What is Laminate Flooring:
Laminate flooring is a click-together floor made of a fiberboard base and a printed image on top.
It is distinct from:
- Engineered wood, which has a real solid wood layer on top of a plywood or fiberboard substrate
- Luxury vinyl plank (LVP), which is a mix of vinyl/polyvinyl chloride (PVC), limestone and plasticizers with a vinyl top layer
- and Hybrid floors, which have a PVC/limestone base and a real wood top layer
People often mix up laminate flooring and LVP. You will often hear LVP mistakingly referred to as laminate. Laminate flooring does not contain any vinyl or solid wood layers, and LVP does not contain any wood.
If you are interested in those other flooring options see my main flooring post.
This article contains affiliate links, upon purchase I make a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Chemical Composition of Laminate Floors – Are Laminate Floors Toxic?
HDF (High Density Fibreboard) Core:
- Softwood and hardwood fibers – around 75-85%
- Urea-formaldehyde, or melamine urea-formaldehyde as the binder – around 11-13%
- Paraffin – is added as water repellant – around 4% or less
- Ammonia – sometimes added as a formaldehyde scavenger (to reduce formaldehyde levels)
- Polystyrene is added in one brand (Duravana) to the core
(There can be brands using medium-density fiberboard – MDF as the core, but now I generally see HDF versions. These fibreboards are both very similar in composition).
Top layer:
- Printed image that usually looks like wood
- A top coat is typically made up of several coats of melamine-urethane-impregnated paper with aluminum oxide, though some have a lacquer finish
Backing:
- Sometimes there is another melamine thin layer as the backing (and the sides in one brand)
- An integrated foam underlayment made of high-density polyethylene (HDPE).
- Or a polystyrene foam underlayment
- (I don’t find that there is any offgassing in those underlayments)
Waterproof Laminate
Some lines are “waterproof” because they have an extra component of wax on the tongue and groove parts. This was the first generation of waterproof laminate.
Since then there have been new developments:
1. One brand, Duravana from LL Floors, has polystyrene mixed into the HDF core, this provides a greater level of waterproofing compared to wax on the tongue and groove. (This is a big innovation and improvement in the laminate industry). It also has the usual formaldehyde resin in the core.
2. AquaGuard from Floor and Decor coats the sides and back with melamine to protect the fiberboard from water.
Neither type of waterproofing adds more offgassing.
3. Evoke Surge claims to be waterproof but they don’t disclose how this is accomplished. They say the binder in the fiber core is organic (so not plastic), and they did confirm it’s formaldehyde just like most laminate, but I don’t know what’s added to make it more waterproof.
4. Mohawk also has a new waterproof line called PureTech. They say it’s made of minerals (including corundum) and plant fibers and is completely free of PVC. The core looks like a fiberboard which puts it in the laminate category. It’s not clear if the top layer is melamine. Like all Mohawk floors, there is no added formaldehyde.
5. Cali Floors laminate Shorbreak is a waterproof laminate. They claim on the product description that it has “no detectable levels of VOCs”. However that is not what their Floorscore certificate certifies, nor is that what the SDS sheet supports. This is made with 12% formaldehyde binder which certainly does offgas (and higher than undetectable levels) unless they have baked the product at the end. It also has 12% carbamide added.
6. MSI Waterproof Hybrid Rigid Core – Smithciffs Collection is advertised as waterproof. When I asked them what was in the core and if there was any plastic in the core (that is what the word hybrid should mean) they just said wood. A sample of the product clearly has an HDF core, I don’t know what is added to make it waterproof.
Level of Formaldehyde Offgassing From Laminate
The only real chemical of concern here is formaldehyde, and just about all laminate flooring, but three brands mentioned below, is made with formaldehyde.
Formaldehyde levels in laminate flooring are very low now. Melamine-formaldehyde offgasses less formaldehyde than urea-formaldehyde (Source).
Many laminate brands are GreenGuard Gold certified. This means they offgas no more than 0.0073 ppm formaldehyde.
The outdoor level of formaldehyde in urban areas is 0.0015 – 0.047 ppm (source).
CARB 2 and TSCA Title VI are legal limits (they are both the same), 0.11 ppm is allowed in MDF.
Laminate Flooring Brands that are Certified GreenGuard Gold Include:
- Duravana from LL Floors looks like your typical laminate but the core seemed a little different to me so I asked the company about it. The core has polystyrene added to it (it also contains the usual wood fiber and melamine-urea-formaldehyde) which makes it more inherently waterproof than other brands. It does not have more offgassing than other brands.
- Swiss Krono USA
- Traffic Master from Home Depot
- A&A from Home Depot
- MSI laminate from Home Depot
- AquaGuard Laminate from Floor and Decor
- Evoke Surge
- Optimax from Floor and Decor
- Shaw Laminate is GreenGuard (not Greenguard Gold)
(If it meets GreenGuard Gold then it certainly exceeds E-0 limits of 0.07 ppm formaldehyde and E-1 limits, which are even higher).
Home Depot Brands of Laminate
In terms of Home Depot Brands: Home Decorators Collection seemed lower in offgassing straight out of the box, but Traffic Master offgassed quicker – to me it seemed to almost fully offgassed in about a month. Whereas, HDC did not seem to have made much progress at all in a month.
IKEA Tundra Laminate Flooring
IKEA’s laminate flooring is only available in Europe. IKEA is always at the forefront of the industry in terms of lowering emissions in pressed wood products. While IKEA doesn’t use certifications like GreenGuard Gold, they have said they have removed formaldehyde from all products.
Formaldehyde-Free Laminate Flooring
I have only seen three brands of laminate flooring that are formaldehyde-free (more accurately “no added formaldehyde” since wood naturally contains formaldehyde). I don’t know what glue they are using.
1. Mohawk
The first is Mohalk including the RevWood line from Mohawk. They have stated in an email that there is no added formaldehyde. It does not say this on the website (which is strange to me, since this is so unique). But there is no formaldehyde on the SDS sheet (where it would have to be listed) and no Prop 65 warning for formaldehyde (only one for wood dust).
They do not say which glue is used, only that it’s water-based. It could be a Methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) glue, which also offgasses VOCs. The VOCs are listed on the SDS as <9 ng/m3, which is extremely low.
The Pergo line which is also owned by Mohawk is formaldehyde-free.
2. Kahrs
Kahrs laminate flooring with an HDF core is formaldehyde-free.
3. IKEA
IKEA laminate is presumedly formaldehyde-free since they stated they removed formaldehyde from their product lines.
How Long Does it Take Laminate Flooring to Fully Offgas
Lynn Baker, an air pollution specialist with the California Air Resources Board (CARB) says “You’ll get a fairly large amount that off-gasses early on, and then it starts to become less over a period ranging from months to a couple of years depending on the amounts contained in the product” Source.
One study for a high-emitting laminate floor product sample tested in small environmental chambers found that the time needed for formaldehyde emission to reduce to 50% of the initial level was 216 days, and the worst case was 371 days (depending on the conditions).
Years ago, high formaldehyde products like MDF made with urea-formaldehyde could take 7+ years to offgas, but products with lower levels of formaldehyde, and products made from phenol or melamine-formaldehyde offgas less and take much less time.
Chemicals Used in Installing Laminate Flooring
Adhesives
While you can glue down laminate flooring, it’s not done that often. There is no situation in which it would be necessary to glue down laminate flooring. I definitely would not glue this down.
Underlayment
I like the brands that include an attached polyethylene foam underlayment. But if you don’t start with one of those brands you can check out the options in my post on underlayment.
Laminate-Hybrids
Duravana is a hybrid of sorts since they add polystyrene to the core.
Optimax by Floor & Decor is only 50% wood fiber in its core (as opposed to 75-85% like the standard laminate). They don’t say what the other 50% is other than an “amino resin” (which means urea- or melamine-formaldehyde), it might also contain a plastic resin but the company will not say that (though it’s definitely not PVC so it’s not a LVP flooring). In my testing of it, the core is more waterproof than the usual laminate and it did not swell up. The other reason for suspecting a plastic resin in there is that they call it a hybrid, which insinuates wood + plastic. Unfortunately, they used a fiberboard underlayment which does make it more prone to water damage at that layer (if water makes it past the locking mechanism or comes up from below).
AquaGuard by Floor & Decor is also a waterproof laminate but we don’t know what is in the core.
FAQs
What about Isocyanates and Cyanuric acid?
There are other websites that seem to just be copying and pasting information from each other, these blogs list isocyanates and cyanuric acid as components of laminate flooring.
Methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) based glues can offgas isocyanates. The vast majority of laminate is made with formaldehyde glues not MDI. The only ones that might be using MDI (though I doubt it as it doesn’t have the MDI telltale odor) is Mohawk RevWood and Pergo.
Cyanuric acid may be found as an impurity of melamine but is not a component in melamine and I would not expect to find this leaching from floors. This is a chemical used in swimming pools and is harmful if swallowed. (Source)
Is Aluminum Oxide Toxic?
You would have to breathe in or ingest aluminum oxide for it to be toxic. I take an extreme approach personally to metal avoidance, but I am not worried about metals that are in solid form and won’t find their way into your body.
The finish on laminate (which usually includes aluminum oxide) is very durable and this is not a floor that you will be re-sanding (you can’t re-sand laminate). If the flooring is getting worn down that is time to replace it anyway. But that will take quite a while.
Corinne Segura holds certificates in Building Biology, Healthier Materials and Sustainable Buildings, and more. She has 10 years of experience helping others create healthy homes.
Sources:
- Wellmade Floors SDS
- Pharos CP for HDF
- SDS for HDF
- Home Depot
- Swiss Krono
- Science Direct.com
If you would like to support the research behind this blog you can make a donation via Kofi!
Sophie
Hello!
Since Mohawk doesn’t add formaldehyde to its laminates, why is it only FloorScore certified, instead of GG Gold?
Corinne Segura, Building Biologist
It could be because they will want to use one certification across all their products. It’s possible that it is a cost savings choice or that some products dont meet GGG (like sheet vinyl).
Sophie
Hi Corinne,
Thank you very much for your blog.
Many laminate flooring advertise that they are “antibacterial” or “antimicrobial”, including Mohawk (RevWood Select and Premier, not Plus) and many Green Guard Gold laminates. What makes it antibacterial/antimicrobial? And, is this stuff toxic?
Corinne Segura, Building Biologist
It’s probably silver, but I don’t think we actually know.
Sophie
Thanks Corinne.
It sounds like Mohawk is a good choice for low toxicity flooring. Does this extend to all brands under the Mohawk umbrella? In addition to RevWood, I’m also looking at Quick Step. Is Quick Step also formaldehyde-free?
Corinne Segura, Building Biologist
yes
Kylie
Looking to install Mohawk RevWood or Pergo TimberCraft. Since Mohawk has no added formaldehyde, what is the best way to try and prevent off-gassing from the installation process from the naturally occurring formaldehyde? Allowing the flooring to sit in our garage before we install? Purchasing product that is not newly manufactured?
Laminate is really the only product in our budget as we are tearing out carpet from the 80s. But I have a 1 year old and I’m trying to be as low tox as possible. It sounds like of all laminate, Mohawk is the lowest tox option due to no added formaldehyde.
Corinne Segura
Yes im happy with mohawks VOC levels, which are practically 0, it’s also the brand I would go with. there is no need to offgas natural formaldehyde, it’s present in all wood and outside in nature.
Ralph
This Mohawk Laminate floor from Menards has formaldehyde listed in the SDS: https://www.menards.com/main/flooring-rugs/laminate-flooring/laminate-flooring/mohawk-reg-perfectseal-excel-12-7-1-2-x-47-1-4-waterproof-laminate-flooring-19-63-sq-ft-ctn/mhk09-03/p-1642874273679909-c-12442.htm
Corinne Segura
thanks i will call them to see what’s going on there. Maybe this only applies to the direct lines from Mohawk like pergo and revwood
Corinne Segura
Mohawk is saying this is the percent of formaldehyde that is naturally occuring in wood (under 1.5 percent). When formaldehyde is added as the binder in other laminate brands it is around 11-13%.
David Rosen
Thanks so much for your work on this. SUPER useful. Best regards.
Eduardo
Thank you for your detailed posting! Silly question… I think the conditions for offgas are simply the material sitting there… But I guess there are other ways for the material to make it to the environment/air in the house like wear (specially being a floor). Of course, that would be only for the outer/protective material. Are regulations covering that?
Thank you again!
Corinne Segura
The wear of a floor is not considered offgassing because it’s not a gas but particles coming loose. Laminate takes a very long time before it shows any wear at all. I have 10 year laminate where Im staying and there is no wear on it. And that is around the time someone might want to replace it anyway. But yes technically the aluminum layer is wearing down really slowly.
Jason Trut
Hi,
First and foremost, thank you for your wonderful website!
We just installed laminate flooring in a basement room (one room) and engineered hardwood flooring on two floors of our house (4 bedrooms, living room, family room). Both types of flooring are FloorScore certified (the engineering hardwood is less than/equal to 0.5 mg/m3, not sure about the laminate flooring). Due to the somewhat uneven flooring in the basement and the quality of the subfloor upstairs, the flooring installer used adhesive.
My question – I was thinking of buying an air purifier that’s meant to reduce VOCs (Austin Air Healthmate) and putting it in the basement room. The cost is around $1,100 since this is a premium air purifier meant to reduce VOCs. Everywhere else in the house, I’d buy Winix 5500-2 air purifiers.
Do you think I need to buy such an expensive air purifier in the basement room to reduce VOCs? Is my concerned overblown?
Thank you!
Corinne Segura
Every brand of laminate but Mohawk will offgas formaldehyde. Whether you should filter that or not I cannot make that call for anyone. Usually i would go based on if you are sensitive to it or not. Austin air is a good choice for filtering formaldehyde as many carbon only or PCO air purifiers are not great against formaldehyde. If you used Mohawk flooring there is not need to filter the air. Though it also depends on if the glue is offgassing or not.
Jason Trut
Thanks!
J Baker
Is it true that some HDF core products like Marmoleum Click do not have added formaldehydes in their HDF? If yes, you might consider amending this article, Corinne, and also the general flooring post? I was confused and had ruled out several products with HDF core because I thought you were saying that all HDF has added formaldehydes and is therefore toxic (even though I’m not sure you actually ever say that. :-))
You have saved me a ton of work and I am very grateful for this website!! Thank you!
J Baker
PS. I discovered this in the questions section of the Marmoleum Click page on the Green Building Supply site (searching for HDF.)
Nancy
Have you seen this page on Pergo’s site? We are considering laminate, but looking for GreenGuard certified. Saw some Pergo at an outlet store and after reading your review that said they used to be certified, I ran across this webpage. Thoughts? https://en.pergo.com/…/sustaina…/laminate-sustainability
Corinne
The A+ European label is lower than the Green Guard Gold Formaldehyde level. But all the main laminate brands have the same chemical composition, so unless they are doing something like baking out the formaldehyde they will all be the same. There is one brand without formaldehyde on the list.
Lisa
My partner and I are having a terrible time in a new apartment. He has leukemia so I am worried. The floor seems to smell and I think it is the problem. It is laminate with gyp Crete, I was told. The building is three years old, affordable housing. My questions: can a wax or some coating block the odor? They sell some non toxic ones. Would Enviroklenz which seems to say on its website that it can be used for this likely work.? Someone also mentioned covering it with foil? Is that worth trying? We are really in a bind at this point and any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!
Corinne
Check out the post on mitigating new house offgassing https://www.mychemicalfreehouse.net/2019/05/mitigating-sealing-remediating.html
Alan
You state that Mohawk’s RevWood has no added formaldehyde. Could you point me to this info? I’m unable to find it.
Also I don’t see anything on Shaw’s website about being certified GreenGuard Gold. Is that somewhere on their site?
Corinne
I mention in the post that Mohawk will state this in an email but it’s not on their site. Shaw used to have Greenguard children and schools for their laminate which is the same as green guard gold, but now they only have green guard so I’ve updated the article, thanks for pointing that out.
Alan
Thank you. So stating that RevWood has no has no added formaldehyde is just trusting the words of whomever wrote that email. I wouldn’t state that info unless it’s printed on their website. Besides, as you state, that doesn’t mean that it’s formaldehyde free. “No added formaldehyde ” could mean anything to them.
Corinne
I mention in the post exactly where I got the info, it’s not just one email. In my experience of 10 years doing this I think it’s unlikely they are lying about that but I also noted it’s strange that it’s not on the website. No added formaldehyde means the glues binding the HDF are not formaldehyde based, nor the glue binding the HDF to the melamine. No company can say “formaldehyde free” when there is wood in the product because wood naturally contains formaldehyde. These terms are legal terms and are actually quite specific.
Corinne
Also I should add formaldehyde is something that would have to be declared on the SDS sheet.
Alan
If I’m looking for the cheapest flooring type that’s still safe, what type would that be? Would it be laminate flooring, LVP, or engineered wood? The article talks about the best brands of laminate, but how safe are the other types? Or is it implying that laminate is the safest?
I’m sure anything that comes on a roll is bad?
Also do you have similar info for carpet? I need carpet in one room (media room).
Corinne
It’s a toss up between vinyl plank and laminate for best cheapest flooring just depending on if you want short term offgassing (from laminate) or longer term possible problems from plasticizers (in vinyl).
Alan
How safe is carpet?
Corinne
it ranges from 0 VOC and no persistent chemicals to quite high offgassing and persistent chemicals like flame retardants, PFAS and metals. See post on carpeting. The question is can you get one of the polyester extremely low VOC ones at the right price. that I don’t know off the top of my head.
John
Does durvana flooring have formaldehyde in it?
Corinne
yes all brands but one do
Ryan
Hi Corinne,
Thanks for your helpful articles I decided not to replace carpet with carpet, instead I’m looking at either laminate or LVP given the budget.
My question is about the water-proof/water-resistant feature of the latest products. What drove me away from carpet is the chemicals such as PFAS (and the carpet manufacturers don’t reveal what proprietary topical treatment their fiber goes through when they claim they don’t use PFAS). Now my concern is for laminate flooring that claims to be water-proof/water-resistant, do they involve the usage of such chemicals that fall under PFAS family? I saw your mention of AquaGuard using melamine layers (their website says “2 pass power sealer edge coating for water resistance”) and I saw the LifeProof laminate from Home Depot mention “edges treated with wax”, and Pergo/Mohawk has SpillProtect/WetProtect which doesn’t say exactly what it is, plus Mohawk laminate also features CleanProtect which is soil/stain resistance, now this sounds more and more similar to what they do to their carpet, so do you think there is the possibility of PFAS involved? Where did you get the information about the AquaGuard water proof technology since I couldn’t find any detail about it?
Thank you very much!
Corinne
I doubt its PFAS, I think it’s generally wax, melamine, or a plastic mixed into the wood fibres because that’s what I’ve been able to find so far.
Julietta
Also , which floor option is best if radiant heating elements are installed below the planks … does that makes the flooring safer or worse?
THANKS!!
Julietta
Great info! What do you think of Golden Arowana sold at Costco? Any concerns?
Thanks !
Michele
Thank you so much for your article. I had no idea. We have laminate or vinyl in our apartment, brand new when we moved in. My daughter has respiratory issues since childhood and other medical issues. We are purchasing a new manufactured home that has carpet but has either laminate or vinyl (going to ask next week) in the kitchen and bathrooms already. All new. I was planning to rip out the carpet and have laminate or vinyl installed but after hearing of the chemicals and health risks, I am not considering now going that route. I need to prevent as many risks to my daughters’ health as possible. Is carpet then better than laminate or vinyl? I don’t know what to do. We always tried to avoid carpet because it seem less healthy. Any advice, suggestions you can give is greatly appreciated? Going to look further into your blog for other stories. ITs great having a resource like you. Coffee coming.. 🙂
THANK YOU so much again..
Mariane
She has a post on all the different flooring from green to less green and carpet deft seems worse than laminate. I personally chose to go with laminate over vinyl and others for the price point and the green guard certification. Tile is a great option if no lead but I don’t love the hard floors for little ones to fall. Just another moms insight. I hope your little one get better. Living a non toxic life is so hard sometimes.
Janice
I believe that only tiles are totally chemical free, and that will be my choice.
Corinne
‘-some brands of carpet are 0 VOC but most have PFAS (see the carpet post), I would avoid high offgassing brands of carpet
-laminate is the highest offgassing of the three (if you compare with better carpet brands) by a long shot, with elevated formaldehyde for at least the first few months
-LVP vinyl has practically no offgassing but a big question mark about the plasticizers
(Vinyl sheet if that is what you have is much higher in offgassing than LVP and is something I would avoid)
Corinne
it would need some air flow between boards to offgas. other questions I talk about in the article
Mariane
Thank you. I will make sure we open them. But in terms of brand and being that the only available type from home decorator was the waterproof kind, is that probably a safe product? I could not find info on what makes them waterproof.
Also, if we installed it and left that room unused and closed would that be an issue for the rest of the home? In terms of off gassing. Thanks so much. Sending you some coffee money. =)
Corinne
the room also should have some air exchange
Mariane
Got it. If we installed it from the box in a room and closed the room for nobody to use it and had a window open plus air purifier in there at all times, would that be good enough?
Mariane
Hi Corinne,
My husband found the home decorators collection at Home Depot that would come with the polypropylene underpayment already. They claim to be waterproof. Is that a concern since we don’t know what they use? It’s green guard gold certified. Is that a good option? Also, it’s been purchased at Home Depot and mowings in my garage, would you say it probably already offgass a lot since it didn’t come straight from supplier? Thank you.
Praful Lalchandani
Any experience with Aquaguard from Floor and Decor. They claim to be GreenGuard Gold compliant, but should I be suspicious given they are not manufactured in the USA?
Corinne
The GGG certification would catch anything that is very wrong with offgassing. I’ve seen it and it seems normal to me in terms of offgassing.
Praful Lalchandani
I am considering laminate from https://www.urbanfloor.com/product/archer/ and I have a few questions:
– They say they are CARB II compliant (https://www.urbanfloor.com/safety-sustainability/) but say nothing about Green Gold. Is CARB II less stringent or more when it comes to formaldehyde emissions?
– They say they are ‘water resistant’ – does this increase the likelyhood of emissions?
Mariane
Would you consider an improvement to remove traffic master carpet from a room for baby and put Shaw laminate instead? My husband wants a more affordable option and he doesn’t want tile. The carpet has been there for a bit over 4 years.
Thanks so much
Christine
Hi, I’m considering a laminate flooring -Mohawk Revwood Plus.
Do you consider this product to be similar in composition and “safety” (regarding off-gassing) to Pergo Portfolio +?
I’m asking because you provided a short consultation with me in 2020/2021 and we determined that the Pergo was likely a good choice for our home with two chronically ill (neurological) kids. Unfortunately, the color of the Pergo is discontinued and we need to choose another flooring.
Corinne
If the product was in storage and not brand new straight from the supplier it changes things. Brand new laminate, doesn’t matter the brand, will have some offgassing of formaldehyde for the first few months at least. If you are buying new, I would consider engineered wood (certain brands in the post on engineered wood) and hybrid which I also talk about in the same post.
Megan
Christine did you end up getting Mohawk’s Revwood Plus? I’m considering that too. Sales rep is telling me it’s formaldehyde free (what!?) but I’m waiting on materials safety data sheet. I’m also told they are Green Guard certified (but does not say Gold).
Corinne
All laminate is made with formaldehyde.
Megan
Update- I talked to the Mohawk technical department today regarding Revwood and learned they are not Green Guard certified but all their flooring is certified CARB and floor score (@ the “TVOC Less than/equal to 0.5 mg/m3” level). He told me they do not use formaldehyde in Revwood but wouldn’t tell me what they use instead as binding agent – “Proprietary info”.
Product safety data sheet was pretty useless other than listing “VOC w/w” as
<9ng/m3.
Just putting this out there in case anyone else is considering Revwood.
Corinne
Wow OK I will have to get in touch with them. They would be the only laminate flooring without formaldehyde. It’s shocking that they wouldn’t write that on the product page. The only other glue for this kind of fiberboard is MDI which also offgasses around the same amount.
Megan Blakeslee
Right!? Can’t believe they wouldn’t advertise that. I went into a local flooring shop this morning and the Mohawk rep happened to be there. I asked him about the binding agent for Revwood. He also said no formaldehyde and said it is a “water-based glue”.
Janice
If they don’t mention is because they are hiding something…
We are considering tile, or polished cement, just for the sake of our health.
Alie
What do you think of evoke floorings laminate?
https://evokeflooring.com/us/products/surge
It claims to have a wood composite core free of hdf or mdf. Do you think this would offgas less?
Corinne
They don’t say what it is. This is a new trend in laminate floors where there might be a slight modification to try to make it more waterproof. The only thing they really say about Evoke Surge is: “manufactured differently from traditional laminate’s HDF—the wood fibers are ground more finely to allow them to be encapsulated in resin and therefore unable to absorb moisture.” Resin is normally formaldehyde and I would expect that here. Perhaps there is another additive to make it more waterproof but they don’t say what it is.
Alie
Hmm thanks for the response. It is a green guard gold certified, so even if it is a formaldehyde based resin it would be offgassing at safe levels, correct?
Corinne
laminate can meet green guard gold, it’s probably at the upper limit of formaldehyde.
Ro
Hi! Thanks for this information. I’ve seen articles saying that laminate from China may not be safe. I’ve seen brands that are made in China, but are also Greenguard Gold certified. If a laminate is Greenguard Gold certified, is it safe regardless where it is made? Thank you!
Usha
Thank you for the detailed post! Woud you recommend the cali bamboo brand (which offers LVP flooring)? The brand claims no-detectable formaldehyde as per independent testing.
Catherine
I recently had water damage in my mobile home. They opened up the underlayment and the laminate to install and a very strong toxic odor poured out. I argued with them to not use it and was dismissed. I was told it would take weeks to get a different flooring. I let them proceed. I got very sick from it and my doctor told me to stay elsewhere. The odor permeated the house. I removed the flooring. 500sq ft. I cannot find any warnings from the company that made the laminate. The underlayment didn’t have any references not even a name. Now the contractor who knew I was sensitive ( its in the contract) won’t give me my money back. Thank God I’m not sick anymore but I’m walking around on plywood. I guess any laminate gives off VOCs and some are more allergic than others.
Connie
Which country ?
And where was the laminate made in?
Were there any type of certifications?
Annette
Hope you can help.Do you know if Newton laminate flooring is greenguard certified? Also the country it is manufactured in? Having a difficult time finding safe flooring for my family.Thank you.
Corinne
You will have to ask the company.
Jaime
Would you say that if someone only has mild sensitivities (I was recently in a home with newly installed laminate flooring that was not even green guard gold certified and had no issues) that Home Depot brands would be safe? I just worry about the overall level of VOCs if it’s installed in the whole house even if the individual pieces are low voc.
Corinne
It doesn’t matter which brand of laminate it is in terms of offgassing levels
Cbpep
Did you evaluate aqua guard laminate? It was not listed in your article.
Corinne
They are all virtually the same. I mention the “waterproof” claim.
Denise H Chustz
Hi, Im looking at buying the Pergo floor from Lowes. I reached out to Pergo and they claimed to be floorscore certified with total VOC of <=0.5 mg/m3 Do you think this a safe level ?
Corinne
All of these laminate floors have *extremely* similar composition (almost identical).
Janice
That is toxic the same.
Chrissy O’Donnell
Hi Corinne,
I live in a floor unit condo. I bought a laminate flooring from Homr Depot, installed 2017. I did the living room only.
I notice a strong odor when my unit is closed up for several days. especially in Summer. It still has some residual “ smell” but not as strong.
How can I get this odor evaluated?
What agency could help identify it?
Please advise. Thank you
Corinne
Hi I would do an air test for formaldehyde through Prism Analytics.
Katie
Any thoughts or experience with LifeProof laminate flooring? (Might be staying somewhere that has recently installed it in the last 1-2 weeks).