Q: Because of respiratory problems, I too am looking for an engineered wood flooring that contains no VOCs, formaldehyde, etc. I think this is a more general problem than just bamboo since the installation instructions for Armstrong engineered wood floors contain warnings required by certain states about formaldehyde emissions. I would like to know if there are companies that address this problem by stating that the adhesives or other ingredients in their engineered products do not contain VOCs.
A: To my knowledge there are no companies which have a direct claim of no VOCs (volatile organic chemicals) for products which contain an adhesive. One thing I will mention is you can use a cork to evade larger amounts of VOCs as it is naturally hypoallergenic. The newer Westhollow Cork has a low emission rating compared to much of the cork made in China.
I spoke with Ryan W., iFLOOR.com’s product specialist, and he mentioned he did not know of any E0 engineered products, but that E1 products are well below US standards for emissions producing very very low amounts of emissions.
Follow-up: I have had a few conversations about emission standards and what products to look into. Many of the quality manufacturers make E1 – so it is important to find several floors you like and look into the emission ratings of each one.
Most bamboo contains some formaldehyde; however, quality bamboo products such as Ming Dynasty, Panda, Springwood and Westhollow all make products with much lower emissions than other bamboo products.
Cork is one of the best choices in this category as it is naturally hypoallergenic. Ensure to get the cork products made in Portugal when possible as these are much higher quality than those made in China, as Steve mentioned in his blog.
My best advice is to contact the manufacturer about any products you are interested in to get the emission ratings from them directly on any of their products, along with a spec sheet to show you the testing that has been done.
