If you are to buy new kitchen cupboards you are likely to pick your choice base on your budget, base on the designs, styles and shapes, and base on the quality of the workmanship and material used. You may be neglecting the factor of health risk which some of these kitchen cabinets maybe dangerous to the health of your family.

Do you remember your high school biology where you used formaldehyde, a pungent smelling preservation solution, to soak frogs and other creatures you would dissect? The same formaldehyde can be found in most glue which is commonly used in plywood or particle board wood cabinets. Many kitchen cupboards are also finished with products containing Volatile Organic Compounds (or VOCs), which may emit formaldehyde as well as other chemicals for years to come.

Formaldehyde is a toxic gas that will seeps into your living space for a long time to come. Some people that are sensitive to this gas will experience respiratory difficulties, headaches, watery eyes, and scratchy throat in others within minutes of exposure.

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Even if none of your family members have a chemical allergy to this gas, I strongly recommend that you do your best to avoid products or avoid choosing kitchen cupboards containing VOCs or formaldehyde glues. Formaldehyde is a cancer causing agent and it should not mix on your living space.

Kitchen cupboards that are likely to contain formaldehyde are the melamine cabinets and conventional “wood” cabinets. Your safer options are the metal kitchen cabinets and solid wood kitchen cabinets. But even with solid wood kitchen cabinets, you still have to check for VOCs used.

Your family deserved not only nice looking design kitchen cupboards but also the type that is not dangerous to them. So the next time you shop for kitchen cabinets consider the health risk as one of important factors.