The most dangerous furniture that can be in your home: chipboard furniture, upholstered furniture

When purchasing new furniture, we try to select products that will match the general style of the room. At the same time, few people think about the fact that a new headset can cause significant harm to health.

Often a situation arises when, after placing new furniture, its owner begins to feel a headache, a sore throat or itchy skin. This is how the body reacts to the harmful effects of chemicals.

To protect yourself, you should know what kind of furniture is hazardous to health.

Chipboard furniture

Chipboard is a wood board made by pressing shavings. Particleboard is one of the most inexpensive and popular materials used for sofas, armchairs and other products.

If in the process of making the plate, poor-quality raw materials were used, then furniture that can be harmful to health will turn out from it. So, the glue and resins that make up the chipboard contain formaldehyde and carcinogenic substances.

In addition, chipboard products emit phenolphthalein, which is a poisonous and toxic substance.

The greatest amount of harmful substances is emitted when there are cracks, scratches and other damage on the surface.

Attention! If the product has an unpleasant smell, then you do not need to buy it!

Soft furniture

Throughout the day, we repeatedly contact sofas and armchairs. This can lead to the development of dermatitis. The cause of allergic skin irritation is aniline. This substance is contained in the dye used to dye upholstery fabrics. Products containing aniline shed when washed.

Reference! To test the product for aniline content, heat a small piece of upholstery. If you smell an unpleasant chemical smell, it means that chemicals that are harmful to health were used in the manufacture of the upholstery.

Children's furniture

As a rule, products for children undergo additional safety checks. Therefore, they are not suspicious and are considered completely safe for health.

In reality, children's furniture often leads to the appearance of various respiratory diseases, for example, asthma.

Products for children are always colorful and bright. But often low-quality dyes containing toxic toluene are used to color them. Vapors of this substance irritate the mucous membranes of the eyes and upper respiratory tract.

Attention! Determining the presence of toluene in furniture is simple: you need to wet a cotton pad with acetone and wipe a small area of ​​the surface. If there is no paint on the disc, the product is safe and you can buy it.

How to protect yourself from harmful effects

There are certain standards for the presence of harmful substances in the atmosphere. So, the content of formaldehyde in the air should not be more than 0.06 ppm. In fact, its real number in most living quarters several times higher.

To find out the exact content of formaldehyde and other harmful substances in an apartment, you can use the services of specialized organizations. But it costs a lot of money. And few people agree to throw away all the furniture, so you can protect yourself from harmful effects yourself:

1. The easiest way to protect yourself is to buy natural wood furniture. This is especially true for the bedroom.
2. You need to carefully examine all the furniture. If it has cracks, chips and other coating defects, they should be treated with varnish or PVA glue. In this way, the release of toxic substances can be prevented.
3. Products made of chipboard should be covered with something. For example, a sofa and armchairs can be covered with a blanket, and chairs can be covered with natural fabric.
4. Do not allow the accumulation of chipboard products in one place. If they stand close to each other, this significantly increases the concentration of toxic and harmful substances in the air of the living space.
5. The apartment and house must be ventilated every day. This way you can protect yourself and your loved ones from excessive inhalation of chemicals.
6. You need to purchase furniture made of high quality chipboard. Such material has a hazard class E1. This is the safest type of chipboard. Products marked E2, E3 may contain an increased amount of harmful substances. An alternative option would be MDF. This material is safe for the human body.
7. For a children's room, you should purchase products from natural wood.
8. When buying furniture, you should ask the seller for a quality certificate, as well as a hygienic certificate. It is necessary to make sure that the level of emission of harmful substances does not exceed the standards established by GOST.

What furniture is tested for safety

VAll furniture sold on the territory of Russia is subject to mandatory verification for compliance with the technical regulations "On the safety of furniture products."

When checking, the manufacturer is obliged to provide certificates of the tests carried out, certificates for the materials used and other documents.

The information provided is checked by an accredited organization. In addition to issuing certificates, she exercises control over all certified products.

All types of household furniture and products for industrial premises are subject to mandatory control. Furniture for children and educational institutions is undergoing certification.

It should be borne in mind that the issued certificate is valid only for three years.

Finding furniture that is completely safe for health is almost impossible. If possible, you should purchase products from natural wood. Otherwise, you must follow the recommendations given and independently protect yourself from toxic emissions.