Melamine danger???

[xbluex]

I just read this on another forum and thought I would share/get opinions over here.
Somebody said that melamine is dangerous to use for enclosures because of the fumes it puts off under heat. They said that it is dangerous to use in human housing, and that it is even worse for reptiles in a smaller enclosed space. They also said that if you were going to use it to make sure to get the kind that is formaldehyde free.
Another poster replied saying that the American National Standards Institute limits amount of formaldehyde to .3 part per million and is not significant enough to be considered toxic.

Does anyone have any opinions about this? I'm very interested as I'm about to start building new tanks, supposed to be out of melamine, but if this might be true I would rather save more money and use oak or something. Has anyone here who has used melamine for long periods of time ever seen any negative side effects??

 

[john_ny217]

i have 4 cages that were built out of melamine and have yet to see any ill effects of using the wood.

 

[xbluex]

Hello hello!
Well after debates and research on another forum I'm convinced that melamine can be dangerous. I'll link the thread on the forum(repticzone) where we were talking about it. The forum is about uromastyx, and this first came up when discussing the higher temps used for uros bringing out the fumes more. Melamine is made out of partical board, they use formaldehyde to make the partical board(or plywood, mdf, ect) and the formaldehyde lets off fumes that are being released even at room temperature.
Here is the link to the thread, at the begining of it it's about an enclosure size, the first post about the melamine is by Mother Confessor, this is where all the info starts. It got to be a heated debate but all of the info is good and should be taken into concideration for anyone planning on building with melamine. http://www.repticzone.com/forums/Uromastyx/messages/1885097.html

I believe there are a few links in that thread to other discussions about it. Like motherconfessor said if her posts, its not to say that everyone should throw out their melamine enclosures, but this is something to keep in mind when going to build one.

 

[LQDragons]

Your talking about the formaldahide used in the manufacturing of particale board, correct? If you look at an enclosure made from melamine, the particale board is encased in melamine & all the seams are sealed w/silicone. If I'm missing something, please enlighten me.

 

[xbluex]

The actual melamine is made with some formaldehyde as well, and even though that part doesn't set off as much fumes as the particale board underneath it stills puts off some. One of the concerns about the particale board under it is when its cut to make the vents, drilled for holes for the wires ect, unless those areas are sealed and all inside edges are sealed its still leaking the fumes into the enclosure.

 

[xbluex]

I just want to make it clear that there are no studies showing that this is a danger to beardies or any other herps. Nobody has done any long term researching on the effects of different types of enclosures, and nobody has done studies on the long term effects of small amounts of formaldehyde being released around herps. I cannot prove that this is a danger, I am only concidering the facts based on the effects on humans and the possibility of it effecting herps. This thread wasn't meant to scare anyone in any way. Only to pass on the info that I've learned from the link that I posted because I never knew or even thought of the possiblility that the enclosures could be putting off these fumes, and I'm sure many others didn't either.