While searching for something else, I just happened to find a new report, released on 22 March 2016, called POSSIBLE HEALTH IMPLICATIONS FROM EXPOSURE TO FORMALDEHYDE EMITTED FROM LAMINATE FLOORING SAMPLES TESTED BY THE CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION

You can read the full report. Prompted by last years expose by 60 Minutes of formaldehyde emissions from laminate flooring made in China, sold at Lumber Liquidators, the CPSC did their own study on laminate flooring and evaluated the health effects from this particular exposure to formaldehyde.

Here are the results.

NOTE: Because of the small number of laminate flooring samples tested, these conclusions do not represent the range of all possible formaldehyde concentrations and should not be generalized to all laminate flooring manufactured during the period of concern.

As a result of this evaluation, NCEH/ATSDR has come to the following conclusions:

Health effects from estimated formaldehyde exposures

Non-cancer effects

Floorboard contributions

• The amount of formaldehyde released could cause health symptoms in residents. Those symptoms include an increase in breathing problems and short-term eye, nose, or throat irritation. These symptoms are more likely to occur at lower concentrations for people with pre-existing health conditions like asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
• The higher the emissions the more likely people are to experience health effects, regardless of their age or pre-existing health conditions.
• Flooring in small chamber tests had lower emission rates than flooring in large chamber tests. Across all testing, the NCEH/ATSDR model results show that in 95% of the samples, the amount of formaldehyde released by new laminate flooring alone could range from at or below 185 micrograms of formaldehyde per cubic meter of air (µg/m3) to at or below 930 µg/m3.

Floorboard contributions plus typical indoor levels

• Formaldehyde is a common indoor air pollutant found in almost every home in the United States. It comes from manufactured wood products, permanent press fabrics, and other common household products. The typical amount of formaldehyde in indoor air ranges from a few µg/m3 to 240 µg/m3, with an average less than 50 µg/m3. This range
  includes lower levels in older, less energy efficient homes, and higher concentrations in newer or newly renovated homes (ATSDR 1999; ATSDR 2010).
• NCEH/ATSDR added the estimated amount of formaldehyde released by new laminate flooring to typical home indoor air levels.
• Our calculations show that if homes already contain new materials or products that release formaldehyde, the new floorboards could add a large amount of additional formaldehyde to what is already in the air from other sources. This additional amount of formaldehyde increases the risk for breathing problems as well as short-term eye, nose, and throat irritation for everyone.

Cancer effects

We estimated the risk of cancer from the CPSC-tested flooring based on conservatively high exposure assumptions:

• Installing flooring with the highest formaldehyde levels, and
• Breathing in formaldehyde at those levels in the house all day long for two years.

Using these assumptions, we estimated the lifetime risk of cancer to be between 6 and 30 extra cases for every 100,000 people. Formaldehyde levels are higher when products are new and get lower over time. Several studies have shown that indoor air concentrations of formaldehyde from new building products usually decrease over time, particularly during the first two years. Even though levels reduce over time, we calculated lifetime risk very conservatively and in a manner that is most protective of health, assuming a constant 24-hour, 7-day a week exposure to the measured floorboard emissions for the entire 2-year off-gassing period. If we instead assume a constant formaldehyde decay rate over the same 2-year period, these cancer risks would be reduced by half. If formaldehyde concentrations are assumed to remain elevated after a two-year period, the cancer risks would be proportionally increased.

To put those numbers in perspective, the American Cancer Society (http://www.cancer.org) estimates that the lifetime cancer risk for people living in the United States is one in two men (50,000 per 100,000 people) and one in three women who may develop cancer from all causes (33,333 per 100,000 people).

Quality of life

People can generally smell formaldehyde before being adversely affected by it. Formaldehyde released from laminate flooring at levels that individuals can smell may affect their quality of life. Exposure to the estimated formaldehyde levels discussed in this report may cause sensory irritation, nausea, stress, and headaches.

Now this applies only to the actual laminate flooring tested, but it may apply to other laminate flooring.

We need to be careful to not extrapolate that just because this batch of flooring tested has these results that all other laminate flooring would have similar results.

I have been recommending against laminate flooring since Pergo came out years ago. I called them and without hesitation they told me that their flooring emits formaldehyde and they sent me the emissions tests.

I would like to see ALL laminate flooring be tested and provide the test results to consumers considering their products.

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