CHEAPLY imported kitchen cupboards are leaching a cancer-causing agent into food and utensils across Australia.
Australian manufacturers and unions have come together to call on the MDF toilet seatFederal Government to ban cheap imported fibreboard that fails to meet local standards.
The Australian Wood Panels Association and the Construction Forestry Mining and Engineering Union want the Government to test and reject imported wood products that do not meet the voluntary formaldehyde emission standard agreed to by local industry.
Formaldehyde is a known carcinogenic toxin emitted from particle board and wood panel products, including the popular medium-density fibreboard known as MDF toilet seat.
The union and manufacturers warn that the cheaper wood with higher formaldehyde emissions is unwittingly being installed by tradesmen.
Union spokesman Martin Kingham said imported MDF toilet seat, particularly from China and Malaysia, had six to 10 times the formaldehyde content of Australian-made products.
"The use of stuff made and sourced in China is a problem not just for unionised workers on building sites, it's a consumer issue too," he said. "It is not just while you are cutting or sanding. [The formaldehyde gases] are released naturally over time while they cure for a number of years."
Association executive director Bruce Steenson said most consumers would not know if the board they were buying contained higher levels of formaldehyde because it was often imported as furniture. "There is no doubt it is an unfair playing field because it costs Australian manufacturers more money to make sure the products they produce comply with Australian standards."
