Singapore - NEA Proposed to Ban Formaldehyde in Paint for Indoor Use

​The National Environment Agency (NEA) of Singapore is proposing to ban formaldehyde in paint only for indoor use. Paint for indoor use with no-added formaldehyde will be allowed to be sold in Singapore. Companies will have to submit test report to NEA indicating that the measured total in-can formaldehyde content in each product is below 0.01% w/w.

Tests shall be conducted by laboratories accredited by accreditation bodies (e.g., Singapore Accreditation Council (SAC)) that are signatories to the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation Mutual Recognition Arrangement (ILAC MRA).

Water-based paint shall extract formaldehyde by acid-steam distillation while solvent-based paint does not have a extraction method specified. The extracted formaldehyde shall be analyzed by photometric determination using acetyl acetone reagent or high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) determination using 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine reagent.

Although the proposed requirements are only applicable paints for indoor use, paints used for outdoor application or industrial paints containing formaldehyde shall be properly labelled to inform users that the products contain added formaldehyde and are meant for industrial or outdoor use only and not for indoor use.

The proposed effective date: July 1, 2025.

The public consultation is open until December 13, 2023.