Formaldehyde In Building Materials

chess wrote:
When looking at a Wildwood X-Lite I noticed a decal that the dealer explained shows that they use building materials free of formaldehyde. Are there other companies who also have this?

Yes, my Jayco Jay Flight 26BH has this sticker as well.

westend wrote:
The EPA has made regulations for the mfg. of wood products and formaldehyde. It can be seen here.. Since 2010, formaldehyde used as a bonding agent or adhesive has been gradually reduced.
Some folks are a lot more sensitive than others. I have had customers that stated they were sensitive to latex paint odors, even after days of curing. I noted that these folks were also either affected at the workplace and/or wearing rubber soled shoes.

It's the ammonia in the paint.
Bought a new house. Had it completely repainted before moving in. TOLD the contractor to use low VOC paint. Came out to pay him for the job and walked into the house and had an asthma attack from the odor.

Poor boy had to repaint the entire house again, 'twice more'. First with a very expensive blocker and then with the paint I told him to use in the first place.

All out of his own pocket cause he thought he knew better than me about what paint chemical odors can do to a person's health.

The EPA has made regulations for the mfg. of wood products and formaldehyde. It can be seen here.. Since 2010, formaldehyde used as a bonding agent or adhesive has been gradually reduced.
Some folks are a lot more sensitive than others. I have had customers that stated they were sensitive to latex paint odors, even after days of curing. I noted that these folks were also either affected at the workplace and/or wearing rubber soled shoes.

Thanks so much for the responses. I really didn't think about the formaldehyde until the dealer said something. I am extremely allergic to formaldehyde (anaphylaxis). There are some surprising places where it is found!I suspect I became sensitized after working in a fabrics department in college. They use formaldehyde to fix dyes in less expensive fabrics.

regretfully, RV manufacturers got the bad press about the formaldehyde, and not the many other manufacturers whose products off gas. Carpet is one of the worse, and many other fabric items follow close by, along with manufactured panels and wood products (plywoods and particle board type products). My daughter moved into a new home that had been completed and then sat closed up for a couple of months and the outgassing was so bad, she had allergic reaction and hives from being in the house. She had to open windows and doors for hours each day to air out for about a month, to not break out by morning after spending the night in the house.

FYI, my 2011 Jayco has a green label, and I didn't notice a strong smell when I purchased it. (I bought new, but it had been on dealers lot for months before I purchased,)

It was NOT just hype.:R

When I was looking for my first TT all I had to do was open the door and the fumes would knock you out. My eyes would burn and if I looked around the TT for longer than a minute I couldn't breathe.

This DOES cause damage to your lungs. And far worse problems for children. It was THE reason I did not buy a new TT. Yes the overwhelming smell will dissipate after awhile but the chemical is still there to cause harm.

Can't remember the name of the manufacturer but by far the WORST one was the TT that had a giant compass as a logo on the front of them.

..."Formaldehyde has been classified as a known human carcinogen (

cancer-causing

substance) by the International Agency for Research on Cancer"....
Formaldehyde and Cancer Risk - National Cancer Institute www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/formaldehyde

Certainly nothing to write off as hype especially when your family is in a very very small enclosed vehicle such as an RV.

My 2005 Jayco was really bad for a few years. I don't camp in the summer so it sits closed up except for the bathroom vent open. When I would go to pick it up for a trip I could barely get in and get some windows open before my eyes and throat started to burn. I would bring it home an extra day early for a trip just so it could sit in front of the house with all the windows open and vent out. After that I never noticed the fumes until I closed it up for another month or so.

Formaldehyde was used in a majority of RVs over the years. As mentioned, those in New Orleans had people complaining about the FEMA trailers. One of the problems with those trailers, and the reasons behind the problems, was that they were put into use days after they were coming off the assembly line.
Typically, the formaldehyde will "air out" of the trailer in a few weeks, as a natural part of the product, but these units were needed right away, so they didn't sit on a dealership lot or at the mfgr's lot as would normally be the case...and I guess nobody really thought about it.

A few folks complained of headaches and such, when living in the trailers, and they blamed the formaldehyde. Then, once a couple of people had issues, it spread like wild fire, and EVERYONE was trying to get something for nothing.

As far as I know, most (if not all) of the trailers that were used for temporary housing have been sold and reused, or FEMA has them in storage for the next emergency....and they are fine now.

It was that "scare" after the hurricane, that has many of the manufacturers saying that they are now using non-formaldehyde products...But honestly, the smells that make that "new car" smell or the "new" carpet smell are just chemicals that are gassing off....and 99% of them are harmless. Pressure treated lumber was also "dangerous", and not recommended for use inside homes, though plenty of people have done it, and once painted, it is the same as any other lumber.

Not that it's much adoe about nothing, but like so many things, the media makes mountains out of mole hills....
Bottom line...if you find two trailers that have all the features you want, and they are priced differently (because one is "greener"), I still think I'd buy the cheaper one. and then donate the money I saved to a good charity, or better yet, use it to go camping!!

There was a big stink about formaldehyde in the temporary living quarters that FEMA brought into New Orleans after the hurricane. IMHO it was a big political to do about nothing. It was quick and cheap temporary housing for people.

Bill

Lance Travel Trailers are formaldehyde free, they're also pretty green as they are located in California and have to deal with stricter regulations (CARB, AQMD, etc) in building trailers. They also use wood from renewable sources in Spain (the poplar tree) well, you get the idea!

Lance also offers a 2 year warranty, when the vast majority of RV mfgs only offer a 1 year.

Lance Eco Green