A Study on the Characteristic and Correlation between Small Chamber and Desiccator Method of the Formaldehyde Emissions from Composite Wood Products

This study assesses the characteristic and correlation of formaldehyde emission from composite wood products such as plywood, medium density fiberboard(MDF) and particle board(PB) using different types of test methods; 20L small-scale chamber and 24-hour desiccator method. Because composite wood products are manufactured using urea-formaldehyde resin(UF), it emits a lot of formaldehyde from the surface. Composite wood products are commonly used in the manufacture of furniture, cabinets and flooring with the surface finishing materials. So, it is necessary to test the effect of the surface finishing materials. The results of this study were as follows; 1) Formaldehyde emission was concerned with surface finishing methods. 2) There is a high correlation between small chamber and desiccator method to measure the formaldehyde emission.