WOOD RESEARCH, vol.63, no.5, pp.895-908, 2018 (SCI-Expanded)
This study investigated the effects of board thicknesses and temperature on formaldehyde emission (FE) for different wood based boards, sampled from standard particleboard (PB) and medium density fiberboard (MDF). Test samples with the thicknesses of 8, 12, and 18 mm analyzed for formaldehyde emission at temperatures of 10, 20, 25, and 30*C and 65% relative moisture conent for 60, 120, and 180 minutes after production. The highest value of FE was found at 1.2922 ppm for PB and 0.3800 ppm for MDF of 18 mm, treated at the temperature of 30 degrees C. The lowest emission was found to be 0.0611 ppm in the PB of 8 mm, and 0.0444 ppm for 18 mm MDF, treated at a temperature of 10 degrees C. A significant increase for FE was detected in all board types at the temperatures of 20, 25, and 30 degrees C. However, a significant decrease was also detected at 10 degrees C for all types of boards. Accordingly, an increase from 101% to 1,192% and a decrease from 39% to 9% was observed for PBs. MDF samples yielded better results as an increase from 4% to 280% and a decrease from 55% to 31%. Regarding distance to El (0.10 ppm), all values were above the limits of E1 (<= 0.10 ppm, EN 717-1), except samples treated at 10 degrees C. In conclusion, the temperature and thickness of wood based boards significantly affect their formaldehyde emissions.