What is it?
Formaldehyde is a volatile organic compound widely used in the manufacture of resins, wood-based panels, adhesives and many industrial products.
Because of its physico-chemical properties, it can be released into the indoor air from certain materials and products, particularly when they are new or exposed to certain environmental conditions.
In indoor air quality studies, it is one of the chemical pollutants most often assessed specifically, because it has its own measurement methodologies and technical references.
Where can it be found?
The main sources are particleboard, MDF, plywood, furniture, laminate flooring, some insulation materials, adhesives, paints, varnishes, treated textiles and certain cleaning or preservation products.
It can also be generated during some combustion processes and enter from outside in urban or industrial settings.
The amount present in the air depends on emissions from the materials, the building’s ventilation, temperature and relative humidity.
How is it assessed?
What the inspection looks at
The technical inspection locates potentially emitting materials and examines the construction and ventilation characteristics of the building.
What is recorded for each measurement
Equipment, quantity, unit, location, date, measurement conditions and duration, together with the relevant limitations and the interpretation criterion applied.
How this factor is measured
Depending on the scope of the assessment, measurements may be taken with professional instruments or specific samples may be collected.
Interpretation takes into account the context of the building, the age of the materials and the environmental conditions during the assessment.
In assessments intended as expert evidence, calibrated instruments are used to ensure the reliability and traceability of the measurements.
Criteria
Results are interpreted using recognised technical references for indoor air quality and, where appropriate, the guidance values applicable to formaldehyde.
The assessment considers the intended use of each room, the time occupants spend there and the interaction with the other pollutants present.
This guide does not publish values or thresholds. Technical criteria, legal limits and recommendations are different things and are not presented as equivalent.
Improvement measures
Work always begins by understanding and, where possible, reducing the source, before acting on the path or on the space. Measures are prioritised by expected effect, feasibility and proportionality, and no products are recommended by default.
The measures depend on the origin of the emissions detected. Options that may be examined include:
- Improving ventilation.
- Choosing low-emission materials.
- Replacing emitting products where feasible.
Each recommendation is made after an individual assessment, taking into account all the results obtained.
How Cemprotecta helps
This factor is not assessed on its own. It is measured within an assessment that treats the space as a system, because the amount present depends at once on the materials, the ventilation and the environmental conditions.
What an assessment gives you is knowing what is there, where it is and what can be done about it, with an ordered sequence of measures rather than a list of problems.
- Inspection of the space and of accessible installations.
- Measurement or sampling in the rooms where people spend most time.
- Combined interpretation with the other factors assessed.
- A report with measures ranked by their expected effect on exposure.
Request an assessment
If this factor concerns you in your home or workplace, tell us about your case. The prior inspection will determine whether it is worth measuring and what else should be assessed alongside it.