A number of cribs and changing tables commonly sold at retail outlets contain unhealthy levels of formaldehyde, a consumer advocacy group reported yesterday.
A lab tested the furniture in sealed chambers and found formaldehyde levels in four changing tables and two cribs in excess of air quality standards set by California this year, according to Johanna Neumann, director of the Maryland Public Interest Research Group. Six of 21 cribs and other nursery products gave off formaldehyde at levels that increase the risk of asthma and respiratory problems, the group reported.
PIRG posted the report online yesterday after a news conference in Baltimore. The testing was conducted by Berkeley Analytical Associates, an environmental testing firm in Richmond, Calif.
"If anything, their calculations are on the conservative side," said Thad Godish, an environmental management professor at Ball State University who was not involved in the report.
Newborns and toddlers are more sensitive than adults to formaldehyde in cabinetry and other wood-finished furniture, he said, but cribs may be where babies are the most exposed.
Full Story: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/bal-te.cribs11jun11,0,1063565.story
