed a spicy and pungent smell in the room. Mr. Ding told us that he had found a seller for this, and the seller said that this was the normal smell of wooden boards.

Mr. Ding said that this kind of blockboard was bought from the Guanzhuang particleboard market in Beijing.

We found the seller at a stall in the Guanzhuang particleboard market.

Weekly Quality Report: Revealing the shady secrets of green decoration materials

Reporter: What smell is this?

Boss: The smell of the wood itself.

Reporter: The smell of wood itself?

Boss: Yes.

The boss told us that there is no problem with the quality of this kind of blockboard, and many decoration companies purchase it from him. How could the original smell of wooden boards be so pungent and harsh? The boss revealed that this kind of blockboard was produced by Xingtai Xinyuan Wood Industry Company in Hebei Province. The reporter decided to go to Xingtai City to investigate.

Weekly Quality Report: Revealing the shady secrets of green decoration materials

According to the address provided by the dealer, the reporter found the plate factory in Zhucun Town, Xingtai City.

In the office, we met the boss of the plate factory. The reporter noticed that the name on the boss's business card was Linxing Wood Company, not Xinyuan Wood Company.

Reporter: Your factory is Xingtai Linxing Wood Industry Company. How come the factory address of the product is "Xinyuan Wood Industry Company"?

Boss: Generally, no one cares about this trademark anyway, and customers can use whatever brand they want.

The reporter noticed that there was a spicy and pungent smell in the yard. This is exactly the kind of smell we smelled in Mr. Ding's house.

Weekly Quality Report: Revealing the shady secrets of green decoration materials (2)

This smell wafts from the production workshop. In the production workshop, the reporter saw workers busy piecing together wooden strips. This kind of wood strips did not have a pungent smell, but a strange phenomenon caught the reporter's attention. The workers placed a circle of small plates around the iron billet, and placed a large number of small wooden strips in the middle.

Reporter: Are the wooden bars placed outside your place different from those placed inside?

Worker: This is the packaging. The outside should look good. People also wear torn clothes underneath so that no one can see them, but no one can see the torn clothes underneath.

The reporter learned from the workers that these small wooden strips were piled up in the yard. The reporter found that these small wooden strips were easily broken.

Weekly Quality Report: Revealing the shady secrets of green decoration materials (2)

Reporter: Is this the end?

Boss: We specialize in this This kind of thing is specially made as scraps.

The boss told us that these small wooden strips are recycled waste scraps and are used to process blockboards. Blockboards pieced together from scraps of wood strips have large gaps in the middle.

Reporter: Is there any room?

Worker: I can put it away in a while.

Reporter: It can be put away in a while.

It turns out that the way workers deal with the gaps is to fill them with large amounts of sawdust.

After piecing together the wooden strips and filling them with sawdust, a layer of veneer is laid on top. The reporter noticed that the veneer was very sticky and emitted a pungent and pungent smell.

Reporter: The smell is very strong, like a pungent smell?

Worker: It smells like tea.

Worker: The smell of tea.

Weekly Quality Report: Revealing the shady secrets of green decoration materials (2)

Reporter: How can the smell of tea be pungent and dazzling to the eyes?

Worker: I can’t feel it.

The assembled boards are sent to the machine for drying and shaping. After high-temperature treatment, the smell emitted from the veneer becomes more pungent and dazzling. One worker told us the truth.

Worker: The smell is terrible.

Reporter: Why is it so annoying?

Worker: Why is it so annoying? It’s this thing.

Reporter: What is this thing? What is this?

Worker: Glue.

Weekly Quality Report: Revealing the shady secrets of green decoration materials (3)

This kind of block board is made of wood scraps, small slats and sawdust , a large amount of glue is rolled on the veneer during production. The workers responsible for rolling glue told us that this kind of glue is very toxic, and it will be particularly uncomfortable on the eyes after working in the factory for a long time.

Reporter: I see your eyes are swollen?

Worker: It’s spicy.

Why is there such a pungent and pungent smell in the glue? The worker told us that this glue was provided by a local glue factory. Following the clues provided by the workers, the reporter found the local rubber factory. There are more than a dozen large barrels containing glue placed in the yard. This two-story hut is the glue-making workshop, and the workers are busy making glue.

Reporter: What did you put in?

Worker: Urea.

A water pipe connected to a large tank from outside the yard attracted the reporter's attention. Following this water pipe, the reporter found a truck loaded with several large barrels.

Reporter: What was pumped up?

Weekly quality report: Uncovering the shady secrets of green decoration materials (3)

Worker: Formaldehyde.

Formaldehyde is highly irritating to human mucous membranes, especially the respiratory system, and is very harmful to human health. Therefore, the country has strict regulations on the formaldehyde release limit in blockboards. During the investigation, the reporter learned that the glue they produced was called urea-formaldehyde glue, and it takes 600 kilograms of formaldehyde to cook 1 ton of urea-formaldehyde glue. The pungent and pungent smell in the blockboard is the smell of formaldehyde.

Reporter: Why do you keep wiping your eyes?

Worker: This smells spicy.

Reporter: Does it hurt your eyes?

Worker: Yes.

Reporter: This is the pungent smell in the board.

Weekly Quality Report: Revealing the shady secrets of green decoration materials (3)

Worker: This is the smell.

Reporter: What is this smell?

Worker: Formaldehyde.

The reporter then investigated five rubber factories in Zhucun Town and Dongwang Town and found that the urea-formaldehyde glue produced by these factories also used formaldehyde as the main raw material. The boss told us that the formaldehyde emission limit for blockboards produced using this urea-formaldehyde glue exceeds the standard.

Reporter: Which factory is this glue sold to?

Boss: The local board factory.

Reporter: Is it a joinery board factory?

Worker: Joinery, particle board, any kind of board, templates and artificial boards all use this glue.

Reporter: Does formaldehyde (release limit) meet national standards?

Worker: It’s far from the standard. It doesn’t meet the national standards.

Reporter: Can it be used if it doesn’t reach the board factory?

Worker: Who cares?

Weekly Quality Report: Revealing the shady secrets of green decoration materials (4)

When the reporter returned to Linxing Board Factory again, the boss finally admitted that there was spicy food in the blockboard The irritating smell means the formaldehyde release limit exceeds the standard.

Boss: This glue is boiled with formaldehyde and urea. The glue that meets the standards is not irritating to the eyes, does not choke, and is safe for the human body. Don’t say 27 yuan for a board made of glue that meets the standards. It will cost you 47 yuan. You can't even buy it for a dollar.

During the investigation, the reporter learned that because they were afraid of inspection, they all printed the plate trademarks at night.

Reporter: Where will this batch of goods be sent?

Boss: Go to Beijing.

Reporter: What market is it shipped to Beijing?

Boss: Guanzhuang (particleboard) market.

The reporter in Xingtai then conducted interviews with wood industry companies such as Xingda, Fafa and Shuangxiang. The bosses of these board factories all admitted that in order to reduce production costs, they all use urea-formaldehyde glue to process joinery. plate.

Reporter: Do you all know that the glue they sent was substandard?

(Xingda) Boss: Of course I know.

Reporter: Why do you still use it if you know it?

Weekly quality report: Uncovering the shady secrets of green decoration materials (4)

(Xingda) boss: It’s cheap and we all use this urea-formaldehyde glue.

Reporter: (Compared with glue that meets environmental protection standards) How much is the difference per ton?

(Xingda) boss: 1,000 yuan.

Reporter: Does your office have an inspection report?

(Blonde) Boss: This can’t happen.

Reporter: The inspection report cannot be produced, why?

(Blonde) Boss: The amount of formaldehyde released is greater than the national standard.

Reporter: Is it all over the limit?

(Blonde) Boss: Yes.

(Shuangxiang) Boss: Who checked that there was no inspection report at night?

Reporter: Why not? What glue do you use?

(Shuangxiang) Boss: The amount of formaldehyde released does not meet national standards.

During further investigation, the reporter also found that these blockboards with excessive formaldehyde were branded as "green and environmentally friendly" and sold to the building materials markets in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Henan and other places.

Reporter: I see you are still talking about "green environmental protection"?

(Shuangxiang) Boss: The amount of formaldehyde released is far from the national standard.

Reporter: What do you say?

Boss: Use whatever brand the customer wants.

Reporter: If you want to be "green and environmentally friendly", just say "green and environmentally friendly"?

(Shuangxiang) Boss: What do customers want?

Reporter: Where do you sell these boards?

Boss: Available in Beijing, Tianjin and Zhengzhou.

3. Authoritative interview:

Host: In the video just now, we saw that the glue worker’s eyes were smoked to tears, so it was produced in this way What will the panels bring to consumers? The person who came to our studio today is Lu Bin, deputy director of the National Artificial Panel Quality Inspection Center. Hello.

Expert: Hello.

Moderator: Two days ago, we sent the thin wooden boards we investigated to you for testing. Can you tell us whether the results have come out now?

Weekly Quality Report: Revealing the shady secrets of green decoration materials (4)

Expert: The results are all out, and these samples are all unqualified in the comprehensive judgment. The formaldehyde test result this time is also very high, exceeding the national mandatory basic standards. For example, our E2 standard for joinery boards is 5.0 mg per liter.

Host: How much did it exceed this time?

Expert: This time it exceeded 5 times. Moderator: Many people know about urea fertilizer, and they also know that formaldehyde is harmful. Why must these two be used as the main raw materials?

Expert: Now all the world, including developed countries, adopt this adhesive. This is a public resin.

Moderator: Since everyone uses these two as the main raw materials, why did the formaldehyde of the company we just investigated seriously exceed the standard?

Expert: Not everyone can make this urea-formaldehyde resin glue. It is very difficult to do well. There are strict technological processes, strict formulas and production methods in the production project. For example, the amount and ratio of urea and formaldehyde, and how much should be added first on the basis of adding these fixed amounts at the same time. It should be added in several times and the time of adding at the same time. If you follow this process, you can make a qualified adhesive. Otherwise, the adhesive will not meet the requirements.

Host: This blockboard has a five-layer structure. The middle should be made of natural wood strips, plus two veneers, so it is also called a large core board. This material It is also used a lot abroad. The processing of blockboard is very particular. Let’s take a look at the formal processing method.

Producing a blockboard generally requires more than 30 processes, of which core processing is the most critical link. Therefore, regular enterprises have very strict requirements for core board materials. No insects, no mildew, 4 to 5 cm wide wooden strips can become core board splicing materials. And because the selected wooden strips have all been dried, the overall structure of the produced joinery boards is compact and not easy to deform after long-term use.

Urea-formaldehyde glue is generally used for splicing and bonding qualified joinery boards, but the formaldehyde content in this glue is fully in line with national standards. Therefore, there is only the smell of dry wood at the production site and no pungent smell of formaldehyde. Since low formaldehyde content is not conducive to the bonding of boards, companies use large-core bonding equipment to increase the adhesion of boards through gravity extrusion.

Host: At the beginning of the program, I mentioned that the State Administration for Industry and Commerce recently announced the results of a sampling inspection of blockboards on the market. The sampling pass rate was 32.2%. The main problem was excessive formaldehyde. In addition, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the People's Republic of China has also randomly inspected blockboard products for three consecutive years. The product qualification rate has never exceeded 60%. The main problem is also because formaldehyde exceeds the standard. Why is this old problem like formaldehyde exceeding the standard? Is it because the release is not complete?

Expert: Mainly for some small enterprises, their production facilities and production conditions, including the quality of production technicians, do not meet the requirements of national standards. I think these are the ones that do not meet the production conditions and do not have the production conditions. I think the relevant departments should supervise these enterprises that do not have production facilities or lack production facilities. If they do not meet these conditions, they should be prohibited from producing.

Moderator: How is the quality of joinery boards? Whether formaldehyde exceeds the standard, these questions are very professional. Only professional departments can accurately know through testing. It is a bit difficult for consumers to identify, but it is better to know some simple identification methods. What are some methods? Come and take a look.

Fine wood boards are commonly known as large core boards. Consumers should pay attention to the following aspects during the purchase process: First, let’s look at the flatness of the board. A good large core board is relatively flat. Yes, relatively inferior large core boards have warping. In addition, we can look at the other side of the board, which is commonly known as the end of the board. We can see that the cores of a good large-core board are arranged relatively evenly, usually about three fingers wide. On the one hand, the ends of a bad large-core board are uneven, and on the other hand, you can see that it is made of very broken slats. A good large core board is relatively tough and elastic when you pick it up at one corner. The large core board of poor quality makes a creaking sound after picking up a corner.

Moderator: Is it a better way to look at the inspection report of this plate? For example, when I buy this plate, I can ask the dealer for the inspection report?

Expert: This test report measures whether a company has the ability to produce qualified products. In particular, enterprises that attach great importance to it should test every batch of products, and only after passing the test can they enter the market.

Moderator: In addition, after purchasing this material, in addition to keeping the invoice, you can also saw a small piece of board as evidence.

Expert: Yes, this is very important. After the decoration is completed, if there is any problem, leave a piece of board. The 500*500 mm board has been saved. It is best to sign it by both parties and everyone agrees. In case something goes wrong. Problem, it can be used as some indicators for identification, which will be beneficial.

Host: Well, thank you for coming to our studio.

Last year, the Indoor Environment Monitoring Center of the China Interior Decoration Association tested the indoor air of 1,000 renovated households in Beijing. The results showed that 60% of households exceeded the standard for formaldehyde. Living in such an environment for a long time will What are the dangers? How can we know that the formaldehyde in our home exceeds the standard? Let’s hear what the foreign ministers say?

Director Jin Yinlong, Institute of Environmental and Health-Related Product Safety, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention

The harm of formaldehyde to human health is multi-faceted, first of all, it affects the facial features and respiratory system. , can cause people to shed tears, throat discomfort, cough, sneeze and a series of respiratory symptoms. Secondly, it can cause people with allergies to have some allergic reactions, feel itchy all over, and have some rashes. Thirdly, This aspect may cause premature birth and miscarriage in some pregnant women, and may also cause nasal cancer and nasopharyngeal cancer. This has been confirmed by the World Health Organization. Of course, a lot of research needs to be done on this aspect.

Director Song Guangsheng of the Indoor Environment Monitoring Center of the China Interior Decoration Association

The way to identify excessive formaldehyde is to look at the fish and flowers raised at home. If the fish and flowers are easy to die, it is not easy to survive. , which is also related to formaldehyde pollution.

The main symptoms of formaldehyde pollution reaction are respiratory irritation after opening the door, eyes burning and watering, which are common reactions.

Moderator: In addition, if you feel that the air in your home is abnormal, you can also contact us through the following methods. There are also corresponding department contacts in various places.