Volatile organic compounds emissions from North American engineered wood products

Abstract

Although formaldehyde emissions from interior wood products have been extensively studied, emissions of other volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have received less attention, and engineered products are seldom study. Thus, thirteen commercially–bonded engineered wood products (structural plywood, oriented strandboard, structural composite lumber, I–joists, and glued–laminated timber) from North America were evaluated for VOCs using methods developed for interior bonded wood products. The dominate volatiles for the different products were greatly dependent on wood species and bonding process used preventing a universal conclusion. In fact, the volatiles from the adhesives seem to play a minor role. For example, the volatiles of Douglas fir plywood, and southern pine plywood and oriented strandboard are all quite different from each other. These data provide a basis for any future studies on bonded structural engineered wood products.