Question from Lost in Maryland
I am in the process of buying new furniture and am trying to buy the safest and least expensive options possible. I was looking for natural materials, such as metal and unfinished solid wood. Ikea has these items for great prices as many know.
However, I realized that Ikea’s “solid” wood is really pieces of wood glued together. My first question was whether this is the normal practice of “solid” wood or if ikea can just market it this way and still be correct. And mostly…is the glue used to glue these pieces together toxic? Am I defeating the purpose of buying unfinished solid wood by buying items that are actually solid pieces of wood glued together?
Also, if I turn to the option of metal furniture…ikea identifies a metal frame as Frame/ Frame: Steel, Pigmented epoxy/polyester powder coating. Is the pigmented epoxy/polyester powder coating safe? Is it inert once it is on the metal, or does it still offgas? What about lacquered products? Does lacquer offgas during its full lifetime, or only while it is drying?
Also, I ended buying a bench from ikea that was “solid” wood and had been treated only with wood treatment oil, which i found out is linseed oil with an added metallic drying agent…don’t know if this metallic drying agent is toxic either.
Perhaps I am being too picky here, but Debra’s Home Safe Home only specifies to look for natural materials like solid wood or metal. Thanks for any comments/and or suggestions!
Debra’s Answer
I don’t know if there is a legal definition for “solid wood,” but is generally refers to a solid piece of wood, not pieces of wood glued together. If there is no legal definition, IKEA would not be in violation, but may be fraudulent, as the word “solid” means “not interrupted”. Something solid needs to be all of one piece.
The glue used to adhere strips of wood together may or may not be toxic, depending on what glue was used. I personally have a table made of blocks of wood glued together, which I found to be acceptable. So with glued-together wood pieces, one needs to be watchful for toxic glues, but don’t assume all are toxic. The sniff test is adequate, as an MSDS may show something toxic, but by the time it is dry would be inert.
Metal frames are coated with finishes that are baked on. In general, I consider them to be nontoxic (however, I just want to add with space heaters specifically, the heat from the heater can cause the finish to outgas for a period of time).
Metallic drying agents may or may not be toxic, depending on the metal and the amount used.
When I am choosing furniture, I generally smell it, and if I can’t smell anything and I don’t have any reactions, I buy it if I want it. The biggest problems are particleboard, some plywoods, the finishes, and glues. I’ve had no problems with any unfinished solid wood or coated metal furniture I have purchased.
