A new European Regulation will set the maximum permissible emissions of formaldehyde in furniture and wooden articles from 2026 onwards.
It was published on July 14, 2023 on Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/1464 amending Annex XVII to Regulation (EC) 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to formaldehyde and formaldehyde releasers.
This Regulation will come into force twenty days after its publication in the Official Journal and then the transitional period will begin, which will be 36 months for the articles indicated in the Regulation.
The new regulation for formaldehyde and substances that release formaldehyde, as indicated in the annex to the Regulation, will be:
1. Articles shall not be placed on the market after August 6, 2026 if, under the test conditions specified in Appendix 14, the concentration of formaldehyde released from them exceeds the following values:
a) 0.062 mg/m3 for furniture and wooden articles.
b) 0.080 mg/m3 for articles other than furniture and wooden articles.
The previous requirement will not apply in the following cases:
a) articles in which formaldehyde or formaldehyde-releasing substances are exclusively naturally present in the materials from which such articles are produced;
b) articles that are used exclusively outdoors under foreseeable conditions;
(…)
j) second-hand items.
The European Chemicals Agency will prepare a guidance document that will accompany the Regulation and that will surely include some clarifications related to furniture, which could facilitate its application to furniture manufacturers. Thus, it would be considered that it would not be necessary to carry out double tests if the articles or their wooden parts already comply with the new regulation.