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US EPA amends formaldehyde rule

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s final amended formaldehyde rules are now official. Structural plywood, oriented strand board (OSB) and other structural engineered wood products remain exempt from the EPA TSCA Title VI rules on formaldehyde emissions from composite wood products. The exemption includes all structural wood products manufactured with moisture resistant adhesives for construction and industrial applications, such as structural plywood, OSB, wood I-joists, laminated veneer lumber and glued-laminated timber. These products are manufactured using low emitting, moisture-resistant adhesives, per the applicable product standards and building codes that govern them.

Products marked with the APA Mark of Quality are exempt from the regulation because the APA trademark is used only on structural engineered wood products and not on particleboard, medium density fibreboard (MDF) or decorative hardwood plywood regulated by the EPA rules. In instances where unmarked structural engineered wood products from APA member mills are sold into industrial applications that do not require a certification mark, the product invoice and an APA certificate of conformance can be used to identify the product as exempt.