In France, the labeling of construction products or wall cladding or floor and paints and varnishes on their emissions of volatile pollutants has become mandatory since the entry into force of Decree No 2011-321 of 23 March 2011.
An extension of these measures to furniture products was provided for in the third National Health and Environment Plan (2015-2019), which followed the recommendations of the Indoor Air Quality Plan (2013). In this context, the Ministries of Ecology and Health took the ANSES to identify and select a list of priority chemicals.
In June 2015, a list consisting of 41 relevant products, of which 31 are considered priority, was published in an expert report to support labeling of ANSES of furniture products.
Following this study and because of the potential presence of substances classified as carcinogenic, mutagenic and / or toxic for reproduction to the issuance of furniture products, ANSES issued three recommendations, namely:
– The limitation of population exposure to these substances and to prohibit such the term emission substances, with the aim of avoiding the marketing of any product which could induce a furniture exhibition these pollutants, whatever the concentration;
– Ensuring the traceability of substances in furniture products, manufacturers to distributors, by acquiring tools to identify substances used in the composition of products and those issued;
– Changes in the sampling and analysis in order to improve their performance in terms of detection and representation levels (distribution between the gas phase and the particulate phase).