Is laminate flooring harmful to the human body?

Laminate flooring is a material used by many families today, which is what we often call solid wood flooring. The difference in quality of laminate flooring is also relatively large, because the board layers of laminate flooring are glued together. If there is a problem when gluing the laminate flooring, it will cause large loopholes in its quality, thus affecting people's use. So, is laminate flooring harmful to the human body?

Composite flooring, full name solid wood composite flooring. It is a type of flooring derived from the solid wood flooring family. It first emerged in Europe and was introduced to China in the early and mid-1990s. It is generally divided into two categories: three-layer solid wood composite flooring and multi-layer solid wood composite flooring. The various layers of laminate flooring are glued together by heat and pressure. If the gluing quality is poor or the maintenance is improper, the glue may come apart. Moreover, if urea-formaldehyde glue is used for bonding, the board will contain a certain amount of free formaldehyde because urea-formaldehyde glue contains formaldehyde. Therefore, if you buy inferior or counterfeit laminate flooring, its formaldehyde content is very high.

Formaldehyde irritates the skin and mucous membranes. When formaldehyde reaches a certain concentration indoors, people will feel uncomfortable. Excessive formaldehyde has three major serious hazards:

1. Sensitization: Direct skin contact with formaldehyde can cause allergic dermatitis, pigmentation, and necrosis. Inhalation of high concentrations of formaldehyde can induce bronchial asthma.

2. Irritation: The main hazard of formaldehyde is its irritation to the skin and mucous membranes. Formaldehyde is a protoplasmic toxic substance that can combine with proteins. When inhaled in high concentrations, it can cause severe respiratory irritation and edema, eye irritation, and headaches.

3. Mutagenic effect: High concentration of formaldehyde is also a genotoxic substance. Experimental animals may develop nasopharyngeal tumors if they inhale high concentrations in the laboratory.

When buying laminate flooring, you must choose genuine products. It will use environmentally friendly glue for pressing and contains relatively little formaldehyde, so users can use it with confidence. However, be sure to note that it cannot be used for flooring with geothermal heating, because the high temperature of the floor will accelerate the release of formaldehyde.