Comment Log Display

Comments regarding the reduction of formaldehyde emissions from
composite wood products: 

Other health experts, I’m sure, will testify to the Board on
specific health issues related to formaldehyde so I will not
address them in my comments. A good deal of my work correlates
health issues with business issues as they relate to the built
environment. 

Unlike 50 years ago, we now spend 90% of our time indoors where
the air is 10-100 times more polluted than the outside air.
Formaldehyde is ubiquitous in the indoor environment and comes
from a wide variety of sources. It is found in every air sample
taken in indoor air studies (EPA, EPA BASE Study) and has been
found at levels known to be hazardous in California Schools. It is
a known respiratory irritant. 

Respiratory illness is the number one reason why people miss work.
Upper respiratory illness, such as the common cold, is most often
thought of as it affects all of us. Asthma is a lower respiratory
illness, affects 16-17% of the population in the USA, and has been
rising significantly in the last several years. The asthma rate for
children in some California counties ranges as high as 27-30%.
(Fresno School District) The cost of asthma to the national
economy was $20 billion in 2005. (American Lung Assoc.) School
funding is based on attendance so the healthier children are, the
better they do in school, the fewer days they miss, the fewer work
days their parents miss taking care of them, and the more funding
the (already financially strapped!) schools can use.
Correspondingly, the healthier adults are, the more productive, so
our teachers would also benefit from increased. (William Fisk,
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)

Formaldehyde has long been recognized as a major indoor air
pollutant, health hazard, and respiratory irritant. It is the only
toxin for which there is a specific credit for elimination in the
LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating
system, which is used world wide for the evaluation of green and
healthy buildings. More and more organizations across the country
are including formaldehyde-free products as a requirement in their
EPP (Environmentally Preferable Purchasing) programs, especially
healthcare companies (Kaiser Permanente, Hackensack Medical
Center, Dell Children’s Medical Center, Providence Newberg Medical
Center, etc.). Many schools are adopting the CHPS program (Los
Angeles Unified, San Francisco Unified, etc. – www.chps.net) and
requiring lower emitting materials.

These organizations can make these decisions because there are
readily available, cost and performance comparable, durable
materials already on the market that have removed formaldehyde
from their formulations. 

Given that there are no formaldehyde exposure standards in the
United States for children, the proposed effort by CARB is a major
move forward in the realm of prevention in children’s health and
should be applauded. 

Qualifications for Jan Stensland:
Masters of Science in Human Environment Relations-Applied Research
(Indoor Environmental Quality) from Cornell University. US Green
Building Council Faculty and advisor to the Indoor Air Quality
Technical Advisory Group. 

Jan has worked for several years in green building and design,
specializing in healthy and sustainable building materials.
Through her company, Inside Matters, she provides indoor
environmental quality and sustainable design consulting,
education, policy development, and research to a wide variety of
clients including the Air Force Center for Environmental
Excellence, Alameda County Waste Management Authority, University
of California Office of the President, and Kaiser Permanente (KP)
where she was the in-house healthy and green building expert. When
she helped run the Green Building Program for the City and County
of San Francisco, she also advised and testified to the School
Board on healthy buildings for children and was an advisor to the
San Francisco Asthma Task Force. More information is available
upon request.