Formaldehyde Certification Program E1 DE 2020

The EPH offers the volountary certification program E1 DE 2020 as a successor of the formaldehyde survaillance of wood-based materials according to DIBt Guideline 100. It generally comprises an initial test and creation of a product specific correlation between chamber test and methods of factory production control (FPC) in combination with an initial audit followed by a quarterly product test and semi-annual or annual survaillance audits.

The E1 DE 2020 certification refers to the Chemicals Prohibition Ordinance (ChemVerbotsV) valid in Germany since 2017 in conjunction with the official publication issued by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) in the Federal Gazette (Bundesanzeiger) with regard to the approved test methods for formaldehyde determination (BAnz AT 26.11.2018 B2) valid since 01/01/2020. In addition, the requirements of the IKEA specification IOS-MAT-0181 may be taken into account for certification.

The chamber test method according to EN 16516 with additional conditions on loading (1.8 m²/m³) and air exchange rate (0.5/h) serves as reference test method. A chamber test according to EN 717-1 can be performed alternatively. In this case, the result must be multiplied by a factor of 2, which in effect corresponds to a halving of the limit value of Formaldehyde Class E1 according to EN 13986. In this context, the terms "E1 half" or "E0.5" are also frequently used.

Formaldehyde testing is carried out in the Chemical Testing Laboratory of EPH, which is accredited according to DIN EN ISO/IEC 17025.

Overview of the certification program for coated and uncoated wood-based materials:

		E1 DE 2020 UNCOATED	E1 DE 2020 COATED
Classification		EN 16516 resp. EN 717-1	EN 16516 resp. EN 717-1
Correlation	FPC vs. chamber test	Yes	No
	FPC-method	selectable	selectable
	Initial correlation with QCL-calculation	min. 5 data pairs considering all thickness ranges Calculation of the product specific quality control limit (QCL) according to EPA TSCA Title VI /CARB Phase 2 specifications	/
Surveillance	Inspection	1 – 2x per year	/
	Number of tests	4x per year (testing frequency can be reduced in subsequent years, if possible)	1 x per year; consideration of the thickness ranges
	Test method FPC	Correlation required	Correlation not required
	Documents Initial	Initial certificate Test report incl. correlation Surveillance report	Test certificate Test report /
	Documents Subsequent inspections	Attestation of conformity Test report Surveillance report At least annual update of correlation	Test certificate Test report / /

FPC = Factory Production Control