I could have put this on the polyester danger thread but it’s a different question.
I’d been buying MDF for years to use when making my paintings. The other day I went to HomeDepot to buy some but I’d driven my wife’s car. So I asked a clerk if he could cut down the panel for me. He said he couldn’t. I asked why and he said because it’s a carcinogen.
Oh really?
I was disturbed by the fact that they sell this stuff without any warning at all.
Isn’t there any law requiring the disclosure of toxic or carcinogenic materials??? If there isn’t shouldn’t there be?
No. I went much later and did a search and found out that MDF (medium density fiberboard aka particle board) has a formaldehyde binder that is a carcinogen.
Almost all wood-fiber panels contain formaldehyde, not only MDF. I would not be surprised if good old plywood had some contained in the glue used to link sheets together. I have had customers in the past who refused any type of industrial wood panel to be installed in their homes (mainly german customers who are very environment conscious). Better to use a perspirator when sawing the stuff. Not many industrial building stuff are actually safe, anyway. But “nature” can be dangerous for your health, too. Try sawing and sanding balsa without appropriate lung protection…
“I would not be surprised if good old plywood had some contained in the glue used to link sheets together.”
Yes, most plywood seems to be bonded with either urea-formaldehyde or phenol-formaldehyde resin. The latter has a much lesser tendency to outgas. Formaldehyde also is present in some foam-in-place insulation, carpeting, and from various other sources. Every kid who had Biology when I was in school was exposed to a lot of this substance during dissections (it was the generic specimen preservative) Unfortunately nearly all of the information available is written from the perspective of consumer use of products, not cutting the raw materials, and MSDS sheets are written by lawyers, so the quality if information is highly suspect. I agree, when in doubt use a respirator.
Are you telling me there is nothing requiring vendors to warn their customers that a product is cancerogenous? I see a warning at the gas pump- “Contains chemicals known to the state of California to cause cancer”- or something to that effect. Is that warning just an elective rather than obligatory gesture?
I’m thinking of starting a letter writing campaign to my elected representatives if it is true that vendors can sell known canceroginens without any warning to unsuspecting consumers. That just seems wrong.
Are you telling me there is nothing requiring vendors to warn their customers that a product is cancerogenous? I see a warning at the gas pump- “Contains chemicals known to the state of California to cause cancer”- or something to that effect. Is that warning just an elective rather than obligatory gesture?
I’m thinking of starting a letter writing campaign to my elected representatives if it is true that vendors can sell known canceroginens without any warning to unsuspecting consumers. That just seems wrong.
Nearly every substance can be a carcinogen in sufficient concentration and quantity. I haven’t actually found the study that demonstrates that triple-distilled water can cause cancer in lab rats, but I suspect that it’s out there. Those carcinogens, btw, include wood itself, according to OSHA:
You should ask yourself which you prefer: to trust a bunch of bureaucrats to protect you; or to do your own research and reason your own conclusions. Or maybe you should write your congresscritter and tell him he needs to get to work printing labels and slapping them on trees :->