Kitchen Cupboards:
Cabinet Options
Kitchen cupboards, or cabinets, seem to be a staple in modern homes today. The kitchen is traditionally the hub, or center of family life. Food supplies, preparation, and storage of accessories and foodstuffs is vital in today's economy. There is something comforting about seeing the dinner table decorated with plenty of good food to eat. Yet it is also rejuvenating to leave the kitchen for the evening with the dishes washed, and all the food and supplies neatly tucked away in their own spaces. Kitchen cabinetry makes this all possible.
Since you will likely spend a lot of your time in the kitchen,
you will want to be sure that the air is safe for breathing.
Why wouldn't it be? Well, the majority of wood cabinets made today contain some sort of plywood or particleboard that is put together with a
formaldehyde
based glue. Many are also coated with products containing VOCs or Volatile Organic Compounds, which emit formaldehyde and/or other chemicals for months and years. These products emitting VOCS, by definition, cannot be part of a truly
healthy home.
Kitchen Cupboards
Outgassing Concerns
Listed below are several cabinet options that are likely to contain urea formaldehyde content - which will outgas into your living space for a long time to come. Some people react to this gas within minutes of inhalation - with headaches, watery eyes, scratchy throat and respiratory difficulties. If anyone in your family has any
chemical allergies
, I strongly recommend that you avoid products containing formaldehyde glue or VOCs. Even without known allergies,
formaldehyde
is a known cancer causing agent - best avoided in your living space.
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Cabinets Likely to Contain Formaldehyde
- Conventional wood cabinets
- Unfinished wood cabinets
- Hybrid wood/metal cabinets
- Melamine cabinets
Safer Cupboard Choices
- Solid wood kitchen cabinets
(check for VOCs in the product used to coat the wood)- Solid wood unfinished cabinets
- Metal kitchen cabinets
(not hybrid) - Steel kitchen cabinets
- Low-outgassing wood cabinets
There are products you can use to reduce formaldehyde emission in traditional cabinetry - such as SafeSeal by AFM products. This is a labor intensive process, however, and will not completely seal off the gas. It is helpful, though.With so many choices available, you can make a healthier choice of kitchen cupboards for you and your family. Healthy air (as well as healthy food and water) will make your kitchen the safe haven your family deserves.
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