Question from Heavens123
I am interested in purchasing a bathroom stool from squattypotty.com
I don’t like the plasticone and the bamboo is made by a Chinese company and I am unable to track down the composition. That leaves the mdf version, which is painted mdf.
They purchase the mdf from a company called Plum Creek and when they called the distributor to ask about the mdf they were told it is low emision and CARB (California Air Resource Board) approved. A call to Plum Creek revealed that their mdf is Phase II compliant and has been for years.
While they do make a no-added formaldehyde mdf, I’m going to assume it’s the regular one being used. Is this a reasonable product to consider purchasing as the only mdf item in my home?
It’s a small stool, not a bigger piece of furniture and I see no comparable product of other materials. How stringent is CARB Phase II? If I bought it should I AFM Safeseal it? Thanks.
Debra’s Answer
Interesting product. At first I thought “There are a lot of wood bathroom stools available,” and then I clicked through and saw the unique design and healthful purpose.
OK, so, as much as I don’t recommend mdf, sometimes we need to weigh the pros vs the cons and see which is greater.
I would say in this case you would probably get a greater health benefit from using the stool than harm from the mdf exposure. Use your own judgement as to whether or not you need to apply Safeseal.
Thanks very much. I would never buy mdf furniture, but as this is small and I am able to coat it in Safeseal if needed, I think I will try it. I’ve read very much about other products that achieve the same thing via plumbing installations and it seems to make good sense, although this is one of the only ones of this particular design that works with what you already have. It seems like a healthful idea and I’m going to test it out.