The use of formaldehyde, a carcinogen with adverse effects on human health that forms the basis of many chemical compounds, is coming under increasing public and political scrutiny.


The substance has been classified by the EU since June as carcinogenic and mutagenic, a development with far-reaching and, in part, immediate consequences for a variety of business sectors, but especially the furniture industry.

Now, in conjunction with the Institute for Materials and Wood Technology at the Bern University of Applied Sciences, the Swiss biotechnology company AVA-CO2 is launching a research project under the title "Development of a formaldehyde-free urea type adhesive for the manufacturing of wood- based panels“. Sponsored by the Swiss Commission for Technology and Innovation (CTI), the project aims to come up with a formaldehyde-free, sustainable and harmless adhesive for industrial use in the wood-processing industry. The researchers are currently examining a more benign alternative to formaldehyde in the form of the bio-based platform chemical 5- HMF (5-Hydroxymethylfurfural).

In the EU, approximately 10 million tonnes are of formaldehyde are produced per year. Global production is currently around 47 million tonnes, but is expected to reach 52 million tonnes by 2017, the bulk of which is earmarked for the production of glues and impregnating resins for wood-based materials. One well-known application: the adhesive resins used to manufacture plywood panels, blockboards and chipboards (MDF and OSB) – the staples of the furniture industry today. Classifying formaldehyde as carcinogenic and mutagenic has far-reaching and, in part, dramatic consequences for the manufacturing industries using these products.

In a series of studies surrounding the synthesis of phenolic resins (PF), melamine formaldehyde resins (MF) and urea resins (UF), biobased 5-HMF is being researched as a potential substitute for formaldehyde. 5-HMF is a biobased platform chemical containing both an aldehyde and an alcohol functional group. Not only is it a precursor for the production of various high-volume plastics, 5-HMF sis also used in the pharmaceutical industry, as an API (active pharmaceutical ingredient), and in foodstuffs and in the agrochemical sector.

The aim of the present studies is to partially or fully replace formaldehyde in the relevant materials in order to reduce or entirely eliminate the release of formaldehyde. Partially replacing formaldehyde with 5-HMF in these products can, in part, drastically reduce the release of formaldehyde by means of cross-linking. Full replacement with 5-HMF would correspondingly lead to the complete elimination of formaldehyde emissions.

In February 2014, the world's first plant for commercial 5-HMF production was commissioned in Muttenz, Switzerland.(KL)