‘Hi..

I return this time to share about a small technical symbol that you would find appearing in all quality laminate & wood floorings (engineered and solids) but mostly not understood.

It is called ‘E 1′.

E 1 stands for ‘Emission class 1′. Here emission means ‘to give off; to emit’. Understanding simply, normally each wood flooring product emits, releases some formaldehyde (a chemical). This chemical is used to manufacture these products and is also found naturally in wood. Beyond wood flooring, other building products like plywood, laminate, paints and varnishes also contain the same. So the overall exposure becomes significant at times.

As all things, within limits it has it’s utility but beyond that it can be a major problem sometimes (http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-the-effects-of-formaldehyde-exposure.htm). Again the purpose is not to scare you but to make you aware. Most good brands today will be rated as E 1 with the industry moving towards the stricter ‘E 0’ standard.

Just by looking at the symbol and ensuring that the floorings that you are buying meets this standard, would keep you and your family safer. However, a word of caution here! Lot of products coming from local small time manufacturers in China, even though claiming to be ‘E 1’, have been found to be suspect.

Span Floors is amongst the first one’s in India to introduce the latest ‘E 0′ standard product under the Kaindl two collection which is also Green Guard certified http://www.greenguard.org/en/index.aspx. All products under Span floors collection are rated ‘E 1′. Span Floors remains committed to bring the most technologically advanced and environmentally safe products for Indian consumers to enjoy responsibly.