Is furniture from the major brands dangerous to our health? | France 2 | Envoyé Spécial

The furniture in our apartment often comes from the market giants. These brands offer their products at knockdown prices. How do they manage to cut their costs? What raw materials do they use? And, most importantly, is this furniture dangerous for health? Whether it’s the Swedish giant or the major French brands, these names furnish our homes. With ever-lower prices, consumers close their eyes to the production and provenance of this furniture. However, some studies indicate that prolonged exposure to the ambient air can cause cancer. When we buy furniture many of us are concerned by the cost, a lot less of us care about the secrets of its production. What if these products were harmful for our health? It looks like wood, but it’s not really. In the sights are desks, closets, tables and shelves made from particleboard. This means ground wood shavings mixed with glue and then polymerized in order to make it solid. Being cheaper, this raw material has replaced solid wood. Wood offcuts that are of no use in carpentry are thus transformed and are invading our homes. However, during the production process a gas is evaporated. This is formaldehyde, a derivative of formol, a toxic product that is dangerous to health.