In a recent column, I wrote about the debate that ensued when the National Floor Safety Institute sought to require floor-covering manufacturers to label their products to indicate that there was a possibility of slips and falls that could result in injury.
Flooring is back on the menu today, with word that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has finalized a rule to reduce exposure to irritating formaldehyde vapors from certain wood products produced domestically or imported into the United States.
The standards take effect a year after being published in the Federal Register, according to Consumer Reports.
The EPA worked with the California Air Resources Board to help ensure that the final national rule is consistent with that state's strict requirements for composite-wood products.
According to Consumer Reports, formaldehyde is a colorless gas that can give off a "picklelike smell."
It has been used in home products for many years, in items ranging from wood flooring to detergents, wallpaper, paint and fabric.
Formaldehyde also can occur naturally _ which doesn't mean that it's safe, or even that it's always dangerous, Consumer Reports says. The situation is much more complicated than that.
Consumer Reports has much more on the formaldehyde issue than I can address here in this column. So for more information, check out http://www.consumerreports.org/flooring/breathe-easier-about-your-flooring.
