Formaldehydes in Flooring Are Health Hazards to Consider

Many People Developing Health Disorders
People are developing illnesses such as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Lupus, Fibromyalgia, psychological illnesses, etc. Most these illnesses are attributed to VOC emissions (Volatile Organic Compounds) from building materials in their environment. As none of these people *expected* to get their illness, liability usually falls upon the victim when manufacturers and government fail to provide information pertaining to chemicals in building products.

In the Pursuit for Cheap Production
Regulations and inspections are dismissed entirely by non-compliant foreign entities selling products on U.S. soil. Wood floors, laminates, plywoods, lumber, paints, plastics made over-seas from questionable Chinese manufacturers are hardly, if ever, inspected or regulated. As we have discovered that certain lumber and flooring companies and liquidators relabeling Chinese-made wood floor and lumber products are providing wood products with unbelievable amounts of toxic chemicals to the general public. Researching into this matter, we have discovered these products to be made with formaldehydes, a chemical used as a preservative with detrimental affect to all living organisms on this planet.

North American and European based manufacturers are better to comply to EPA standards and strive to lessen emissions from their floor products.
The EPA will provide VOC (Volatile organic compounds) information to the public and list the "Substance Registry System" for regulated chemicals known to produce harmful vapors at room temperatures inside residential and commercial facilities. Most chemicals and VOCs as well as incidental by-products (meaning spent, processed, burning) particles produced are scrutinized by various agencies such as the EPA, FSC and NOAA. Though agencies are slow to act, as in the case of Mattel Toys selling Chinese-made products with lead paints to children and FEMA-supplied mobile homes made from Chinese-supplied building materials saturated with formaldehydes to victims of Hurricane Katrina, they usually act correctly by removing or banning such products from the U.S. market.

At Balboa Flooring, we seek wood and laminate floors to be in compliance with environmental laws and health concerns.
We try our hardest to be as competitive to cheaper Asian lumber and wood flooring imports sold by liquidator depot and big-box home improvement outlets, however we cannot allow lower cost items to compromise quality and safety, nor deviate from core values that affirm the best customer and floor installation service we at Balboa Flooring are known for in San Diego County.

Example of green floor manufacturer test data for formaldehyde-free wood flooring.