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Usually what we don’t find in the studies is what the timeframe is for a material to be completely offgassed. (Seems strange not to study that, but it’s true). Also offgassing times vary a lot by the conditions: temperature, humidity, and air flow mainly. Inside the cabinets for example, there is almost no air flow so the formaldehyde gets reabsorbed. 

Another variable is the type of formaldehyde and if there are formaldehyde scavengers (like ammonia) added. Urea-formaldehyde offgasses at a higher rate than phenol-formaldehyde.

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).

According to my math, it would take from approximately 1080 days (or around 3 years) to 2226 days (or around 6 years and 1 month) for the formaldehyde emissions to become negligible and hit close to 0, or 0 emissions.

Usually at 7 years even the most extremely chemically sensitive can do well with high emitting Particleboard, MDF, and HDF and they would consider it offgassed. Though newer glues are an improvement and don’t offgas for as long.

But when it’s inside a closed area the residual formaldehyde can linger. It’s not necessarily an amount that would still show up on a measurement.

It’s difficult to measure the formaldehyde at these extremely low levels or to measure when it’s completely done offgassing because the wood itself naturally contains formaldehyde, and also the air indoor and outdoor everywhere contains formaldehyde so usually you might see a measurement like “not detectable against background levels”.

When someone is hypersensitive and is reacting to MDF, HDF, and particleboard that are many years old always look to mold as an underlying source as I found that has been the culprit in 100% of cases. The Gupta programme is also very helpful with hyperactivity, I no longer have multiple chemical sensitivities because of that.

Sources: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412019311146

To be clear, all IKEA items are technically non-toxic. Non-toxic means not expected to cause health problems in healthy folks.

However if you are looking to go further and only want furniture that doesn’t offgas any formaldehyde or other VOCs this post will be for you.

This article will be particularly useful for those with chemical sensitivities who have a very low tolerance for offgassing.

IKEA and Toxics

IKEA actually has great standards when it comes to toxicants. They have lead the way when it comes to flame retardants, PFAS and other major chemicals of concern.

Of course a large amount of IKEA furniture is made with particleboard which does offgas formaldehyde from the raw edges. So while this isn’t technically at a toxic level, this won’t make the list of 0-VOC items.

1. Metal Items

Metal and the powder coating paint that IKEA uses don’t offgas any VOCs and aren’t expected to leach any chemicals of concern.

ENHET Bathroom vanity is made of all metal with a ceramic sink.

IDÅSEN High cabinet with drawer and doors (dark green), this series looks like school lockers and is all metal.

ADDE Chair (white) is all metal.

FJÄLLBO TV unit (black), is metal and solid wood.

FYRESDAL Daybed is also all metal. It does come with 2 foam mattresses. The foam is not 0-VOC but it is low-VOC.

SAGSTUA Bed frame, (black) is all metal with plywood slats.

2. Plywood Items

Plywood has extremely low offgassing and if often totally off gassed by the time it gets to the customer

NOLMYRA Chair is very simple with a plywood base and mesh fabric. Polyester is also extremely low in offgassing.

FRÖSET Chair (white stained oak veneer), this chair is all plywood.

3. Solid Wood Items

Some of IKEA’s indoor furniture is 100% solid wood.

Plywood does have very low offgassing and is often offgassed by the time it reaches the customer. As for fibreboard parts those can be sealed with shellac of AFM Safeseal.

INGO Table, solid pine.

JOKKMOKK Table and 4 chairs, (antique stain), solid pine.

TARVA Bed frame is solid pine and the slats are a plywood.

PERSBOL Armchair has solid wood, some plywood and a cushion.

LISABO Chair (ash) is made of solid wood and plywood.

TARVA Nightstand, TARVA Dresser, pine, is mostly solid wood with fiberboard (HDF) on the backing and draw bottoms. If you like you can seal the fiberboard with shellac and/or AFM Safeseal to block most of the formaldehyde.

BJÖRKSNÄS Nightstand (birch), is mostly solid wood except for the bottom of the drawer which is fiberboard and can be sealed as per above.

ÄPPLARÖ Armchair, outdoor, (brown stained) is made of solid acacia wood and a water based stains. IKEA stains tend to be extremely low VOC.

4. Wicker/Rattan Items

The natural rattan options from IKEA are a very benign option, the clear acrylic lacquer doesn’t have any noticeable offgassing.

AGEN Armchair (rattan/bamboo) is all rattan and wood, there should not be any offgassing here.

ULRIKSBERG Armchair (rattan/anthracite) is all rattan and metal, there should not be any offgassing here.

GAMLEHULT Ottoman with storage, (rattan/anthracite) only rattan and metal there should not be any offgassing here.

ALSEDA Stool (banana fiber), banana leaves and steel, there should not be any offgassing here.

HOLMSTA Armchair (handmade beige), made of handwoven rattan, bamboo and wood. The paper rope does usually have some offgassing.

BUSKBO Armchair (rattan), the rattan IKEA items with a clear lacquer do not seem to have any offgassing. You will have slight offgassing from cushions.

TOLKNING Ottoman (with storage, handmade rattan) is made of rattan, clear acrylic lacquer with a little bit of plywood on the bottom.

5. Plastic Items

Solid polypropylene and polyethylene are both very safe plastics and can usually be used by the chemically sensitive. The harder the plastic the less offgassing.

RISHOLMEN Wing chair, in/outdoor, (brown) is made of plastic rattan (polyethylene and polypropylene) and should not have any offgassing.

LIDÅS Chair (white/Sefast white), these mid century modern chairs by IKEA are made with a solid polypropylene seat and come in many colors and styles.

SKARPÖ Armchair, outdoor, (white), is made of solid polypropylene which does not offgas.

And most of IKEA’s outdoor chairs are safe as they are either plastic, wicker, metal or solid wood. I won’t list all the outdoor options.

6. Particleboard Completely Encased in Plastic Items

While particleboard is pressed with a formaldehyde binder, when it’s encased on all sides by plastic or metal this does essentially block the offgassing.

GRÅSALA / ADDE Table and 4 chairs, gray gray/black, table top is particleboard encased in Melamine.

BODARP matte gray-green kitchen cabinet series, is made of particleboard. The front facing pieces are all totally encased in PET plastic.

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I’ve been experimenting with how to paint over Chalk Paint with non-toxic paints for a while.

The reason this is relevant to me and my readers is because the sequence of: natural shellac – Chalk Paint – zero-VOC paint is one that can block odors and VOCs while itself being highly tolerable for the chemically sensitive.

You might have other reasons for painting over Chalk Paint and this article will be helpful.

I use Annie Sloan Chalk Paint but this will work for other chalk style paints as well.

Does it Have a Wax on it?

The first thing to note is if the Chalk Paint was waxed. If it was, you might need to remove the wax in order to paint over it.

You will need to use a solvent like mineral spirits (be sure to use the non-toxic type) to remove the wax enough to paint over it.

The exception is if you have waxed it with Annie Sloan wax, you can paint over with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. (Not all types of waxes can be painted over with Chalk Paint).

If it’s Not Waxed

If it’s not waxed it will definitely be easier to paint over.

However, I have found that regular paint doesn’t go easily over Chalk Paint. The Chalk Paint acts as a resist and as you can see below you get these patchy areas:

Primer That Works Over Chalk Paint

After some trial and error, and many companies saying their paint doesn’t work well over Chalk Paint, I called Farrow and Ball and they said their wall primers will work over it. Hooray!

So I actually bought the Wood Primer and that worked perfectly, though they said the wall primer would work.

Farrow and Ball is different than your regular acrylic or PVA primer, the binder is VAE.

So I used my little pots of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint to make a sample board on plywood and then went over it with the Farrow and Ball Mid Tones Interior Wood Primer.

I ended up with a nice perfectly even coat of primer and finished it with an even coat of Farrow and Ball Paint!

Corinne Segura is a Building Biologist Practitioner with 8 years of experience helping others create healthy homes.