bamboo worktop

[Julianorman]

I am trying to source a bamboo worktop which hasnt been treated with
formaldehyde, does anyone know where I can get this? Wickes supply but dont know if it has or hasnt been treated with this.

As you are most likely aware Julian, bamboo worktops are lots of pieces of wood laminated together. A common waterproof resin used is urea formaldehyde and is the same resin as used to bond the vast majority of laminate worktops with melamine formaldehyde obviously being in the melamine surface. It is also used to bond the particles in MDF.

If you are worried about the health concerns of the chemical, I think,(but you obviously best check,) that these have come about through the use of urea formaldehyde in foams and insulation and as such have the potential to give off formaldehyde fumes. Urea formaldehyde has been used since the beginning of the twentieth century and to my knowledge there have been no reported problems with it's usage apart from some workers having reactions from it while it's being worked.

The other resin that is sometimes used to bond particles is polyester resin but that contains styrene which is arguably more reactive than formaldehyde. If you are after a natural substance I can't think of anything that would work.

Hope this helps. Bryan

This got me to read up on formaldehyde scares. There is obviously a lot of junk scare stories out there among the genuine stuff. Personally I would be less inclined to believe the ones the USA. I have had personal experience of the way business in the US deliberately use health scares as a marketing tool.

For many years in the US there were scares about using granite for worktops as the radiation they gave off could give you cancer. There were lots of videos showing geiger counters going off like crazy. The truth was that if you looked at the counters they were all turned up to the x 1000 range which is about the same amount of clicks you would expect from a banana. A subsidiary of the Spanish company Cosentino, who's brands include Silestone were found to be behind the multi million dollar misinformation operation.

Personally, I would be concerned that if they are not using Formaldehyde resin then what are they using ? Sometimes better the devil you know.

Bryan capitalism at its finest eh? Very interesting reading thanks for that

Thanks for the information. I have made many calls to the company who supply Wickes with bamboo products but nobody seems to know the answer! I have decided to go ahead with it as my builders will need it soon.
Julia

Wise move I think. After all these years, at the least the formaldehyde resin has been tested in the field and we had the last generation to use as unwitting lab rats. :) If you want you to find them I am sure there are just as many scare stories about Bamboo. The fibres from the inside of bamboo are lethal to the lungs, I remember looking at them under a microscope in materials science. Again the truth is if you were a bamboo worker with the particles flying all around it would be a cause for concern, but set into resin they are completely harmless.

Good luck with the worktops.

Badweekjustgotworst. Only in America eh. Or maybe not as it turns out. :)