Being caught out is never a good thing. Deadlines approach and some of us are prone to burying issues or stalling on the inevitable. Never a good idea.
In 2014 formaldehyde was reclassified as a Carcinogen Category 1B. As a Category 1 carcinogen, the use of formaldehyde is being 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 January 1, 2016.
It begs the questions, are we ready to fully comply with the new classification and are the products out there?
Global paints and adhesives company AkzoNobel supplies industries and consumers worldwide with products and sustainable technologies. With the EU workplace changes being foisted on a host of manufacturing sectors, AkzoNobel says it has prepared itself to be more than ready to meet the challenge head-on with a range of products designed to provide solutions to meet and surpass the new industry-wide standards.
FF from AkzoNobel is a new series of acidcuring products which has been developed to deliver high-quality results but without the use of formaldehyde.
The company says it’s a system that’s formaldehyde-free, and isocyanate-free, with no odour to the end-user on either coated furniture or fittings.
FF is designed to have all the same high-quality attributes as traditional acidcuring and PU alkyd products but with no yellowing.
Quoted benefits includes good adhesion to wooden substrates including UV primed surfaces, drying, and stacking properties together with providing simple cleaning routines for the production line and equipment.
The company also says spray application works well with FF, while the product has an extended pot-life of five days and is compatible with the AkzoNobel tinting system. AkzoNobel says drying, viscosity and gloss can easily be adjusted with different additives.
Leading US office furniture producer Paoli switched last year to a formaldehyde-free wood coating system supplied by AkzoNobel that meets the latest indoor air quality standards and exceeds the levels of product performance of the previous system.
As well as complying with industry regulations, the move will enable Paoli to meet growing customer demand for products that meet the indoor air quality standards of groups such as the Business Institutional Furniture Manufacturers Association and the Greenguard Environmental Institute.
Meanwhile, 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.
The company says LignuPro Free veneering offers great benefits 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 flow 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.
A further new addition is LignuPro Zero – a new ultra-low emitting system for furniture production which is being promoted with benefits including bonding performance, high moisture resistance, a transparent glue line and high levels of wood fibre tear.
The content of free formaldehyde is below 0.1%, and no label declaration is needed for this thermosetting amino adhesive, while AkzoNobel says the system is isocyanate free and has extremely low VOC.
Crucially, the company says the product’s performance is in line with existing formaldehyde based adhesives and the system has ability to pass ANSI test with a high resistance to moisture.
Complying with EN 12765, class 3, LignuPro Zero is designed to give the market a high performance option at a competitive price compared to other adhesives.
The mantra in this new age of environmentally-friendly and healthconscious product needs, is one of replacement, reduction and prevention to reduce exposure to potentially harmful substances.
With FF, LignuPro Free and LignuPro Zero, AkzoNobel says it is ready to deliver a raft of formaldehyde-free product solutions.
Akzonobel opens new technical application centre
AkzoNobel has opened a €2.5m technical application centre for its wood coatings business in Malmö, Sweden. The new facility is one of four global centres that work closely with customers to develop application systems to suit their specific manufacturing needs.
As well as housing experimental application equipment, the centre is also equipped with several state-of-the-art application lines and temperature and humidity controlled spray booths. They give the company an ability to mimic customer conditions in all segments of the industrial wood market.
"The facility enables us to replicate our customers’ own manufacturing processes, making it easier to develop products and technologies that can be tailored to their specific application environments," explained Anthony Woods, RD&I director for AkzoNobel’s wood coatings business.
"This helps us to develop new products aimed at improving their processes and productivity, particularly efforts to reduce application costs and lower the use of solvents and formaldehyde in line with changing regulations."
Several breakthrough innovations are showcased at the Malmö centre, such as AkzoNobel’s proprietary technique for applying edge coatings with millimetre precision, as well as the company’s automated system that scans wood for holes and cracks and automatically applies filler. It also includes a facility to demonstrate UV-LED curing, a sustainable wood finishing technique which uses up to 30% less electricity than competing curing methods.
Customer feedback has been very positive, with Per Dahlen, technical manager at IKEA Industry, being particularly impressed with the LED curing facility: "It was very interesting, showing just how far AkzoNobel has come with this technology," he said.
"It is pioneering facilities such as this, our people and our insight into our customers’ processes that have enabled us to achieve a number one position globally in this market," said Volkan Goren, managing director of AkzoNobel’s wood coatings business.
"The new facility will enable us to work more closely with our customers to satisfy their product, application technology and sustainability requirements, as well as helping to inspire their next generation of products."
