Healthy Buildings Syracuse VOC workshop Sept. 15, 2009 IKEA specifications Annelise Larsen, Björn Frithiof, IKEA of Sweden AB, Älmhult, Sweden

IKEA Specifications Specifications Documents containing IKEA‘s minimum requirements Part of the binding contract between suppliers/sub-suppliers and IKEA Chemical specifications The IKEA chemical specifications describes IKEA bans and restrictions on content, migration or emission of certain chemical compounds and substances due to national or international regulations, customer expectations and/or health and environmental concerns. The IKEA basic principles -To focus on customers and ”Customer Experienced Product Quality”, where ”safe to use” include: Free from harmful chemicals & Low product emission -To apply the strictest health, safety and environmental requirements on any of the sales markets to the entire product range. VOC-emission Introduced in the IKEA Specifications mid 1990’s on IKEA initiative without any external mandatory requirements

Emission requirements Emission tests of final product – general minimum requirements - if stated in the IKEA product descriptions – e.g. related to first delivery - in case of a dispute concerning odour. An unpleasant or unexpected smell or deviation from earlier shipments/reference sample in terms of emissions/odour, is considered a valid cause for claim, if deemed to involve a risk of discomfort or negative health effects for customers. Additional emission test requirements for children products e.g. in case of articles containing latex and rubber, tents and other articles to enter, wooden toys with organic coatings, and when major changes in lacquering lines and new chemicals are introduced. Additional requirements for fragranced products. In all other products use of fragrances are not allowed. Chemical and sensory method from customer point of view. Sampling from store or from production. Sampling from production shall reflect a realistic worst case in comparison to when the product can reach a customer.

Formaldehyde emission Restrictions on formaldehyde emission from products in focus in IKEA for many years. Since 1992 IKEA requires all surface coatings to be "formaldehyde-free". Wood-based materials: Since September 2008 at the level of approx.“1/2 E1” (means that IKEA will be able to meet the new California CARB regulation by 2011, by a comfortable margin) The Billy case – early alarm clock Long term vision: Formaldehyde emission levels in wood based products shall be on the same levels as natural wood - Stepwise approach. Already now some suppliers supply board at a level of approx. “1/3 E1” (Japan F**** level) to some extent. A full scale industrial production of “1/3 E1” board, globally is not realistic so far.

Evaluation of product emission All emitted individual substances to be evaluated. Emission Test Results - Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs): Determination made hours resp. 28days after unpacking Emission level of VOCs Traces Very low Low Mod. High Very high Emission of formaldehyde fulfilled:YesNo Absence (<10 µg/m³) of toxic VOCs:YesNo Absence of carcinogenic substancesYesNo Absence of “REACH” substances of concern* YesNo Absence of aromatic hydrocarbonsYes No Absence of odorous compounds YesNo TVOC (Total VOCs) requirement fulfilled¤YesNo * CMR cat. 1&2; PBT & vPvB; Equivalent concern ¤ 1200μg/m 3 resp. 600μg/m 3

Tested and Approved Emission testing for product development, routine verification, random check, revisions etc. Final product testing and screening af materials. Good experience with chamber testing of VOCs and lower aldehydes (acc. to ISO , -6 and -3) for current status, to evaluate new material combinations, new suppliers, new designs, and to check that the emission does not contain any unexpected, banned or restricted substances above the limits. Odour/smell Small panel test a quite powerful when comparing with ”agreed upon” reference sample.

Product and process improvements Measuring product emissions have enabled us to put attention on the important inhalation exposure and successively improve the products and processes and decrease the probability of odour problems and other discomfort in collaboration with the suppliers, chemical manufacturers and test laboratories. Emission testing as a useful tool to detect unexpected emissions shall not be underestimated. Emission results enable us to address, for example: Use of substances of concern, unfortunate raw material changes, material purity, cleaning procedures, etc. Material/product variations, considerable differences in material emissions from of similar type for similar use Benchmarking Testing according to different labelling schemes can be useful for benchmarking. However, unfortunate with different focus, covering different product types, influenced by national priorities etc. Product emission - experience

Health and comfort focus Make sure that the harmonised efforts put priority on individual substances of the categories VVOC, VOC and SVOC that can have health or comfort impact, and not entirely focus on what is easy to measure, as TVOC. Preferable even odour. Harmonization globally In a global market it is important to be able to comply with regulations, standards and expectations in all countries. Want to encourage global harmonisation and priority on ISO standardisation. Product quality prior to label/certificate focus Large resources towards registration and administration might take focus from technical improvements of products and processes. The IKEA logo is our label, but IKEA has no interest in inventing new approaches, where generally recognised methods and procedures are in place. Thank you ! Product emission – discussion