Whenever we talk about interior decorations or moving to a new place, people would suddenly recall things about formaldehyde. With all the new furniture, paint, polystyrene floods into our new home, we stand up against all the formaldehyde trying to get every single bit of them out of our home as if we are a formaldehyde exterminator. It is a fact that formaldehyde is harmful to our health, it irritates our eyes, nose and throat, affects pulmonary function and causes various respiratory disease, and could cause fetal malformation and miscarriage. It is also labelled as a Group 1 carcinogen by the WHO. We have more than enough reasons to get rid of every single bit of formaldehyde, and people do everything trying to get them out of their home. Some chooses “E0” graded materials for their furniture, some tries to eliminate formaldehyde by using formaldehyde remove sprays, air purifier and activated charcoal. Some even uses folk remedy like placing pineapple or onion skins to “lower the concentration of formaldehyde”. However, are these what you really need for a “formaldehyde-free” home?

In fact, construction materials and furniture from renovation are not the only source of formaldehyde, some of our daily tools and products also contain and emit formaldehyde such as detergents, cosmetics, insecticides, dishwashing liquids, clothes and bed linens. At the meantime, construction materials will keep on emitting formaldehyde for 3-15 years. Therefore, we should not be short-sighted and only aim for low formaldehyde level or low odour after a couple months of moving in or decorating.

The “E0” material doesn’t mean they are completely formaldehyde-free. Instead, they emit very low level of formaldehyde, being 0.5mg/L. Although the number is very small, overusing them could still lead to exceeding formaldehyde limit. Moreover, as formaldehyde has adhering, moisture-proof, insect-proof and other functions, using nearly 0 formaldehyde materials might require additional adhesives and insect-resist agents, ended up re-introducing the missing formaldehyde from the “E0” materials back to your home.

Now let’s talk about methods to remove formaldehyde. Simply using formaldehyde remove sprays to clean you home after decorating for a month or two cannot protect your health in the long run. Again, building materials emits formaldehyde for 3-15 years. However, it is also unrealistic to keep spraying formaldehyde remove sprays for the whole period of 3 years. Even if the cost is not your concern, all the effort to spray it constantly is already troublesome enough to make it not worth doing. Although activated charcoal can actually absorb formaldehyde and keep them stick to the charcoal instead of floating in the air and let you breathe them in, they can only absorb but not actually remove formaldehyde while also have a max absorbing capacity. Once the activated charcoal is full for a while and were not disposed and replaced in time, they will release the formaldehyde back to the area, losing its functionality and also worsen the situation. Despite air purifier can effectively purify formaldehyde, the price of a high Clean Air Delivery Rate (CADR) and Cumulate Clean Mass (CCM) is nothing to joke at already. Factoring in the electricity cost, the cost of installing a decent air purifier could be significant in the long run. However, if you want to cut some initial cost by choosing a slightly lower tier air purifier, there might come with a long term cost of having to change the air filter element more frequently due to lower CCM, costing the same if not more than a high tier air purifier in the long run. When all of these effective ways also brings us some sort of trouble and extra costs, there is actually a formaldehyde eliminating method that doesn’t require any additional installation or costs after renovating.

Nippon Paint have series of paints that can abate formaldehyde for you 24/7, for example the Nippon Paint Gold Formaldehyde-Buster Odour-less All-in-1(Bamboo Charcoal technology). All you have to do is choose this as your paint for renovation, and our paint can decrease the level of formaldehyde for you once it is painted onto your wall with no additional care needed as long as the paint is not significantly damaged. Nippon Paint also take a step forward in keeping you healthy. Nippon Paint Gold Formaldehyde-Buster Odour-less All-in-1(Bamboo Charcoal technology) not only can lower the formaldehyde level but also have an anti-bacterium function. If you’re wondering would all the functionality restricts the colour choices for the paint, you don’t have to worry about that! Nippon Paint Gold Formaldehyde-Buster Odour-less All-in-1(Bamboo Charcoal technology) supports Computerized Colour Matching Service which provides 1988 colour choice, truly an aesthetic and functional paint of your choice.

Learn more about Nippon Paint Gold Formaldehyde-Buster Odour-less All-in-1(Bamboo Charcoal technology):

Nippon Paint Gold Formaldehyde-Buster Odour-less All-in-1(Bamboo Charcoal technology)