Recently, in November 2022, spot checks on the quality supervision of solid wood flooring products:
In the third quarter of 2022, the municipal supervision and spot check on the quality of solid wood flooring products were carried out and the relevant information was announced as follows:
1、 Product overview and industrial distribution
Solid wood flooring is a medium and high-end durable consumer goods in China. With the continuous improvement of consumers’ requirements for quality of life, consumption concept, consumption awareness and actual consumption ability, the “original ecological” characteristics of solid wood flooring have been favored by middle and high income consumers, and become an important choice for people’s floor decoration.
At present, there are more than 2300 solid wood floor manufacturers in China, with an annual design production capacity of 100 million square meters, mainly distributed in the Pearl River Delta, the Yangtze River Delta, the Bohai Sea Rim and the Northeast Forest Region. In recent years, some influential brands, including Holy Elephant, Nature and Del, have gradually formed in the domestic market, but the number of small and medium-sized enterprises still accounts for more than 90% of the total number of entrepreneurs in the industry.
Solid wood flooring is the category of wood flooring that is most affected by resource constraints. Most of its raw materials are large-diameter broad-leaved trees with a growth period of decades or even hundreds of years. Due to the increasing scarcity of wood resources and the rising demand of international environmental protection organizations for the protection of tropical rainforests, the price of solid wood flooring products in China has been rising with the increase of raw materials, and the production volume has declined significantly. The production and sales volume has been stable between 42 million and 45 million m2 in the past five years, and the proportion of products in the industry has also been reduced from 40% ten years ago to 10.7%, becoming high-end wood flooring consumer goods.
Jiangsu Province is one of the main production places of solid wood flooring in China. Local industries are clustered and have formed an industrial chain. It has outstanding industrial advantages and distinctive industrial characteristics and is distributed in Suzhou, Changzhou, Xuzhou and other cities. There are about 40 solid wood flooring enterprises in Suzhou, mainly concentrated in Wujiang District. Wujiang is located at the junction of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai, close to Zhangjiagang, with superior geographical location and perfect industrial chain. Affected by the industrial upgrading in Suzhou, some solid wood flooring enterprises moved out.
2、 Main basis and items of inspection
The products for this sampling inspection are tested according to the product standard GB/T15036.1-2018 and the product quality requirements.
The main inspection items of this supervision and spot check of solid wood flooring are: 1. moisture content; 2. Wear resistance of paint film surface; 3. Adhesion of paint film; 4. Paint film hardness; 5. Heavy metal content (color limiting paint); 6. Wood name (species).
3、 Basic information of supervision and spot check
A total of 20 batches of solid wood flooring products were sampled in this supervision and spot check, all of which were from the manufacturers. After inspection, 19 batches are qualified with a qualification rate of 95%. The unqualified items are heavy metal content (color limiting paint).
The following is an analysis of the unqualified items of solid wood flooring.
The unqualified items are heavy metal content (color limiting paint), and the excessive elements are lead and chromium. The color paint used for solid wood floor is a kind of paint containing pigment. When it is applied to the substrate, it can form an opaque film with protective, decorative or special properties. Heavy metals in coatings mainly come from colored pigments, such as red lead, lead chrome yellow, lead white, etc. In addition, inorganic pigments are usually extracted from natural minerals and made through a series of chemical and physical reactions, so it is inevitable to carry trace heavy metal impurities. Lead, cadmium, chromium and mercury are common toxic pollutants, and their soluble substances are obviously harmful to human health. Excessive lead can damage the nervous, hematopoietic and reproductive systems, especially the children. It can affect the growth and intellectual development of children. Therefore, the control of lead pollution has become a worldwide focus and development trend. Long term inhalation of cadmium dust may damage renal or pulmonary functions. Long term skin contact with chromium compounds can cause contact dermatitis or eczema. Chronic mercury poisoning mainly affects the central nervous system. The main reason for the disqualification of the project is that the paint used in the production of the enterprise has potential quality problems, which can not be found or eliminated in time through effective quality control means, nor can it be ruled out that the enterprise may use inferior paint to reduce production costs, which may lead to excessive heavy metals.
4、 Consumer warning
- Pay attention to the quality of the board surface. Board surface quality is one of the main bases for floor grading. Observe whether the floor is of the same tree species, and whether there are cracks, decay, skin inclusions, dead knots, wormholes and other material defects on the board surface. Generally, it is not necessary to be too strict with the color difference, loose knots, texture, etc. The paint surface shall be even, smooth and flat. No paint leakage, bubble and crack.
- Pay attention to the package identification. Inspection identification, packaging The identification on the packaging of the purchase floor should be printed with the name of the manufacturer, address, telephone number, tree species name, grade, specification, quantity, executive standard, etc. The packaging box should have an inspection certificate, and the packaging should be intact.
- Try to choose a floor brand with high brand reputation and good after-sales service. The wooden floor bought home is only a semi-finished product, and its perfect value can only be reflected through scientific and correct installation. Because of its natural characteristics, wood is greatly affected by the climate, and some changes can only be shown after a certain season. Therefore, the after-sales service of flooring is particularly important. Brand flooring generally has a professional installation team, and after-sales service can be guaranteed.
