IKEA furniture found to contain formaldehyde in Guangzhou

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2012-12-27

A wooden table at an auction in Beijing. (Photo/CNS)

Guangzhou authorities have found batches of wooden furniture of various brands containing excessive amounts of formaldehyde among other defects, a local newspaper reported on Dec. 26.

The newspaper named Swedish furniture chain IKEA among the brands implicated.

Authorities tested 66 batches of furniture from 51 companies, the newspaper said, and found that 24 released levels of the toxic chemical considered excessive. Some did not have complete user instructions, and others were simply not strong enough.

Chinese standards for interior materials stipulate that wooden furniture must not release formaldehyde lets of should be under 1.5mg/l.