Health Canada has published a guideline to assist stakeholders with additional guidance and explanation for formaldehyde emissions from composite wood products.

In July 2021, Canada issued the Formaldehyde Emissions from Composite Wood Products Regulations (SOR 2021-148, the Regulation) to regulate formaldehyde emissions from composite wood panels and laminated products as well as finished goods containing such products (SafeGuardS 97/21).

The Regulation aims to align to the extent possible with the Toxic Substances Control Act, Title VI 'Formaldehyde Standards for Composite Wood Products' in the United States (U.S.) and contains provisions relating to, among other things, formaldehyde emission standards in hardwood plywood (HWPW), medium-density fiberboards (MDF), thin-MDF, particleboards (PB) and laminated products. It also includes third-party certification programs, incentives for products manufactured from ultra-low emitting formaldehyde resins (ULEF) and no added-formaldehyde-based resins (NAF), as well as product labeling, Accreditation Bodies (AB) and Third-Party Certifiers (TPC).

The Regulation will come into force on January 7, 2023, but testing and third-party certification requirements for laminated products will apply from January 7, 2028.

On August 12, 2022, Health Canada announced its guidance document to assist stakeholders to comply with the Regulation. The guideline contains, among other things, important information for economic operators to comply with the law. It:

Highlights of several of the commonly used methods for quality control testing, as well as labeling elements for composite wood panels, laminated products and finished goods, are summarized in Tables 1 and 2.

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Dr. Hingwo Tsang Global Information and Innovation Manager t: (+852) 2774 7420

Ms. Melanie Schubert Senior Technical Manager m: +1 312 414 9394

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SGS SA published this content on 22 August 2022 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 22 August 2022 10:05:03 UTC.