General

On May 25, 2021, the Shanghai Municipal Administration of Market Supervision issued a test report on 60 batches of wooden furniture, of which 24 batches were unqualified, and the unqualified rate was as high as 40%.

There are three listed furniture companies and many well-known companies in the industry. Readers who are interested in knowing the unqualified list can download the relevant documents from the website of Shanghai Municipal Market Supervision Bureau.

In response to consumer complaints and reports, or products with many quality problems found in past random inspections, the Shanghai Municipal Supervision Bureau has recently dealt with 14 shopping malls and 4 brand stores in 11 districts, including Pudong, Minhang, and Huangpu, as well as JD.com and Tmall. 60 batches of wooden furniture sold on 5 online trading platforms such as Mall, i Bealead, Dongfang CJ, and NITORI Furniture, have undergone supervision and random inspections.

After testing, 24 batches were unqualified.

The main unqualified items are formaldehyde emission, loading stability of several types of tables, structural safety, liquid resistance of paint film, impact resistance of paint film, and consistency between marking and physical objects.

One is that the amount of formaldehyde released exceeds the standard, and there are 2 batches. The formaldehyde emission of the bedside cabinet sold by a company in Shanghai was actually 2.2mg/L (the standard value should be ≤1.5mg/L), which was inconsistent with the requirements of the national mandatory standards; a certain brand of shoe cabinet (slab wood) sold by a company in Shanghai on the e-commerce platform Furniture), the measured amount of formaldehyde emission is 4.8mg/L (the standard value should be ≤1.5mg/L), which is inconsistent with the requirements of the national mandatory standards. Formaldehyde is a colorless gas with a strong pungent odor, and it is one of the pollution sources of the indoor environment. If this index exceeds the standard, it is easy to cause indoor environmental pollution and endanger human health.

Second, there are 3 batches of unqualified loading stability for several types of tables. A corner table produced by a listed company has tipped over after the table-type vertical and horizontal loading stability test (the standard requires that there should be no tipping). The unqualified loading stability of several types of tables indicates that the product may have a risk of dumping in actual use, and there are hidden safety hazards.

The third is that the structural safety is unqualified, and there are 2 batches. For example, a bedside cabinet sold by a company in Shanghai has no anti-falling device for the drawers (the standard requires that drawers, keyboards, pull baskets and other sliding components should have anti-falling devices), which does not meet the standard requirements. If the index is unqualified, the push-pull component can be pulled directly out of the cabinet, which poses a safety hazard.

Fourth, the liquid resistance of the paint film was unqualified, there was 1 batch; the impact resistance of the paint film was unqualified, there were 4 batches. The liquid resistance and impact resistance of the paint film are unqualified, the quality of the paint used on the surface of the wooden furniture coating is poor, and the paint finish process is not good enough, which affects the service life of the furniture.

Fifth, there are 18 batches of unqualified label and physical consistency. For example, for a bedside table, the countertop is measured with wood-based panels (the company expresses it as oak), and the measured material is inconsistent with the company’s stated material type; for a certain type of corner table, the frame is measured with rubber wood, and the company expresses it as peeled eucalyptus. The name of the measured wood is clearly stated by the company. Inconsistent. The standard requires that the wood, wood-based panels and their parts used in the product should be consistent. This index is unqualified and easily misleads consumption.