Health: We've Made It A Priority

Since 2002, when Johns Manville developed a complete line of Formaldehyde-free™ fiber glass building insulation products, we have committed ourselves to seeking additional ways in which our manufacturing processes and the products we produce will eliminate contaminants, reduce VOC emissions and promote the health and well-being of our employees, the contractors who install our products and the building occupants who live and work around our products every day.

Why is Being Free of Formaldehyde so Important?

There is growing concern over formaldehyde. Increasingly, state and federal health and environmental agencies as well as architects and sustainable building designers are recommending that exposure to formaldehyde be reduced.¹ In fact, in its comments to the USGBC's LEED-NC v2.2, US EPA recommended that exposure to formaldehyde be minimized as much as possible.² This is especially true in healthcare, education, residential and office settings. According to the US EPA³ and the California EPA⁴ , one important reason to minimize formaldehyde exposure is because formaldehyde is recognized by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as Group 1 - known to cause cancer.⁵ California EPA has also determined that formaldehyde is a toxic air contaminant⁶ often found indoors at levels in excess of health-based guidelines and recommendations.⁷

To promote the health of building occupants, particularly in healthcare, educational, residential and office situations, one obvious way to help minimize formaldehyde exposure is to use JM Formaldehyde-free™ fiber glass insulations to eliminate one source.