“CARB2” usually means California’s Phase 2 formaldehyde-emission limits for specified composite wood products. If you are choosing boards for cabinets, shelves or interior walls, start with the panel construction and destination. This guide explains the existing limits and report questions alongside practical plywood and MDF choices. Share the furniture or room you are planning; we help shortlist the core and finish and identify the evidence relevant to the proposed order.
Plain MDF Melamine MDF Hardwood plywood
What CARB Phase 2 applies to
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) adopted its Composite Wood Products Airborne Toxic Control Measure for specified panels and new finished goods containing them. The rule addresses formaldehyde emissions, not load capacity, water resistance, fire performance or general indoor-air quality of an entire building.
CARB’s scope FAQ distinguishes regulated hardwood plywood from several excluded structural products. Therefore, “plywood” alone is insufficient to decide coverage. A film-faced formwork board, a decorative hardwood plywood cabinet panel and an MDF shelf may be treated differently. We first identify the panel construction and use.
What the familiar numbers mean
| Regulated panel category | Phase 2 emission limit |
|---|---|
| Hardwood plywood, veneer or composite core | 0.05 ppm |
| Particleboard | 0.09 ppm |
| MDF | 0.11 ppm |
| Thin MDF | 0.13 ppm |
These are panel-test limits, not permitted formaldehyde concentrations in an occupied room. The EPA’s regulated-stakeholder FAQ sets out the covered products, limits, testing and certification system. Do not compare these ppm values directly with an extraction result in mg/kg or a desiccator result in mg/L.
How CARB Phase 2 relates to TSCA Title VI
US federal TSCA Title VI was designed around emission limits identical to the California Phase 2 levels, but the schemes have their own documentation and implementation requirements. The EPA rule summary explains that the transitional CARB labelling period ended in 2019; federally regulated products produced or imported afterward generally require TSCA Title VI-compliant labelling. The California rule and the federal rule should be named separately in current specifications.
For projects outside the United States, we connect the quotation with the destination’s own requirement. Start with your cabinet, shelf or wall-panel use and preferred finish; we then identify the offered construction and available evidence. Any CARB or TSCA claim needs the scope applicable to that particular product and transaction.
Connect the document pack with your panel
- Does the panel belong to the regulated category named on the document?
- Does the record identify the producer, product type and applicable certifier or test scope?
- Is the tested panel the offered thickness, binder and core construction?
- Does a finished-goods claim trace back to the constituent regulated panels?
- Is the label or document current for the transaction rather than an old logo image?
The CARB test-method page distinguishes compliance chamber methods from smaller quality-control methods. A supplier’s own routine quality-control result is not automatically the same as third-party certification or a finished-goods label. Share the exact panel and document with us so the construction, report scope and quotation can be considered together.
Match emission documents to the destination
Other destinations may reference their own standards, editions, units and conformity routes. If a buyer asks for E1, E0 or another class, ask them to name the governing standard and intended product scope. A matching numeric threshold in a different method does not establish equivalence. Our panel testing-method guide explains why chamber, desiccator and extraction reports cannot be swapped freely.
CARB Phase 2 questions
Is every plywood panel covered?
No. The rule defines the hardwood plywood types it covers and excludes certain certified structural products. The technical category must be checked first.
Does a Phase 2 label prove a product is “formaldehyde free”?
No. It indicates compliance with a defined emission limit and the applicable regulatory conditions.
Can a report for MDF prove a melamine-faced cabinet is compliant?
It can be part of a document chain, but the component and finished-goods requirements must be assessed in their proper scope.