Objective To assess the effects of phenol formaldehyde resin and urea-formaldehyde resin adhesives in articifical planks on indoor formaldehyde pollution level after interior decoration.
Methods According to the adhesives in artificial planks used during decoration, newly decorated apartments were selected and divided into a phenol formaldehyde resin adhesives group (Group A) and an urea-formaldehyde resin adhesives group (Group B). The first air monitoring was conducted 15 days after decoration and subsequent six air monitorings were performed once a month at the corresponding time point. Formaldehyde was determined according to the AHMT Spectrophotography protocol (GB/T 16129-1995).
Results For the first air monitoring, the formaldehyde concentrations of Group A ranged from 0.005 to 0.122 mg/m3 (median, 0.030 mg/m3); that of Group B ranged from 0.128 to 1.64 mg/m3 (median, 0.52 mg/m3), and the difference between the two groups was statistical significant (F=9.12, P < 0.05). The third monitoring (61 d) reported that the indoor formaldehyde concentration of Group A was below the relevant national standard; while the seventh monitoring (183 d) showed that the median indoor formaldehyde concentration of Group B (0.26 mg/m3) was still at a relative high level.
Conclusion Compared to the artificial planks with phenol formaldehyde resin as adhesives, using the artificial planks with urea-formaldehyde resin as adhesives during decoration could lead to higher indoor formaldehyde pollution level.
DownLoad: