Non-toxic healthy closet, storage, and organization systems should be made of materials that do not off-gas VOCs or are extremely low in VOCs.
The following options can be considered for the chemically sensitive or those avoiding toxins for health reasons.
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Solid Wood Closets and Shelving
Most closet systems are made with engineered wood.
Lundia USA is one company that makes beautiful solid wood closet systems.
The framing, drawers, and shelves are all solid pine.
These are not just for bedroom closets – they make systems that work well for any kind of storage shelving area.
When using solid wood don’t forget to consider the wood glues used and the paint or finish.
If you would like to block the natural odorants of pine you can paint it and/or coat it with shellac. The safest wood glues are listed here.
Metal Shelving Organizer Systems
Metal closet systems are certainly the most inert material on the list as it has no natural or chemical off-gassing at all.
Metal that is powder coated or coated with an epoxy paint is usually totally cured by the time it gets to you so there usually isn’t any off-gassing of VOCs at all.
Though powder coated is a safer bet than epoxy for those extremely sensitive, also it’s safer in that epoxy can contain BPA.
The type to avoid is metal racking that is coated in PVC vinyl.
For simple systems that are going to be safe and healthy for just about everyone, metal is often the way to go.
Many companies make safe metal closet systems that have framing, shelves, and pull-out baskets/drawers made of wire or mesh metal.
The brand pictured is Rubbermaid.
Walmart has a great selection of inert metal closet systems.
Similar metal systems include the Elfa system from The Container Store (though their epoxy coated steel has a Prop 65 warning which could be for BPA) and IKEA systems like the JONAXEL.
Plastic Shelving Systems
No products found.There are a number of polypropylene-based shelving systems available at big retailers.
Polypropylene is one of the safest plastics, especially if you are not heating it up or eating off of it.
It generally does not off-gas VOCs and is not known to contain BPA (source). Phthalate are not intentionally added but could be found in trace amounts (source).
If you want a simple closet system, plastic is not a bad way to go. The one pictured is under $100 on Amazon.
You can also find these modular boxes in clear, white, and other colors. It can come in under $30 for 6 boxes.
The Container Store also has a good selection of polypropylene drawer systems as well as acrylic plastic storage cubbies.
Plywood-Based Closets and Shelving
After solid wood, plywood is the next safest wood product to build a closet or shelving system out of.
Columbia Forest Products Purebond Plywood is made without any formaldehyde adhesives and many sensitive people prefer this type.
It is made with soy glue and is almost odorless.
You could make the closet yourself, have a carpenter custom build one, or go with a company like Southern Stone Cabinets that uses Purebond Plywood as an option for their closets.
I also think that regular plywood made with phenol-formaldehyde is very fast to off-gas to undetectable levels and that will also work for many people.
It’s certainly far healthier than particleboard, HDF, or MDF which have higher levels of formaldehyde.
Just make sure the plywood is not made with urea-formaldehyde.
A lot of furniture plywood comes prefinished with a UV-cured water-based polyurethane finish, which doesn’t have any off-gassing. But if you want to finish it yourself, you can check out the posts on healthy sealers and healthy paints.
PS. Cedar blocks are a non-toxic moth repellant for closets.
Corinne Segura is an InterNACHI-certified Healthy Homes Inspector with certifications in Building Biology, Healthier Materials and Sustainable Buildings, and more. She has 10 years of experience helping others create healthy homes. You can book a consult here.
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Kate
Hello, thank you for the list. Super helpful! The Elfa drawers have a prop 65 warning on the site. Are these drawers non toxic?
Corinne Segura, Building Biologist
the company actually needs to declare what that is for by law even though they did not do that in the comment section when someone asked. but as for the steel drawers they have with epoxy the warning could be for BPA (in the epoxy) or nickel and other metals in the steel.
Deborah Williams
I want some safe storage containers for in my closet. So much that I find have terrible chemical smells in them . Could u recommend some non toxic storage containers
Corinne Segura
I havent written about storage containers but you may want to join this group so you can see this thread on that topic https://www.facebook.com/groups/150413784999257/posts/4524875087553083/
Tanman
Hi! Besides Lundia do you know of any other good/non-toxic solid wood companies? We are looking for 12 inch depth closet systems but Lundia’s smallest is 15 inch. I found John Louis Home online who offers solid wood but no MDS on wood glue and paint… and when I asked if they could confirm that their water based paint does NOT contain Nonylphenol Ethoxylates, Biocides, Glycol Ethers or ethylene glycol, Phthalates, “Antifungal” or “Antimicrobial” Additives, Crystalline Silica, metals like cadmium or chromium, they said can’t comment on it. Thank you.
Corinne Segura, Building Biologist
All paint contains antimicrobials, that is a preservative in all paint. I wouldn’t worry about glycol ethers because they offgas fast. Also all paint can be a hazard if you sand it into dust form and breathe it in so I wouldn’t be particularly worried about silica, esp in the case of a closet which you wont be sanding. Cadmium and chromium would have to be listed by way of Prop 65. I’ve never seen those two listed in conventional paint but they can definitely be added to natural paints like milk paint. You won’t likely see phthalates anymore. See non toxic paint article for more details. That is not a list I would send to a company! I know it comes from EWG but I don’t think that is a great article.
Rob Norden
Late to this conversion, but Lundia does make 9″deep, 12″deep, 15″deep, 18″deep and 24″deep systems. They have a new additional website http://www.WoodClosets.com . Thank you Corinne! We love your website and your mission!
Amanda
What about wooden hangers? Is there a nontoxic option you know of for them?
Gorden Wade
Is Allen Roth wood closet cabinets safe to use in the kitchen to store any kind of products , like bag of chips or cookies or etc. I bought one of the closet cabinets, and was going to use it in the kitchen, but I got to wondering if it was safe to store food items in the cabinet. It is to organize the closet, but I bought it to put in the kitchen, instead of my bedroom closet.
Corinne
I haven’t looked at Allen Roth but if it’s offgassing formaldehyde I have no problem with that in the pantry in terms of cross contamination.
Riti
How about a CARB 2 or EPA TSCA Title VI compliant particleboard based closet system? The resin used in their product is UF which I know from your posts offgasses for longer. How long would something like this take to offgas?
Corinne
see the post on pressed and laminated wood products for info on formaldehyde
Dr. Markku
Metal epoxy coated shelves can emit odors and trigger allergic reactions – it depends on the quality and type of the paint and how well the drying process went. There is long term odor in them, and most importantly, the smell may be minimal but the toxicity may still be high enough to induce allergic reactions.
Corinne
Could be offgassing, it’s not as safe as a bet as powder coated but it’s usually off gassed by the time it gets to the consumer.
Edie Lamphere
Hello. Ate all the metal rubbermade insert free of PVC vinal coating? Thank you!