In 2014 formaldehyde was reclassiï¬ ed as a Carcinogen Category 1B. As a Category 1 carcinogen, the use of formaldehyde is now about to be regulated by the Carcinogen and Mutagen Directive in EU workplaces.
The central concept of this prime directive is ‘protection of workers against risks to their health and safety, including the prevention of such risks, arising or likely to arise from exposure to carcinogens or mutagens at work’.
The Commission responsible expanded the transition period until 1st January 2016. It begs the questions, are we ready to fully comply with the new classiï¬ cation and are the products out there?
AkzoNobel is a leading global paints and adhesives company and a major producer of specialty chemicals. They supply industries and consumers worldwide with innovative products and sustainable technologies designed to meet the growing demands of our fastchanging planet. Bearing in mind the EU workplace changes that are about to be foisted on a host of manufacturing sectors, AkzoNobel are more than ready to meet the challenge head-on with a range of products that addresses the impending deadline, providing a range of solutions to meet and surpass the new industry-wide standards.
FF from AkzoNobel is a new series of acid-curing products delivering high-quality results without the use of formaldehyde. It’s a system that’s Formaldehyde-Free, and isocyanate-free with no odour to the end user on either coated furniture or ï¬ ttings. FF has all the same high-quality attributes as traditional Acid-curing and PU Alkyd products with no yellowing. It provides excellent adhesion, drying, and stacking properties together with providing simple cleaning routines for the production line and equipment. FF has good spray application and an extended pot-life of ï¬ ve days and is compatible with the AkzoNobel tinting system. FF also has excellent adhesion to wooden substrates including UV primed surfaces. Drying, viscosity and gloss can easily be adjusted with different additives.
LignuPro Free, a new bonding system from AkzoNobel is also formaldehyde and isocyanate free. This new bonding technology has hard glue line properties similar to the thermosetting Urea Formaldehyde adhesive and offers a system aimed directly at furniture manufacturers.
LignuPro Free veneering offers great beneï¬ ts to strengthen competiveness for furniture manufacturers by supplying a formaldehyde and isocyanate free glue line, together with high-bonding performance, reducing veneer to board delamination and edge to edge glue line opening during the gluing process providing an optimal result. LignuPro Free can also offer “bonding process monitoring” which ensures relevant process parameters by measuring and logging the fl ow of glue and hardener, for optimal glue amounts together with measuring and logging the lamella and glue temperature. An alarm also gives an early warning if any pre-set value deviates.
LignuPro Zero from AkzoNobel is a new ultra-low emitting system for furniture production that has outstanding bonding performance coupled to high moisture resistance and provides a transparent glue line. LignuPro also delivers high levels of wood ï¬ bre tear. The content of free formaldehyde is below 0, 1%, no label declaration is needed for this thermosetting amino adhesive. The system is isocyanate free and has extremely low VOC. Performance is in line with existing formaldehyde based adhesives and the system has ability to pass ANSI test with a high resistance to moisture. LignuPro Zero complies with EN 12765, class 3 and offers high performance to a competitive price compared to other adhesives.
AkzoNobel also has a range of solutions for structural adhesives and ï¬ nishes to help your business meet these new challenges and has been ranked number one on the influential Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) for the fourth consecutive year. For AkzoNobel it’s all about doing more with less.
The mantra as we move towards the looming deadline and on into 2016 must be one of replacement, reduction and prevention to reduce exposure. With FF, LignuPro Free and LignuPro Zero, AkzoNobel can deliver a raft of formaldehyde free product solutions right now.
